CHAOS FEAR AS STRIKES SPREAD
Nurses and rail threats
® A WAVE of crippling strikes is set to cause chaos across Britain.
Rail staff, nurses and posties could all down tools in a string of disputes over the coming days.
Staff at two train firms yesterday announced they would be staging walkouts at the end of the month.
Nurses are also starting a vote on industrial action and Royal Mail staff are in a pension dispute.
Workers at Virgin Trains East Coast announced a 48-hour walkout on April 28 and 29.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport Union said it had been seeking “explicit clarification” from Virgin over the role of guards. RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said: “It is simply appalling that Virgin East Coast have refused to give the most basic assurances on the safety-critical role of the guard on their trains.”
But David Horne, managing director for Virgin Trains on the East Coast, said: “The changes are part of the customer-centric revolution under way on the East Coast.” RMT members at Arriva Rail North are to stage a fresh 24hour strike in a row about driveronly trains on April 28.
NHS staff have started to vote whether to take action over a continuing cap on their pay. Around 270,000 members of the Royal College of Nursing are being asked for their views on how to respond to a further below-inflation rise.
RCN General Secretary Janet Davies said: “Patients won’t get the care they deserve from a workforce short on numbers and low on morale.
“If the Government expects to fill the soaring number of vacant jobs, it must value nursing staff more than it has in recent years.”
Meanwhile, the Royal Mail is balloting for strikes over changes to its pension scheme.
The Communication Workers Union said any attempt to impose change without agreement will face the “strongest possible opposition”.