Train passengers brace for strike misery set to cost hospitality sector £132m

TRAIN passengers were today warned to brace themselves for a triple whammy of rail strikes, which are set to cause misery for commuters, holidaymakers, businesses and sports fans.

Members of the train drivers’ union ASLEF will tomorrow stage their latest walkout over pay and conditions, with further action planned on Saturday. Workers who belong to the RMT union, which represents conductors and station staff, are set to strike on Friday.

Trade association UK-Hospitality has warned that the strikes will cost pubs, restaurants and hotels at least £132 million in sales over half-term, bringing the total lost during the dispute to £3.25 billion.

The latest walkouts mean there are no national rail services between Manchester and London for the FA Cup Final between United and City at Wembley on Saturday. There are also no trains to Epsom Downs, where the Derby is taking place that day.

Former Transport Secretary and Epsom and Ewell MP Chris Grayling today said that disrupting Britain’s most prestigious flat race was a sign that “the unions are getting desperate”.

He told the Standard: “People will still find their way to Epsom. But the strikes are persuading people to abandon rail and in the end that will cost jobs.”

RMT members at Network Rail “overwhelmingly” voted to accept a revised pay offer earlier this year. It amounted to a 14.4 per cent wage rise for the lowest-paid workers and 9.2 per cent for the highest paid.

But the agreement did not mean an end to the strikes, as staff working for train companies are part of a separate dispute. The Department for Transport has accused union leaders of blocking these members from having a vote on a similar offer.

A Government source said: “We have worked hard to meet with the union leaders, listen to their concerns and facilitate new pay offers that are fair and reasonable — but the union leadership continues to block their members from having a vote on these offers.”

However, ASLEF argues that Westminster and the 15 train companies the union is in dispute with have not offered their drivers in England a salary increase since 2019. A spokesman said the Rail Delivery Group’s offer of a four per cent pay rise was “unfair” when “inflation is north of 10 per cent”.

Other public services are facing more walkouts. On Thursday, Unite members from Guy’s and St Thomas’, including nurses, are set to strike. Junior doctors in England will stage 72 hours of industrial action from 7am on June 14.

Today workers at St Mungo’s homeless charity launched a month-long strike after rejecting a “pitiful 2.25 per cent” pay offer. Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham, said: “Charity workers who should be on the streets helping the homeless have reached breaking point.”

Unions are getting desperate. Strikes are persuading people to abandon rail and in the end that will cost jobs Epsom and Ewell MP Chris Grayling