Railway staff unions industrial and strike action - 2023

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From the "On this day" at the top of our forum pages

On this day - 16th Jan (1979) - Winter of discontent - 24 hour rail strike

https://libcom.org/article/1978-1979-winter-discontent
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_of_Discontent

Similarities?   Differences?   Anything to learn from what happened after that winter?

[grahame]

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

Train drivers to go on strike in February

Train drivers are to strike on 1 and 3 February after a pay offer was rejected by the union Aslef.

[ChrisB]

From Rail Advent

Train drivers union, ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about), has announced that it has rejected a new proposal from train operators and has announced new strike dates in February.

Strikes will now take place on the 1st and 3rd February 2023.

The strikes will affect Avanti West Coast; Chiltern Railways; CrossCountry; East Midlands Railway; Great Western Railway; Greater Anglia; GTR Great Northern Thameslink; London North Eastern Railway; Northern Trains; Southeastern; Southern/Gatwick Express; South Western Railway (depot drivers only); SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) Island Line; TransPennine Express; and West Midlands Trains.

The strikes are part of the ongoing dispute over pay and conditions, with 6 strike days already held.

Mick Whelan, general secretary of ASLEF, said: ‘The proposal is not and could not ever be acceptable but we are willing to engage in further discussions within the process that we previously agreed.’

‘It’s now clear to our members, and to the public, that this was never about reform or modernisation but an attempt to get hundreds of millions of pounds of productivity for a 20% pay cut while taking away any hope of the union having any say in the future. Irreparable harm has been done to the integrity of the negotiating process and the future ability to negotiate an appropriate way forward, but we make ourselves available anyway.

‘Not only is the offer a real-terms pay cut, with inflation running north of 10%, but it came with so many conditions attached that it was clearly unacceptable. They want to rip up our terms and conditions in return for a real-terms pay cut! It was clearly a rushed offer, made just before our meeting with the minister, and not one, it seems to me, that was designed to be accepted. Our members at these companies have not had an increase since 2019, despite soaring inflation, and it is time the companies – encouraged, perhaps, by the government – sat  down with us and got serious.

‘That is the way – and the only way – to end this dispute.’

It'll be interesting to see how TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) treat the special offer Advance tickets sold for these days (refund / move date free) and for the day after when services start up much later & bookings made on earlier trains.

[grahame]

Also from RailAdvent

The RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) Union has announced that 14 train operators will be affected by strike action during February.

Strike action will take place on the 1st and 3rd February 2023, which are the same dates as those announced by ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about) earlier today.

The strike on the 1st February coincides with a TUC day of action where several other unions are also striking.

[ChrisB]

I', sure their members are scratching their heads - with very few trains running, disruption is already assured, so aren't thery giving up 2 days pay for extremely little extra effect? What a waste of two days pay - surely far more disruptive to strike on different days to create further disruption worth giving up pay for?

[grahame]

I', sure their members are scratching their heads - with very few trains running, disruption is already assured, so aren't thery giving up 2 days pay for extremely little extra effect? What a waste of two days pay - surely far more disruptive to strike on different days to create further disruption worth giving up pay for?

To some extent I am scratching my head too.   

I am noting that Wednesday 1st February is being styled as a national day of action with many other groups taking action and from a solidarity point of view, there is logic in the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) asking their members to withdraw their labour that day.  Having said which, with so many other groups not travelling to work either, does that lessen the effect of the strike that day by transport workers and are we looking at something that has some thin parallels to the extreme public holidays of 25th and 26th December?

[plymothian]

If you read the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) website, it's RMT train drivers that are striking at the same time as ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about).  Currently a strike for 'other' grades has not been called.

[ChrisB]

Thanks, that makes more sense! Now why didn’t even the rail presd pick that up I wonder

[grahame]

From GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) ...

Dear Graham
 
You may have seen in the media, that ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about) (train drivers) will be taking strike action on Wednesday 1st February and Friday 3rd February.  RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) train drivers will also strike on the same days.
 
