UK train drivers set to hold another strike in January

Rail companies and unions edged closer towards a deal yesterday with bosses at Network Rail hinting that they had put together a package that met one of the RMT’s key demands to end strike action.

Train drivers at 15 UK rail companies are set to hold another one-day strike in early January in their ongoing dispute over pay.

The planned action by members of the Aslef union will take place on 5 January, which falls between two strikes being held by the RMT union on 3-4 and 6-7 January.

Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef, said: “We don’t want to go on strike but the companies have pushed us into this place. They have not offered our members at these companies a penny – and these are people who have not had an increase since April 2019.”

The Aslef strike will affect the following operators: Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway, Greater Anglia, GTR Great Northern Thameslink, London North Eastern Railway, Northern Trains, Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express, South Western Railway, SWR Island Line, TransPennine Express and West Midlands Trains.

Whelan said that calling this latest strike action was “a last resort” and blamed the “intransigent attitude” of the train operating companies for failing to resolved the dispute.

Meanwhile RMT workers are set to go on strike again later this week in their own separate dispute with train companies and Network Rail over pay, conditions and jobs.

Train drivers at 15 UK rail companies are set to hold another one-day strike in early January in their ongoing dispute over pay.

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