Railway union workers industrial and strike action - 2022

[whole diary]

[ellendune]

I think the Tories will struggle to pin it on Labour given the Opposition Leadership's at best ambiguous attitude towards the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers)'s actions, I am sure they will try but let's face it, Lynch etc and Starmer are hardly fellow travellers, in any sense next week!

You may be right, but they are certainly trying. 

[stuving]

For completeness, these are the timescales of TSSA^» (Transport Salaried Staffs' Association - about)'s relevant ballots. Other railway employers can be found via the TSSA website:

TSSA has served notice to ballot almost five hundred workers at Great Western Railway (GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)) for strike action and action short of strike in a dispute over pay, conditions and job security.

The union is demanding a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies for 2022, no unagreed changes to terms and conditions, and a pay increase which reflects the rising cost of living.

Ballots open: 24 June 2022
Ballots close: 12 July 2022
The earliest that industrial action could be taken is 26 July 2022.

These ballot follows hot on the heels of similar announcements in Network Rail, Cross Country, East Midlands Railway, West Midlands Trains, and Avanti West Coast, Northern, LNER^» (London North Eastern Railway - about) and C2C in an escalating dispute across the railway.

Rail union TSSA has served notice to ballot over 6,000 staff at Network Rail for strike action and action short of strike in a dispute over pay, conditions and job security.

The ballot comes as part of an escalating dispute with Network Rail and the wider rail industry, which could result in widespread disruption across Britain’s rail network. TSSA’s members work in operational, control, management and safety critical roles on rail services across Britain.

TSSA is demanding a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies for 2022, no unagreed changes to terms and conditions, and a pay increase which reflects the rising cost of living. Network Rail staff last had a pay rise between two and three years ago (it varies between grades) and also worked throughout the coronavirus pandemic as key workers.

Members are being asked to cast two votes: one on strike action, another on action short of strike. The timetable for the ballot is:
Ballot opens: 20 June 2022
Ballot closes: 11 July 2022
In the event of a yes vote, strike action could take place as early as 25 July 2022

[Birdie100]

Apologies if this has been covered before but how will the mechanics of the strike work in practice, particularly with respect to the signallers? I assume tomorrow (Monday) will run as normal, but ordinarily I’d assume the signallers would handover shifts overnight. I’d have thought every last train out on the network must be able to return before the last signallers clocks off? Presumably the ‘shutdown’ late tomorrow will not be dissimilar to winding down for the Christmas/ Boxing Day holiday? The very few signallers not striking then run the skeleton service left, with I’d have thought minimum staffing eg at least 2 present in the case they need a break?

[IndustryInsider]

Signalling managers will cover most of the TVSC^» (Thames Valley Signalling Centre - about) and boxes that are planned to remain open during the strike.

RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) members booking on before 23:59 in the eve of a strike day will be expected to do so and remain until the end of their shift, so with many night shifts starting at the traditional time of 10pm or thereabouts, getting trains to final destinations shouldn’t be an issue on Monday night.

[ChrisB]

Interestingly, most TOCS *are* closing down early, to be back in their stabling no later than midnight.

Also to note, that Hull Trains have settled with the union & their ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about) strike has been called off after succcessful negotiations. I wonder what their deal was?

[IndustryInsider]

Interestingly, most TOCS *are* closing down early, to be back in their stabling no later than midnight.

Are you referring to tonight’s end of service that was being discussed or later on in the week?

A quick check of GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), SWR^» (South Western Railway - about), and Chiltern shows (I think) all their trains that terminate between midnight and gone 2am currently running normally tonight.  The 00:32 Paddington to Oxford is one such example.  There are however some ‘signaller taken ill’ cancellations a little earlier on affecting some service through Reading.

[grahame]

And so the first strike day.  As I write prior to 07:00, nothing running.  Ironically, no reported short term changes on JourneyCheck for once - no cancellations, no short runs, no trains shorter than usual or running without normal toilet or catering facilities.   Simply no trains ...

[Electric train]

And so the first strike day.  As I write prior to 07:00, nothing running.  Ironically, no reported short term changes on JourneyCheck for once - no cancellations, no short runs, no trains shorter than usual or running without normal toilet or catering facilities.   Simply no trains ...

For the contingency to be 'reliable' 12 hours is the maximum that can be covered, the staff and managers who are working are still governed by Network Rails policy, which is based on legislation with its origins from The 'Hidden Report'

Guidance on the Management of Door-to-Door Work & Travel Time. These
are set out below:
No-one shall work more than 13 consecutive turns of duty in any 14-day period.
No more than 12 hours to be worked per turn of duty/shift.
A minimum rest period of 12 hours between shifts including any travelling time. This may be reduced to 8 hours at
the weekly shift changeover, in the case of staff working a shift pattern which rotates or alternates on a weekly basis.
 

[Marlburian]

Popped into Tilehurst Station at 0715 this morning on my way to the Big Shop. I was surprised to see that the screen offered a good range of services. Had "they" bothered to change it, I thought. A couple turned up with suitcases; optimists, I thought.

Just checked on Realtime trains, and there seems to have been reasonable service both ways since 0756 this morning. The 0122 also ran.

Might have to revise my revised plans for tomorrow, when I was resigned to not being able to get to Twyford by train for an environmental task close to the station. (Usually my tasks out that way involve a 20-minute walk from the station to Ruscombe.)

[Hafren]

I had a look at RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) earlier to see how things were going. Something that grabbed my attention was the train formations; there's a 2 car on the remnants of the CDF^» (Cardiff - next trains)-PMH route, and several 5 cars on intercity routes. A bit irritating when the operators are generally advising people to expect busy trains, on a day when the stock utilisation rate is well below the usual, but it's understandable that positioning stock for an optimal service start may be difficult today (and I've no idea what actual loadings have been like today). I hope the 5 car appearances on journeys serving Castle Cary don't persist later this week! Contrast with SWR^» (South Western Railway - about); a look at Waterloo shows almost exclusively maximum length 10/12 car trains.

[ChrisB]

Possibly something to do with the leasing arrangement with Hitachi & how much notice needs giving in order for them to turn out trains of different lengths to 'usual'?

[IndustryInsider]

Might have to revise my revised plans for tomorrow, when I was resigned to not being able to get to Twyford by train for an environmental task close to the station. (Usually my tasks out that way involve a 20-minute walk from the station to Ruscombe.)

An hour or so sat at Twyford during the day today and you could be forgiven for not being aware a strike is on.  Sixteen trains an hour serving or passing through the station.

[broadgage]

Possibly something to do with the leasing arrangement with Hitachi & how much notice needs giving in order for them to turn out trains of different lengths to 'usual'?

If so, then hitachi should be told firmly where to go.
Their new trains have been a miserable failure in general availability, and they should therefore be bending over backwards to be as helpful as possible, and NOT putting up more obstacles.

[Phantom]

Does anyone know what potential dates strikes could be held after this week?
I am going to London on the 30th (from WsM) and was looking to sort other days out by train soon too

[nickswift99]

Unions are required to give 14 days notice of action, so you can safely assume that there will be no further strike action after this week until at least the 6th July.

Of course, the unions currently in dispute may well also be taking actions short of striking which may make services less reliable.