Practice drivers will take strike motion on 30 September and 4 October to coincide with the Conservative Celebration’s convention in Manchester, a union has introduced.
Aslef mentioned the businesses affected by the strikes embody: Avanti West Coast; Chiltern Railways; c2c; CrossCountry; East Midlands Railway; Larger Anglia; GTR Nice Northern Thameslink; Nice Western Railway; Island Line; LNER; Northern Trains; Southeastern; Southern/Gatwick Specific; South Western Railway; TransPennine Specific; and West Midlands Trains.
In addition to putting, drivers on the rail community may also comply with an time beyond regulation ban on 29 September and from 2 to six October, which the union mentioned would “significantly disrupt the community” as a result of what they mentioned was the privatised prepare corporations’ failure to “make use of sufficient drivers to offer a correct service”.
The recent industrial motion will come as a blow for Rishi Sunak who will gave his first Conservative celebration convention as chief and prime minister disrupted by separate strikes by junior medical doctors and consultants.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper instantly criticised the brand new strikes and accused them of being “politically motivated”.
Posting on X, previously referred to as Twitter, he mentioned there was an “provide on the desk” to extend their pay to £65,000. “Nonetheless they strike, placing their very own jobs in danger.”
Mick Whelan, Aslef’s normal secretary, mentioned that whereas union members “remorse having to take this motion – we do not wish to lose a day’s pay, or disrupt passengers, as they attempt to journey by prepare – the federal government, and the employers, have compelled us into this place”.
“Our members haven’t, now, had a pay rise for 4 years – since 2019 – and that is not proper when costs have soared in that point.
“Practice drivers, completely fairly, need to have the ability to purchase now what they may purchase 4 years in the past.”
Junior medical doctors and consultants in England introduced that they are going to take joint strike motion for the primary time over 4 days throughout September and October – together with on 4 October – in what the British Medical Affiliation (BMA) mentioned was the primary joint strike between the professions in NHS historical past.
The strikes by Aslef are simply the most recent growth within the ongoing battle between the union and the federal government over pay and dealing situations.
There has already been extreme disruption to the rail community this summer season, with a 24-hour strike in early September coinciding with the final weekend of the summer season holidays.
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