London, United Kingdom (UK)- The Aslef union has announced that its members are going to embark on a nationwide strike on Saturday the 1st of October and on Wednesday the 5th of October.
Services to be affected are Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, Greater Anglia, Great Western Railway, Hull Trains, LNER, London Overground, Northern Trains, Southeastern, TransPennine Express and West Midlands Trains.
“We would much rather not be in this position. We don’t want to go on strike withdrawing your labour, although a fundamental human right, is always a last resort for this trade union the train companies have been determined to force our hand.
They are telling train drivers to take a real-term pay cut. With inflation now running at 12.3 percent and set, it is said to go higher, these companies are saying that drivers should be prepared to work just as hard, for just as long, but for considerably less.
The companies with whom we are in dispute have not offered us a penny. It is outrageous that they expect us to put up with a real-term pay cut for the third year in a row,” said Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary.
However, the government has argued that significant pay rises can only be afforded if unions accept sweeping modernization, such as changes to working patterns.
Commuters who travel between London and Birmingham are already contending with major disruption after operator Avanti West Coast was forced to introduce a reduced timetable because of driver shortages.
Moreso, commuters have endured repeated walkouts in recent months because of mounting unrest between unions, train operating companies and the government.
The RMT and TSSA unions which are in their own disputes with the government and train operators over pay, conditions and possible job losses are also expected to restart their campaign of strikes soon.
Strikes have spread from the rail network this summer to cover a wide variety of activities from postal to dock workers.
Each union is battling to secure wage rises that will help its members combat the worst of the squeeze from the cost of living crisis.
The rate of inflation currently stands at 9.9 percent but is currently expected to return to double figures over the next few months as winter sets in despite government aid for household and business energy bills.
Hostilities in industrial relations were put on hold following the Queen’s untimely passing last Thursday, with unions cancelling strikes planned for September as a mark of respect.
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