Train union boss threatens 10 or 20 years of strife: ‘We’ll keep taking action until someone listens’
The boss of the train drivers’ union has threatened further industrial action, ahead of another week of disruption on the railways – which is set to impact Wimbledon too.
Rail passengers have been warned of disruption across six days between Monday and Saturday, as the Aslef Union, headed by Mick Whelan, initiates a nationwide ban on overtime working, hitting fifteen train operators.
Speaking to Sky News’ Kay Burley this morning, Whelan said that the Union would “keep taking action until someone listens.”
“If we have to whistle in the wind for five years, 10 years, 20 years, to get somebody to the table, this will be resolved at some point.”
The long running pay dispute concerns whether train drivers would accept a January offer from the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) of a four per cent pay increase over two years, taking train drivers’ salaries to £65,000 per year.
Aslef claim that the most recent offer would still represent a major real terms pay cut for workers due to inflation.
“It would still be a pay cut, wouldn’t it, because we all know that inflation has been running north of 10 per cent and was 13.8 per cent last year… if you aggregate it it would have been virtually a 25 per cent pay cut,” Whelan told Sky News.
The Union has repeatedly hit out at Transport Secretary Mark Harper and the government for not coming to the table for discussions.
Whelan said today that Harper’s premiership had done nothing to improve relations between sides, with the Union boss not seeing either rail minister Huw Merriman or Harper since before Christmas.
“I haven’t seen him before Christmas, I haven’t seen the rail minister since January 6… I can’t say I’m getting along better with people I haven’t met for six months.”
This weeks action follows widespread rail strikes across the sector, with Mick Lynch’s RMT also set to walk out on 20, 22 and 29 July.
As of today, the train drivers’ union currently has no set dates for future action but last months, Aslef members at ten operators backed further walk-outs.
A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, said “Aslef’s leadership continues to disrupt customers’ travel plans.”
“They rejected a fair and affordable offer without putting it to their members, which would take average driver base salaries for a 4 day week without overtime from £60,000 to nearly £65,000 by the end of 2023 pay awards.”
“We ask Aslef to recognise the very real financial challenge the industry is facing and work with us to deliver a better, more reliable railway with a strong long-term future.”
The government has previously argued that inflation matching pay rises would cost everyone more in the long term, and described the RDG’s January offer as fair and reasonable.
The government declined to comment.