UK – The latest round of national strikes will take place this October on the first two weekends of the month. The RMT Union announced a strike for the entire week in early September, which could have been reduced to just one week had Southern Railway agreed to its demands.
On October 8th, 40,000 employees of Network Rail and 15 train operating companies will participate in a two-day strike.
The fresh strike date followed the announcement of action while the Conservative party conference was going on. Train drivers in the Aslef union will also go on strike over pay and working conditions.
Drivers from Aslef will be striking on Wednesday, October 5th, the last day of the conference in Birmingham.
The dispute appears to show no sign of resolution, despite tentative steps to establish dialogue between the government and unions, with the new transport secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, already holding meetings with the leaders of Aslef and the RMT.
Mick Lynch, the general secretary of the RMT, said: “We welcome this more positive approach from the government to engage with us as a first step to finding a suitable settlement. However, as no new offer has been tabled, our members have no choice but to continue this strike action.
“We will continue to negotiate in good faith, but the employers and government need to understand our industrial campaign will continue for as long as it takes.”
In other news, intercity operator Avanti West Coast said they are ready to restore services to schedules that have been damaged.
From the next Monday, 10 trains will be added daily to the busiest London-Manchester route. This will provide 40,000 more seats a week.
Avanti says that after the possible timetable change in December, they would run three trains an hour to Manchester, Birmingham trains about every half-hour, and restore direct service to north Wales.
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