Eurostar staff plan walkout for first weekend of school holidays

A EUROSTAR strike could ruin family holidays after staff announced a planned walkout during the first weekend of the school summer break.

Staff based at St Pancras International, in London, are to walk out for 24 hours on July 28, claiming they face “shocking and dangerous” working conditions because of service failures and breakdowns.

The strike is being organised by the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, and around 140 staff are involved in the dispute.

Many schools break up for the summer holidays on July 27, so families hoping to travel to the Continent by train could be caught up in the industrial action. For some schools, term ends on Wednesday July 25, so it will also be the first weekend of their summer holidays. Others finish this Friday.

The union claimed the international terminal at St Pancras had been reduced to “chaos”, with staff bearing the brunt of public anger over delays. Mick Cash, the RMT general secretary, said: “The conditions at St Pancras have been simply appalling in recent weeks, with dangerous levels of overcrowding on the concourse as services plunge into meltdown on the cusp of the busiest part of the year.

“RMT will not tolerate a position where our members are left to pick up the pieces due to corporate failures.”

The union said it was escalating the dispute by balloting train managers for industrial action over the same issue.

A Eurostar spokesman said: “We are aware of the proposed strike and are disappointed that this action is planned. We are keen to find a solution and have a meeting scheduled with the RMT.

“If the strike action goes ahead, our plan is to run a normal service so that all passengers booked to travel with Eurostar will be able to do so.”