More rail gloom as another union ‘jumps on the strike bandwagon’

THE prospect of a ‘summer of discontent’ on Britain’s railways grew last night after another union said it would ballot thousands of staff over strike action.

The Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) will consult more than 6,000 Network Rail workers in a dispute over pay, conditions and job security which could trigger walkouts from July.

Rail bosses accused the TSSA of ‘jumping on the strike bandwagon’ days before members of the RMT union stage the biggest walkout on Britain’s railways in a generation.

More than 40,000 RMT members at Network Rail and 13 train operators will strike on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, causing chaos for millions of passengers.

TSSA members at National Rail work in operational, control, management and safety critical roles. Announcing the TSSA’s ballot, general secretary Manuel Cortes said: ‘We could be seeing a summer of discontent across our railways if Network Rail don’t see sense and come to the table to face the concerns of their staff. Staff are asking for basic fair treatment... Fat cat bosses have so far refused these completely reasonable requests, leaving us with no option other than to ballot for industrial action.’

A Network Rail spokesman responded: ‘Now is not the time for the TSSA to be jumping on the RMT “strike bandwagon”. Positive pay talks were in full swing with a “no-strings” pay offer of 2.5 per cent on the table... so this news is premature and deeply disappointing.’

The TSSA ballot opens on June 20 and closes on July 11, with action possible from July 25 in the event of a ‘yes’ vote. A spokesman for the PM said the Government ‘is doing everything possible to encourage unions to step back from the precipice of this.’ Meanwhile, Labour’s continued refusal to condemn the strikes ran into its eighth day.