Railway union workers industrial and strike action - 2022

[whole diary]

[stuving]

As I suspected, RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers)'s isn't the only version of what happened. This is from RDG^‡(resolve):

The Rail Delivery Group has responded to today's (21 November 2022) statement from the RMT.

A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, said:

“We have made real progress over the last fortnight and for the first time in months we can see the outline of a credible deal.

"Any strikes will only cause further misery for customers and struggling businesses in the run up to Christmas and beyond. The RMT leadership should now remove any uncertainty around Christmas and commit to protecting everyone’s first festive period post Covid from any strike disruption. 

"The alternative is a bleak winter of industrial action, making it harder to find workable solutions to bring about the much-needed changes that will help secure the railway’s future and unlock the funds for a pay offer. Revenues are still 20% down on 2019 level and this dispute has brought the industry’s post-pandemic recovery to a shuddering halt – with strikes since June resulting in lost revenue of £250-£300m.

"We urge the RMT leadership to stay at the negotiating table so we can build on that progress and end a dispute that is harming passengers and businesses, the industry, and their members.”

TSSA^» (Transport Salaried Staffs' Association - about) say they are prepared to keep talking.

[JayMac]

RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) have announced four 48hr strikes in December and January.

13-14 and 16-17 December.
3-4 and 6-7 January.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/nov/22/more-uk-rail-strikes-to-disrupt-travel-in-december-and-january




Edit note: I've renamed this topic to include all rail unions - a one stop shop for all rail union strike posts, information and debate. Also changed 'summer' to '2022/2023' to reflect the ongoing industrial action.

JayMac

[ChrisB]

It's reached the point where trains need to be in the right place for a prompt start up on the day after any strike....otherwise it'll be a late start up on the day in-between (yes, I realise that this is what the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) intend, hence my comment!)

[plymothian]

Also an overtime ban Sunday 18 December - 2 January inclusive.

[JayMac]

Not forgetting the ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about) strike this Saturday, 26th November, affecting twelve TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company), including GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway).

[TaplowGreen]

Busier motorways, more lost customers and less revenue for the railways.

I see ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about)'s strike on Saturday now affects "only" 11 train companies. Not sure who's dropped out.

[Surrey 455]

Busier motorways, more lost customers and less revenue for the railways.

I see ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about)'s strike on Saturday now affects "only" 11 train companies. Not sure who's dropped out.

London Overground.

From BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) News

What about the strike on Saturday?
Saturday's strike, called by the Aslef union over pay, involves train drivers working for:

Avanti West Coast - no services on the day
Chiltern Railways - no services
CrossCountry - no services
East Midlands Railway - no services
Great Western Railway - an "extremely limited" service
Greater Anglia - "heavily reduced" service
London North Eastern Railway - "limited" service
Northern Trains - no services
Southeastern - no services
Transpennine Express - "very limited" service
West Midlands Trains - no services
There may also be disruption on the days before and after the strike day.

Strike action at London Overground - which had been expected on Saturday - has been suspended while union members consider a new pay offer.

[grahame]

Edit note: I've renamed this topic to include all rail unions - a one stop shop for all rail union strike posts, information and debate. Also changed 'summer' to '2022/2023' to reflect the ongoing industrial action.

Thanks for that.   Ruefully, I found myself hoping the "2023" is enough and did a Google search for the longest strike.  Somewhat tangentially, it came up with a "School Strike" that lasted from 1914 to 1939 where the fired teachers took almost all of their pupils with them and set up an independent school.    I can't see a direct parallel, but it set me wondering if others (such as Go-op and the Unions) might set up their own open access train operations, but then you would still have the government owning the infrastructure.   It's a very different matter getting a new alternative school building to getting a new alternative railway infrastructure, though of course that solution WAS used in Victorian times!

[Jamsdad]

Well I was planning to get he train form Liskeard to Paddington on 14 December, and because I do need to make this journey, have managed to get a ticket for the National Express Coach . It s not a very appealing alternative.  I have to leave Liskeard at 0755 and dont get in  to London until 1530.( 7.5 hours)  No refreshments, but I do believe they a have a toilet!

