The train drivers’ union ASLEF has called another 24-hour strike at 12 train operating companies on 26 November.
ASLEF general secretary Mick Whelan said: ’We regret that passengers will be inconvenienced for another day. We don’t want to be taking this action. Withdrawing our labour is always a last resort for a trade union.
’We have come to the table, as we always will, in good faith but while the industry continues to make no offer – due to the dodgy deal they signed with the DfT – we have no choice but to take strike action again.
‘They want drivers to take a real terms pay cut. With inflation now well into double figures, train drivers who kept Britain moving through the pandemic are now being expected to work just as hard this year as last year but for less.’
The Rail Delivery Group responded: ‘We are incredibly frustrated. We regret Aslef’s decision, which will cause real disruption to passengers and hit its members’ pay packets. Instead of staging more counterproductive strike action which increases the very real financial challenge the industry is facing, we ask them to work with us to secure both a pay deal and the changes needed it for it to thrive in the long-term and improve reliability across the network.’
The companies affected are Avanti West Coast; Chiltern Railways; CrossCountry; East Midlands Railway; Great Western Railway; Greater Anglia; LNER; London Overground; Northern; Southeastern; TransPennine Express and West Midlands Trains.
Meanwhile, ASLEF members at LNER will be refusing to work any overtime which is not part of a contract from 27 November, in a dispute over the way overtime is arranged.
However, ScotRail has reached agreement with the RMT that its pay offer will be put to the union’s members through a referendum. The RMT’s overtime ban and any proposed strikes will be suspended until the outcome of the vote is known.
There would be an average pay increase of 7.5 per cent for general grades, which include conductors, ticket examiners and station staff. Salaries for lower paid staff would increase by more than 8.5 per cent.