Fresh travel misery for rail users as train drivers walkout over pay on eve of Eurovision final
12 May 2023, 09:47 | Updated: 12 May 2023, 10:13
Rail passengers across Britain face fresh disruption today as workers from the Aslef union stage the first of a wave of strikes in a long-running row over pay.
Members of the union working at over a dozen train operators will walkout on Friday, with further strikes scheduled for May 31 and June 3, on the day of the FA Cup final.
Meanwhile, RMT members will also stage industrial action on Saturday as thousands travel to Liverpool for the Eurovision Song Contest final.
Rail users have been urged to check the status of their route before setting off today and tomorrow.
Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said train operators were to the blame for the strike action.
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"We do not want to go on strike - we do not want to inconvenience passengers, we have families and friends who use the railway too, and we believe in investing in rail for the future of this country," Mr Whelan said.
"But the blame for this action lies, fairly and squarely, at the feet of the employers who have forced our hand over this by their intransigence.
"It is now up to them to come up with a more sensible, and realistic, offer and we ask the government not to hinder this process."
The union said the 4 per cent pay rise offered was "risable and obviously unacceptable".
"We have been negotiating with employers - the train operating companies - for many months on pay.
Mr Whelan added: "On several companies we have managed to come to an agreement, and on several others, multi-year deals have been honoured."
Huw Merriman thinks ASLEF deal is fair
"Unfortunately a number of companies still have their hands tied by the Department for Transport and aren't able to negotiate a reasonable deal with Aslef members.
"We are still prepared to negotiate in good faith but, unfortunately, as we have been unable to come to an agreement, we have had to consider industrial action."
Transport minister Huw Merriman apologised to anyone affected by the strike action, and said that the Government has tabled offers or allowed the employers to table offers ministers believe are "fair and reasonable".
“Some of those offers have been put through to members and accepted," he said. "But in these particular two circumstances, the union leaders refused to do so.
“We’re calling for them to do just that, put them to the members, see if they’re accepted, and if they are, this ends the action.”
Rail Delivery Group Chairman Steve Montgomery offered an apology to customers for the strikes, and acknowledged they would cause "disappointment and frustration" for people attending Eurovision and FA Cup final.
"While we are doing all we can to keep trains running, unfortunately there will be reduced train services across the network between Friday 12 May and Saturday 3 June, so our advice is to check before you travel," he said.
Labour's shadow health minister Wes Streeting said:"The challenge we've got is the government, in terms of its industrial relations, makes the same mistakes over and over again, refusing to sit down and negotiate at all, allowing the disruption to unfold, and then finally concluding that it's time to sit down and talk."
It comes after it was announced on Thursday that train services run by TransPennine Express will be brought under Government control, due to months of "continuous cancellations",
The service has been severely affected by a ban on drivers who are members of the Aslef union volunteering to do paid overtime shifts.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said the DfT has played its part, "but Aslef now need to play theirs" by cancelling the strikes and lifting the ban on rest day working.
But Mr Whelan accused the minister of trying to blame the union, "rather than the company's inept management - for its many problems".