As this is train drivers, it is very likely that we will have no service whatsoever on the vast majority of our network on both dates.  We are hoping that we might be able to operate a limited service from Reading to Basingstoke, Reading to Oxford and London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads. This is not yet confirmed. We will let you know as soon as we have details.
 
Our dedicated strike page at www.gwr.com/strike will be kept updated including information on refunds and when journey planners will be updated. We will also be issuing traditional media, social media, on board station announcements and posters to ensure customers are aware.
 
If you are able to share our updates from our Twitter account at www.twitter.com/gwrhelp or update your own networks in whatever way possible that would be greatly appreciated.
 
We will be in touch again once we have the train plan confirmed, and again thank you for all your help getting the information about the new dates out.
 
Best wishes
 
Jxxx

[old original]

Not really a surprise....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64317725

[ChrisB]

Mick Whelan appeared on the Today programme and was left fumbling when pressed on the reality of train driver pay. Nick Robinson pointed out that drivers had gained a 17% pay rise, in real terms, over the past decade. The national average is 1%.

That would be £45,000 to £60,000 on average now. And the 4% + 4% offer currently on the table equates to another £5,000 up to £65,000

[JayMac]

Does anyone know the exact start and end times of the strikes on 1st & 3rd February? Same for both ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about) and RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers), or staggered?

I'm trying to advise relatives on the likelihood of them being able to travel on the morning of Saturday 4th.

[IndustryInsider]

Midnight to midnight for ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about).  I would expect RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) to be the same as it affects only a small number.

[ChrisB]

From Rail Advent

The Rail Delivery Group has confirmed it has sent its ‘best and final offer’ to the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) union, which should see a five and four percent increase for staff covering the 2022 and 2023 pay awards.

The offer has been made through an outline framework agreement and would allow the rail industry to adapt to changes in the way passengers now use the railway, whilst rewarding its staff.

The outline agreement sets out a minimum pay increase of nine percent over two years. Staff who are paid below a certain amount will receive a guaranteed £1750 in year one.

Pay would be backdated to the relevant 2022 pay awards to allow staff to benefit from a lump sum in the first available pay run.

The RDG^‡(resolve) also says that it has improved on its previous offer, with no compulsory redundancies until 31st December 2024 (previously this was 1st April 2024)

The proposals also include:

The creation of a new multi-skilled station role, with staff trained to take on a number of responsibilities
Creating ‘station groups’ which means staff are able to move between stations to help passengers
Use of part-time contracts and flexible working patterns to encourage a more diverse workforce
The formalisation of current voluntary working on Sundays, helping to reduce delays and disruption for passengers.
A voluntary redundancy scheme will be made available for those who want to leave the industry.

The Rail Delivery Group says that the offer does not include any proposals to change the mode of operation of trains, but acknowledges that individual operators can make separate proposals to update and revise on-board roles, for example using new on-board technology for station/driver dispatch processes.

Industrial action has cost the rail industry £480m in lost revenue since June, and the RDG says that staff have lost £2000 in pay whilst on strike.

Steve Montgomery, chair of the Rail Delivery Group, said: “This is a fair offer that gives RMT members a significant uplift over the next two years – weighted particularly for those on lower incomes who we know are most feeling the squeeze – while allowing the railway to innovate and adapt to new travel patterns. It also means we can offer our people more varied, rewarding careers.

“With taxpayers still funding up to an extra £175 million a month to make up the shortfall in revenue post-covid, we urge the RMT to put this offer to its members so we can bring an end to this damaging dispute for our people, our passengers and the long-term future of Britain’s railways.”

The RMT Union has responded to the proposal, with RMT general secretary Mick Lynch saying: “The National Executive Committee will be considering this matter and has made no decision on the proposals nor any of the elements within them.

“We will give an update on our next steps in due course.”

Will that get put to the members, I wonder?

[IndustryInsider]

I believe the DOO^▸ (Driver-Only Operation (that is, trains which operate without carrying a guard)) extension has been dropped, or significantly watered down.  I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets put to the vote, perhaps with a recommendation to reject like the other RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) dispute.