[ChrisB]

From My London, via MSN

London Underground: Major stations including Heathrow and King's Cross St Pancras to be hit by extra strike this week

RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) union members who work at several key London Underground stations will take strike action this Friday (November 25) in a continued dispute over the non-backfilling of up to 600 positions which the union claims will compromise passenger and staff safety. The walkout is a culmination of a week-long overtime ban which started on Sunday (November 20).

Station staff at Victoria, Euston, Green Park, King's Cross St Pancras, Heathrow Terminals 2,3, Heathrow Terminal 4, Heathrow Terminal 5, Hatton Cross and Hounslow West will take part in the action, as well as staff in the London Underground 's special requirements team, which provides support across the network subject to demand (such as for major events).

Transport for London (TfL^» (Transport for London - about)) is advising passengers using these stations to check journeys before travelling, although the stations should remain open for most of the day. It only expects stations to have to close if available staff drop below the minimum levels at the start or end of the day. If this happens, Tube trains won't stop at the above stations.

As the strike only relates to London Underground station staff, National Rail (including London Overground and Elizabeth line) and Heathrow Express staff will operate as normal so non-Tube services will still be able to stop at affected stations. Euston Square Tube station will be open as normal, which is a five minute walk away from Euston.

continues....

[Electric train]

Rumour has it the blocker to the deal if the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about).  The DfT will not agree to the offer NR^» (Network Rail - home page) want to put the TU's

[ChrisB]

I think that is probably correct. What would make it more interesting is what that offer might be.

[Electric train]

I think that is probably correct. What would make it more interesting is what that offer might be.

The rumour is that it is something NR^» (Network Rail - home page) Board strongly believe the TU's would sign up to.

In the meantime, MP^▸ (Member of Parliament)'s have been given a £2200 a year pay rise and can claim expenses for Christmas parties

[ChrisB]

From Guardian's via MSN rolling news feed this afternoon

14:30
Here is a full summary of what Mick Lynch, the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) general secretary, said when he spoke to journalists after his meeting with Mark Harper, the transport secretary.

Lynch said the meeting with Mark Harper was “positive”. He said:

I would say it was a positive meeting in the sense that we’ve got rid of the bellicose nonsense that we used to have from Grant Shapps and his cohort, in his era, and we are now starting to get a dialogue.

But he said the RMT was no closer to calling off the strikes scheduled for December and January. He said that would not happen until a reasonable offer was on the table. He said:


If we call off the strikes, we’ll never get a settlement. We did that two weeks ago. We’ve changed our dates in response to public opinion. When the Queen passed, when we had the poppy day, we’ve done other things. We have not had a strike for seven weeks, and nothing has happened. So anyone that’s been involved in industrial relations knows that there has got to leverage and pressure at the table from both sides. That will create the compromises and the resolutions that we’re all looking for.

If I take these [strike] actions off without any outcome, my members won’t forgive me for doing that. And we know that the pressure will be off all the parties.

He said Harper had committed to giving the RMT a letter setting out a process towards a resolution of the rail dispute.

He said he wanted Harper to give the rail industry a fresh mandate to negotiate an end to the dispute. He said that although the RMT has been in talks with the Rail Delivery Group, which represents rail companies, it did not seem to have proper authority to negotiate. The individual companies were also saying they could not negotiate either, he said. He said he asked Harper to clarify who had authority to negotiate, and to set up a liaison group involving ministers. He went on:

[Harper] has got a legal responsibility for industrial relations, and the responsibility to set their mandate, ie what they can say, what they can offer, and what they can negotiate on at that table. So I’m hoping he’s going to do that, hopefully today … He needs to clarify in writing where he stands and where the industry stands when they are transacting with us in those discussions.

He said he did not expect Harper to be at the negotiating table with him. But he did expect ministers to be “engaged in the process”.

