Sunday trains hit by strike over pay

RAIL services were hit yesterday by the first in a series of strikes over a row about conductors’ pay.

The RMT union will also take industrial action for another five Sundays in a row, meaning services will be severely disrupted.

Yesterday, several major routes were axed, including Glasgow to Edinburgh, Inverness services to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, and journeys closer to Glasgow including to Cumbernauld.

A spokesman for ScotRail said: ‘Conductors will be taking part in the industrial action for six consecutive Sundays, from March 28 2021, over calls for overtime payment increases.

‘It means that services will be cancelled on several key routes and will have a significant impact on people who need to travel.’

The union said strike action was ‘rock solid’, and described operator ScotRail as ‘pig-headed’ and failing to treat staff with ‘equity and fairness’. It urged ScotRail to negotiate a deal to reward key workers who kept transport going throughout the pandemic.

General secretary Mick Cash said: ‘RMT ScotRail reps are reporting that this morning’s first phase of strike action in this fight for equality and workplace justice is 100 per cent rock solid.’

He said RMT union members expected the dispute ‘to be resolved, and swiftly’.