If you thought train strikes might be a thing of the past under a Keir Starmer government, think again. Avanti West Coast workers have announced they are to stage a five-month-long series of strikes beginning on New Year’s Eve – which will disrupt travel between London and Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow.
The industrial action comes after workers rejected the latest deal aimed at resolving a dispute over rest day working. And the dates affected? Well, according to the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT), its members working as train managers will strike on New Year’s Eve, 2 January and every Sunday between 12 January and 25 May. That’s right – every single Sunday.
If your heart sank on hearing the news, you’re not alone... especially when you’re used to living in the capital. When it comes to the London Underground, any seasoned Londoner will know that Tube strikes are just part of the gritty, frustrating, constantly surprising fabric of city life. And, true to form, the Tube has been swamped with the threat of strikes (though they were then called off) during the latter part of this year.
It’s surely no surprise that as negotiations rumble on, public support wanes – I know I have lost sympathy for it all now. It feels like nothing more than a racket.
But it’s not just the inconvenience of it all – though any strike, in any part of the country, is hideously, achingly inconvenient. It seems like a million years ago, but before the pandemic (when everyone was expected in the office five days a week and “WFH” simply didn’t exist), I vividly remember the pain of squeezing onto cramped buses first thing in the morning because of industrial action.
I have flashbacks of the driver inexplicably kicking everyone off miles away from where they were going and hundreds of commuters weaving and jostling through Oxford Street like salmon, not knowing how on earth we’d ever make it to our destination.
Although they happen slightly less frequently now (and are often threatened but then called off), strike days still feel like warfare. You have to prepare yourself for battle before even having your morning coffee; there’s no room for error or indecision. And it’s exhausting. It is even worse for those on shift, as not getting to work on time – or at all – also impacts their earnings.
But there’s more to it than inconvenience – there’s a very real safety risk, too. Train strikes aren’t just disruptive – they’re dangerous... especially at New Year’s Eve: when the streets are crowded with drunk people, partygoers, men. For women and children – particularly teenage girls – it is a daunting and very real danger to be left without a safe route home in the dark, winter months.
It once took me six hours to get back from work during a strike day (when it should have taken half an hour). Without any warning, the bus I was on took a detour and then terminated in an industrial lot I had never heard of before, leaving me stranded.
To make matters worse, my phone was all but dead and I had to frantically research alternative routes on 2 per cent battery – not that apps are reliable in these instances, as they know just as little about what’s going on as you do. I ended up walking for miles by myself on the dark, unlit streets.
I was lucky that I got home in one piece – but that hasn’t always been my experience when getting around on public transport. Nor is it always the experience of other women.
Women’s safety in the capital – as elsewhere – became a particularly pertinent topic after the murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa in 2021. Their brutal killings validated our concerns and highlighted the need for change.
At the time, a petition asking for the Night Tube to be reinstated gathered momentum online, with nearly 200,000 signatures supporting the motion. Even now, while the Underground operates on a 24/7 basis on the weekends, it isn’t every line and some TfL workers are striking over the antisocial hours that come with it – once more plunging the initiative into doubt. I can only imagine it’s just as worrying for women stranged in between major cities such as London and Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow.
And the alternative of getting a taxi isn’t always safe or feasible, either. That same year, TfL reported that 182 cases of rape and sexual offences took place in private hire vehicles. It is also a hefty added expense and disproportionately affects those from less privileged backgrounds. Those of us who can’t afford it have to risk our safety on the streets by walking home.
I am not against strike action on the whole. But what I am against is putting other people – people who aren’t in any way responsible for your working conditions – in harm’s way and leaving them out of pocket.
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