Unions and rail bosses in new war of words over threatened strikes
A NEW war of words broke out last night as a rail union announced another series of strikes in its long-running dispute over the use of guards on Northern Rail’s trains.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport union said its members would walk out for three days from July 8, and accused Northern of “digging its heels” in over committing to a second member of staff in carriages.
But the company said it had invited the union to talks and that it had guaranteed jobs, current pay and annual pay reviews. The operator said it would “keep customers on the move as much as possible” during the Saturday, Sunday and Monday strikes on the eve of the busy Great Yorkshire Show.
Richard Allan, Northern’s deputy managing director, said: “The RMT’s dispute will be solved by talking, not by unnecessary strike action which impacts our customers, our employees, businesses and the economy of the North.”
He added: “We are deeply disappointed and hugely frustrated that RMT is choosing to cause more pain for our colleagues and customers rather than get round the table to talk first.”
The union’s general secretary, Mick Cash, claimed Northern’s parent company, Arriva, had “upped the ante” by “demanding” it attended talks to discuss the implementation of proposals to which it was opposed.
The union has been in dispute with Southern Rail over the roles of guards for more than a year, crippling its services into and out of the capital. Northern has been hit by three strikes this year. The union has said that its previous walk-outs had been “highly successful”, although trains on many routes continued to a near normal timetable, until around 5pm.