Southern rail claims victory over the RMT, giving itself a pat on the back for its service
Southern rail has labelled the ongoing industrial action by the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) as "impotent and ineffective", while bragging about how many trains it had managed to run in spite of the strikes.
The RMT held its latest walkout on Wednesday, this time a 24-hour downing of tools, taking its tally to 29 strikes.
Fears have resurfaced that the network is set for a complete shutdown once again, after Aslef, another union involved in the dispute, voted against a deal over the role of guards on trains.
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Govia, Southern rail's owner, had finally managed to come to an agreement with the leaders of Aslef earlier this month after its action to ban overtime and go on strike brought services to a complete halt.
But last Thursday, members of the union rejected the deal brokered by Aslef's leaders.
And throughout the discussions with Aslef, Govia has kept the RMT at arm's length in an attempt to deal with the union whose industrial action caused the Go-ahead owned firm a greater headache.
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But today, Govia ramped up its rhetoric against the RMT.
A spokesperson for the firm hailed the fact Southern had run nine out of 10 services during the RMT's latest walkout, adding this was despite the fact nearly half of the network's newly branded "onboard supervisors" and conductors did not report for work.
The RMT leadership should recognise these facts and that our passengers are noticing that the RMT's action against them is increasingly impotent and ineffective. The union should now bring their saga of strikes to an end.
Read more: The strike saga continues: Members of Aslef union reject Southern rail deal
In the Aslef vote, 54 per cent of drivers voted against the terms negotiated by the union's leader, Mick Whelan. In the wake of the decision he said: “We understand and support the decision arrived at democratically by our members and will now work to deliver a resolution in line with their expectations.”
However, Govia said on Monday "the lines of communication are open" with fresh talks planned to avert further industrial action by drivers.