A rail union has announced that further train strikes are to take place over the Christmas period after the latest round of negotiations collapsed.
Gary Jackson, lead organiser for the RMT in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, has accused the government of jeopardising negotiations at the “11th hour”.
Workers had been offered up to an 8% pay rise but it was conditional on vast changes to working conditions, including the closure of all ticket offices and the introduction of a one driver only operation.
Train strikes are due to take place on the 13,14,16,17 December and then from 6pm on Christmas Eve to 6am on the 27 December.
The industrial action over the Christmas period will mainly impact engineering works as few trains run on Christmas and Boxing Day.
Andrew Haines, Network Rail chief executive, said: “The RMT has deliberately chosen to try and ruin Christmas for millions of passengers and businesses.
“They’re also intent on inflicting a monumental act of harm on an industry still desperate to recover from post-Covid challenges by sabotaging a vital £100m programme of rail upgrades planned for Christmas Day and Boxing Day.”
Mr Jackson, 36, said: “Our members have been left with no other choice.
“We’ve not taken a day’s industrial action since October. The government, train operating companies and Network Rail have had plenty of opportunities to do a deal for us and our members.
“What they’ve done in the 11th hour, certainly on the train operating companies, absolutely torpedoed the deal by throwing in the one driver only operation.”
One driver only operation is when there are no other workers on the train apart from the driver.
Mr Jackson added: “If there’s any accidents, emergencies or accessibility issues, it’s down to the driver.
“When drivers are going 125 miles per hour down the East Coast mainline, the last thing that they want to do is stop the train in the middle of nowhere and go and sort something out.”
However, not everyone agrees with the RMT planned strike action.
Small business owner, Scott Saynor, 26, said: “I understand the unions and the workers need much better pay. But I think disrupting the working people is going about it wrong the way.”
He added: “I experienced the tube strikes, I was in London working down there, and as a small business owner myself, it just ruined me.”
To keep up to date with the latest information about the train strikes check https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/
