The RMT union has announced additional strike dates after it turned down a below-inflation pay offer from Network Rail.
Rail workers’ latest strikes are planned from 6pm on Christmas Eve until 7am on 27 December, potentially affecting engineering works as well as passengers travelling on 24 December. Most trains do not run on 25 and 26 December.
Mike, a train guard in south-west England, shares why he supports taking industrial action.
“There are two main elements to why I, and most of my colleagues, are striking. We haven’t had a pay rise for three years – normally we have an annual cost-of-living-based rise roughly in line with inflation. Previously, through negotiation, a compromise would be found. In this particular spate of industrial action, this hasn’t been the case, we feel the government is using it as a political football and to demonise strikers.
“We’re the first to admit that compared with the national average pay, we’re quite fortunate – but we want it to stay that way. There are lots of other roles represented by the RMT who are paid far less than guards – lots of platform staff are paid about £25,000. Not to have had a pay rise for three years is unfair. No workers should have to put up with that at any time but particularly not during a cost-of-living crisis.
“Morale is at a rock bottom. We put ourselves at risk during the Covid pandemic, getting key workers around. We were hailed as heroes and to now be treated so appallingly and demonised by the government is outrageous.
“The more important element [to the strike] is the shredding of our terms and conditions that we have fought for for decades, including secure employment. We fear that the government and train operating companies want to remove guards from trains and have trains operated by drivers only.
“This would have major safety implications. Guards don’t just open doors – we make sure no one is in contact with the train, or in the dispatch corridor. “Trap and drag” – being pulled along the platform – is a serious risk that is massively increased if there’s no human being. Drivers would have a bank of CCTV along the view of the train but each screen is about the size of a postage stamp. It’s a massive retrograde step [that would also affect] those who require additional assistance, including disabled people, the elderly and parents with buggies.
“We’re not against modernisation and we have [done so] but it should be a matter of negotiation, not something imposed from on high. We’re realistic – we realise the way people travel has changed but not that significantly, and numbers are bouncing back. We’re also concerned about de-staffing on trains and stations – not everyone wants to use vending machines, some elderly people find them challenging, and they don’t offer the full range of fares. Having no staff on some stations and then no guards on the train will increase fare evasion too.
“We’re genuinely sorry about the [strike’s] negative impact on those travelling before Christmas. [But] for us, it’s not just about pay, we’re making a stand against what we regard as massively negative plans to gut the railways. We don’t want the railway to become like P&O – it seems to be the way everything is going. I’ll lose thousands of pounds this month through striking but we’re going to fight it.”
