RMT members at SWR and GA vote for more strike action

RMT union members at South Western Railway and Greater Anglia have voted to continue their industrial actions.

The union was required to re-ballot staff under new legislation. At Greater Anglia 80% of members voted to strike, on a turnout of 80%. At SWR the mandate was less strong, with 73% of those who voted choosing more action, but with fewer than two in three members (63%) electing to take part in the ballot.

The next round of action will be over the Easter weekend, when union members at SWR will refuse to work on rest days from Good Friday to Easter Monday. The company aims to run a nearnormal service, although previous similar action has led to some delays and cancellations.

A spokesman for SWR said: “This result shows that an increasing number of guards want an end to this dispute. The way forward must now be for the RMT to work with us to develop the role of the guard, so we can all get on with the job of delivering a better railway.”

GA Service Delivery Director Richard Dean said: “We are disappointed, though it should be noted that the number in favour of strikes is smaller than before. We still hope we can resolve this issue by talking.”

Dean said GA would continue to run a full service during any proposed strike action.

RMT also confirmed two further days of strikes on Northern (on March 26 and 29), over what it called the extension of Driver Only Operation and the role of the safety-critical guard. The union claimed plans by Arriva would lead to half a million services a year running without a guard on board.

Separately, the union has agreed terms of reference for talks with Merseyrail at the conciliation service, ACAS. It said the company accepted for the first time considering the possibility of having a second member of staff on new trains. It said it would attend talks on that basis.