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Thousands more UK railway workers will be balloted for strikes in escalating disputes over pay, conditions and job security which threaten imminent travel chaos.
The Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) has served notice to ballot more than 6,000 staff at Network Rail (NR) amid fears over a ‘summer of discontent’.
Union bosses said the ballot of workers would be held between June 20 and July 11 – and, in the event of a yes vote, strike action could take place as early as July 25.Â
Talks between NR and the TSSA will be held on Thursday in a bid to agree a pay deal.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union at NR and 13 train operators are to strike for three days next week. These similar disputes will cause huge disruption to services on June 21, 23 and 25 and possibly the days in between.
The RMT and Unite union are also striking on London Underground on June 21, the same day as the first national rail strike, in a separate row over jobs and pay.
The TSSA has previously announced strike ballots among its members at four rail firms – Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, East Midlands and West Midlands Trains.
And members of the drivers union Aslef are also striking later this month at Hull Trains, Greater Anglia and Croydon Tramlink.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps updated ministers on the looming rail strike action at today’s Cabinet meeting.
Giving an official update on the meeting, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman told reporters: ‘The Transport Secretary said the Government would remain on the side of the public, adding that strikes would also be bad for rail workers as it risked driving away customers when numbers were already down since the pandemic.
‘He highlighted that median pay of rail workers was significantly higher than other public sector workers, with nurses receiving a median of £31,000 compared to £59,000 for train drivers.
‘He said the strikes also risk disrupting exams at a time when schoolchildren had already had their education significantly affected during the pandemic.’
Downing Street also accused unions of ‘skipping over a step’ and moving to industrial action without proper negotiations.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman rejected claims the Government could be doing more to prevent the transport chaos facing commuters.
The spokesman said Mr Shapps has been ‘speaking to railway leaders, to Network Rail and to other groups throughout’.
Commuters queue for buses outside London Victoria station during the Tube strike on June 6
‘But, fundamentally, obviously it’s for unions to have these negotiations with groups like Network Rail. It is our firm view that unions are skipping over a step, they’re not negotiating, they are moving straight to strike action.’
The Government ‘is doing everything possible to encourage unions to step back from the precipice of this and we want the negotiations to proceed’, the spokesman said.
TSSA members at NR work in operational, control, management and safety critical roles on rail services across Britain.
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.
The TSSA said NR staff last had a pay rise between two and three years ago – it varies between grades – and also worked throughout the pandemic as key workers.
Members are being asked to cast two votes: one on strike action and another on action short of a strike.
TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes said: ‘We could be seeing a summer of discontent across our railways if Network Rail don’t see sense and come to the table to face the concerns of their staff.
London Waterloo Underground station is closed during the RMT Underground strike on June 6
‘Network Rail staff are asking for basic fair treatment – not to be sacked from their jobs, a fair pay rise in the face of a cost-of-living crisis and no race to the bottom on terms and conditions.
‘Fat cat bosses have so far refused these completely reasonable requests, leaving us with no option other than to ballot for industrial action, something which is always a last resort.
‘It’s frankly ridiculous that we’re being forced to ballot. Network Rail only responded to our requests for pay talks – made before Christmas – when we moved the issue to dispute in April and have dragged their heels at every stage. Our members have had enough. We are preparing for all options, including co-ordinated strike action.’
A Network Rail spokesman said: ‘Now is not for time for the TSSA to be jumping on the RMT ‘strike bandwagon’.Â
‘Positive pay talks were in full swing with a ‘no-strings’ pay offer of 2.5 per cent on the table, with the potential for more if connected to productivity and efficiency gains, so this news is both premature and deeply disappointing.’
NR said it remains committed to progressing talks with the TSSA to implement reforms to management.
Transport Salaried Staffs Association general secretary Manuel Cortes (pictured in Liverpool in 2014) said today that Britain ‘could be seeing a summer of discontent across our railways’
Sources said that, through natural attrition and uptake on voluntary severance, strong progress has been made on management modernisation to date.
A Department for Transport spokesman said: ‘Strikes should always be the last resort, not the first, so it is hugely disappointing and premature that the TSSA is balloting for industrial action when talks have only just begun.
‘Taxpayers across the country contributed £16billion, or £600 per household, to keep our railways running throughout the pandemic.Â
‘The railway is still on financial life support, with passenger numbers 25 per cent down and anything that drives away even more of them puts services and jobs at risk.
‘Train travel for millions more people is now a choice, not a necessity. Strikes stop our customers choosing rail, and they might never return.
‘We urge the TSSA to reconsider and come to industry talks, so we can find a solution that delivers for workers, passengers and taxpayers alike.’
TSSA members at Network Rail work in operational, control, management and safety critical roles on rail services across Britain (file picture of workers on track near Cambridge in 2010)Â
Also today, Labour said the RMT rail strikes threatening to result in travel chaos next week are ‘not inevitable’.
Shadow Commons leader Thangam Debbonaire called on Mr Shapps to focus on getting an agreement ‘hammered out’ with the unions.
Her remarks came after Commons Leader Mark Spencer confirmed MPs will debate a ‘motion on rail strikes’ tomorrow following a last-minute switch to parliamentary business, although he did not confirm the specific details under consideration.
For Labour, Ms Debbonaire said: ‘The Transport Secretary ought to be relentlessly focusing on getting the parties round the table and getting an agreement hammered out. If he continues to fail that’s on him.
‘The backdrop to this dispute is the Tories have overseen a managed decline of our railways and if all the Transport Secretary can come up with is to bring in agency staff on trains they really are a Government who have run out of ideas, slashing safety, putting passengers at risk is no solution.
‘So I remind the Transport Secretary of his job, he’s meant to be in government, he holds the power to resolve these disputes, strikes next week are not inevitable and he could make sure they could be avoided.
‘In Labour-run Wales train staff are not going on strike and all sides are working together to manage change.’
She added: ‘Instead of grandstanding the Government should get a grip and sort this mess out.’
Mr Spencer replied: ‘I think we may have tickled a little nerve somewhere, I think maybe there’s a little bit of sensitivity here.
‘I would encourage (Ms Debbonaire) to approach her union bosses with the same enthusiasm and get them round the table and stop the misery they’re about to inflict on the Great British public, on students who will miss their exams, on people who want to get to job interviews and let’s get round the table and discuss it, and I’d encourage her to encourage her union bosses to do exactly the same.’
Conservative former minister Sir Christopher Chope branded Labour the ‘strikers’ friend’ while SNP Commons leader Pete Wishart accused the UK Government of seeking to ‘throw red meat to the Tory backbench on their favourite subject, which is hammering the unions’.
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