'We're in it for the long haul': Rail union boss warns strikes could last for years as workers walk out again
3 February 2023, 06:15 | Updated: 3 February 2023, 08:25
No rail services will run in large parts of the UK as train workers stage another strike.
Members from Aslef and Mick Lynch's RMT are walking out again over the ongoing dispute about pay and conditions.
Trains that are running are set to finish earlier than usual and there will be significantly reduced services.
The industrial action will affect most train companies in England, while services between England and Scotland and England and Wales will also be hit.
Train companies have told passengers they should not bother travelling by rail.
Frustrated commuters have been left wondering if there is any light at the end of the tunnel.
Mick Whelan, the general secretary of Aslef, told LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast: "I think we're in this for the long haul.
"How long's a piece of string? If we don't get pay rises for four years, will it be five, will it be six, will it be seven, would it be stupid to stop this now then restart it some time in the future because you lose any impetus you gained?
"If I look around the UK at the moment, it's the civil service, it's local government, it's the fire brigades, the NHS… this isn't just a rail problem, the Government's got a problem everywhere with the cost of living crisis."
Asked if this could rumble on for another year or two, he warned: "Unfortunately, yes. We will be guided by the people we represent."
Elsewhere, just under 2,000 Abellio bus drivers are walking out, affecting routes in south and west London, while in Scotland rolling teacher strikes will rumble on with education workers walking out in South Lanarkshire and the Western Isles.
The train companies that will not run any services are:
Avanti West Coast; Chiltern Railways
CrossCountry
East Midlands Railway
Gatwick Express
Great Northern
Heathrow Express
London Northwestern Railway
Northern
Southeastern
Southern
Thameslink, South Western Railway Island Line
TransPennine Express
West Midlands Railway
Greater Anglia, Great Western Railways and LNER will run a reduced service. Greater Anglia and GWR have advised passengers not to use their services.
South Western plans to run services on Friday but warned there could be significant disruption.
The rail industry has criticised unions for not accepting an 8% pay rise offer.
But Simon Weller, Aslef's assistant general secretary, said: "I don't know whether to point the finger of blame at the ineptitude of the Department for Transport or the Rail Delivery Group.
"We would struggle to recommend a deal of a 4% pay rise for last year and 4% this year if there were no conditions attached, but we are being asked to give up collective bargaining and effectively agree to a no-strike deal.
"Obviously it was going to be rejected - it was designed to fail."
He said the latest offer to unions would add a "significant" number of contracted hours to train drivers.
"We have been willing to include Sundays in the working week, but companies find it cheaper to have drivers working overtime on Sundays," he said of the idea of adding compulsory shifts on Sundays.
A Rail Delivery Group spokesperson said: "Having made an initial offer which would have taken average driver salaries from £60,000 to nearly £65,000, we had hoped the Aslef leadership would engage constructively to move talks forward, rather than staging more unnecessary strikes.
"We can only apologise for the disruption.
"To minimise the impact of the Aslef action, we advise passengers to check before they travel, allow extra time and find out when their first and last train will depart."
Rail workers walked out on Wednesday during mass strikes by workers across different sectors.