He claimed the current negotiating situation was “surreal” because the employers did not have a mandate to negotiate a resolution. He said the Rail Delivery Group had told the RMT it was not able to engage in collective bargaining. And the individual rail companies said they could not engage in collective bargaining either, he said. He went on:

So this is a completely strange and surreal situation. I’m responsible for my union, and I stand in front of you and take whatever you want to throw at me. Nobody from the employers is prepared to stand in front of me and take the responsibility for settling this dispute. That’s what we need. We need somebody of authority, which has to start with the secretary of state and the rail minister, who I want to work with positively, to take responsibility for settling this dispute.

He said Harper had denied that the Department for Transport was the “blockage” preventing a solution to the dispute. Lynch said someone seemed to be blocking a solution, but he said it was not clearly exactly who it was.

He said he had urged Harper to speed up negotiations. The talks have been running for six months already, he said. “And we have had not one document put across the table. That has to change,” he said.

He said jobs, and terms and conditions, were more important to his members than pay levels. He said:

My members are telling me you’ve got to secure me my job, and you’ve got to get me a set of terms and conditions that are acceptable, and then we can talk about what we’re getting paid. If you haven’t got a job, you don’t get a pay rise anyway.

He said the train operators were “only interested in profit”. He said:

They made profit throughout Covid and they made profit throughout these disputes, where they have been indemnified for every day of strike action. This lot in the Department of Transport have been paying all their costs while all the businesses in London and across this country have been suffering losses, while the train operators have had all of their revenue protected by this government.

He said plans to cut 50% of maintenance inspections on the railway were not acceptable.

He said he would urge passengers disrupted by the rail strikes to contact Tory MPs^▸ (Member of Parliament) and urge them to “get these ministers to get us a settlement”.

14:37
Mark Harper, the transport secretary, has said his meeting with Mick Lynch, the RMT general secretary, was productive. In a clip for broadcasters, he adopted a consensual tone, stressing the “shared” objectives of both sides, but did not offer commitments on substance. He said:


[Lynch] and I both agreed that this was a productive meeting. It was the first one that that we’ve had. I think it struck the right tone.

I think there was a shared agreement in the meeting. We both want to have a thriving railway that is sustainable for the future, that serves passengers, that serves the country and also provides good, well-paid jobs for the people that he represents. I think there’s a lot of shared agreement there.

But we need to have the two sides, the trade unions and the employers, sit down, agree on the detail, so that we can bring this dispute to an end. I think that’s where we both have a shared interest.

15:05
The Department for Transport has now sent out a news release with a statement from Mark Harper about his meeting with Mick Lynch, the RMT general secretary. It mostly echoes what he told the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) (see 2.32pm), but it includes a line saying he thinks “there is a deal to be done”. He says:


We have common ground - we both want the dispute to end and we both want a thriving railway which delivers for passengers and workers alike. To achieve this though, we need to work together, across the entire industry to ensure our railway industry thrives.

There is a deal to be done, and I believe we will get there – I want to facilitate the RMT and the employers to reach an agreement and end the dispute for the benefit of the travelling public.

[grahame]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

Train strikes: Minister hopes Christmas walkouts can be stopped

[snip]

But Mr Harper has now agreed to help both sides come back to the table and will write to RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) boss Mick Lynch setting out the terms under which talks can take place.

Mr Harper said there was a "shared agreement" that the dispute had gone on for too long, but would not commit to offering more government money to help resolve the dispute.

Instead he maintained that industry reform was needed to deliver the savings which would enable a "reasonable pay rise" for staff.

[snip]

So as I read it, they're having talks about talks, and whilst they share an agreement that the dispute has gone on too long (!!) the government - quoted with Mr Harper as a spokesman - maintains that there are unchanged (?) pre-requisites for a solution on their side.

Pity the poor passenger, and the long term future of the rail industry and those who work there - but let's hope and encourage works towards a solution - that there may be opportunities in discussions to move forward.