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Employees of five railway companies have decided to extend their strike for half a year due to ongoing disagreements regarding compensation and work terms.
Aslef reports that their members on Chiltern, C2C, East Midlands, Northern, and TransPennine railways have overwhelmingly voted to continue the strike action that began in July 2022.
Labor organizations engaged in conflicts must hold another vote among their members every half a year to determine if they want to continue with their strike.
The train conductors are currently in disagreement with the 14 train operating companies controlled by the UK government, which are represented by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG). Despite an offer being made in April 2023, no progress has been made as it was immediately rejected. The offer included a small salary increase with the condition of implementing comprehensive changes to working procedures.
In the most recent voting, the lowest level of support for additional strikes was 89.4% at C2C, a railway connecting London and south Essex. All other percentages were above 90%.
Among all eligible members, the largest percentage in agreement for strikes were from Northern (72%) and TransPennine Express (73%) in the northern region of England. These companies are managed by the government. C2C had the lowest proportion at 63%.
Mick Whelan, the general secretary of Aslef, announced the voting numbers and stated that train drivers have once again clearly rejected the unreasonable offer made by the Rail Delivery Group and the train operating companies that we are in disagreement with in April of last year.
The RDG was aware that the proposal would not be accepted because we had already informed them that attempting to claim all of the terms and agreements we had worked out over time would not be acceptable.
“Our members have consistently voted in favor of strikes since then. Therefore, it is disingenuous of Mark Harper, the transport secretary, to claim that the offer should have been presented to the members.”
It is clear that drivers would not repeatedly vote for industrial action if they believed the offer was satisfactory. However, they do not believe this to be the case.
“That proposal was unsuccessful in April of last year – and I believe Mr. Harper is aware of that.”
However, Mr. Whelan extended a gesture of reconciliation to the ministers and employers, stating, “We are still receptive and ready to discuss a modified proposal, as always.”
We are requesting a meeting with either the secretary of state for transport or the rail minister, Huw Merriman. Despite our attempts, Mr. Harper has not communicated with us since December 2022, Mr. Merriman has not been present in our discussions since January 2023, and the RDG has not engaged with us since April of last year.
“Presently, we are inviting Mr. Harper, Mr. Merriman, the RDG, and the TOCs to engage in a dialogue with us. Let’s gather around the table and discuss. We all want to avoid further strikes, and we have the authority to take industrial action if necessary, although it is not our preferred option.”
A representative from the Rail Delivery Group stated that they aim to increase the wages of their employees. However, the leaders of Aslef must understand that with taxpayers currently providing an additional £54 million per week to maintain services after the pandemic, any salary increase must be reasonable and able to be maintained.
Rather than engaging in further harmful industrial actions that will only cause significant inconvenience for both our customers and employees, we urge the Aslef leaders to collaborate with us in finding a resolution to this conflict. Together, we can reach a fair agreement that will bring about the necessary changes for improved reliability and punctuality of our services, and secure a prosperous future for our workforce.
The Independent has requested a reply from the Department for Transport regarding the Aslef announcement.
Because of the national rail strikes that started in the summer of 2022, a significant number of trips have been called off. The UK economy has suffered a major loss of billions of pounds, especially for hospitality companies. Additionally, taxpayers are funding a deteriorating and undependable railway system at a rate of £90 per second, on top of the usual public funding.
According to a quick survey on social media conducted by The Independent, 2,142 individuals responded and one-third of them stated that they will reduce their travel permanently once the industrial action comes to a close.
Source: independent.co.uk
