Train Drivers Union ASLEF Announces December Strikes
Train Station Platform (Source: George Hodan// Public Domain Pictures)
Train drivers are to stage a walkout in December due to an ongoing dispute over pay.
ASLEF, the train driver’s union, announced a “rolling programme of one-day strikes” between 2 and 8 December.
The union also announced its members will refuse to work overtime from Friday 1 to Saturday 9 December.
Which train operations will be affected on what day?
- East Midlands Railway and LNER on Saturday 2 December
- Avanti West Coast, Chiltern, Great Northern Thameslink, and West Midlands Trains on Sunday 3 December
- C2C and Greater Anglia on Tuesday 5 December
- Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express, SWR main line, SWR depot drivers, and Island Line on Wednesday 6 December at
- CrossCountry and GWR on Thursday 7 December
- Northern and TPT on Friday 8 December
After 18 months, the dispute over a pay increase has made little progress.
In the spring, the union members rejected an offer that included a range of amendments in working conditions, a 4% salary increase backdated to 2022, and a 4% raise for 2023.
Mick Whelan, ASLEF secretary, says, “The RDG’s offer – a land grab for all our terms and conditions – was made in the full knowledge that it couldn’t – and wouldn’t – be accepted.”
“Our members have spoken, and we know what they think. Every time they vote – and they have voted overwhelmingly – for strike action in pursuit of a proper pay rise it is a clear rejection of the offer that was made in April,” he said.
The drivers’ union is “determined to win this dispute” of securing a “significant pay” for their drivers.
Rail Delivery Group (RDG), who made the offer in April, says it was “fair and affordable.”
They added the strike is “wholly unnecessary. And would disrupt customers and businesses ahead of the vital festive period.”
Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UK Hospitality, urges to avoid December strikes.
She says, “These strikes will hit hospitality businesses at the start of the critical festive period, costing the sector up to £800m.”
Whelan says, “We will continue to take industrial action until the train companies – and/or the government – sits down and negotiates with us in good faith.”
