New rail strikes confirmed for Greater London and most of England on 15 and 17 September
More than 40,000 railway workers at Network Rail and 14 other operators will strike on 15 and 17 September over jobs, salaries and working conditions.
The action is expected to effectively shut down both London and the UK’s network as on 15 September the walkout will coincide with the train drivers’ strike.
Operational and support staff announced a 24-hour walkout for 26 September, on one of days of the Labour Party Conference.
The RMT strikes will affect the following services: Chiltern Railways, Cross Country Trains, Greater Anglia, LNER, East Midlands Railway, c2c, Great Western Railway, Northern Trains, South Eastern, South Western Railway, Transpennine Express, Avanti West Coast, West Midlands Trains and Govia Thameslink – including Gatwick Express.
Staff at Hull Trains and Arriva Rail London will also walkout on 15 September as part of a separate dispute.
According to the RMT, negotiations between union bosses and the industry are ongoing but have yet to deliver a breakthrough.
However, the union remains open to negotiations.
“Our members have no choice but to continue this strike action,” said RMT’s general secretary
“Network Rail and the train operating companies have shown little interest this past few weeks in offering our members anything new in order for us to be able to come to a negotiated settlement.”
Commenting on the announcement a spokesperson for the Department for Transport said union leaders were choosing “self-defeating, coordinated strike action over constructive talks” yet again.
While Network Rail said it wasn’t fair to ask taxpayers or passengers for more money and that its latest offered a two-year 8 per cent pay rise, “with heavily discounted travel and a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies.”
Steve Montgomery, chair of the Rail Delivery Group, said: “We absolutely want to give our people a pay rise and we know they are facing a squeeze – but the RMT must recognise that with revenue consistently at 20% below pre-covid levels, the only solution lies in long-overdue reforms that will put the industry on a sustainable footing and improve services for passengers.
“Everybody wants to see the industry and its people thrive – we ask the RMT to do the right thing, call off these damaging strikes and work with us to make that happen.”