UK rail travellers are set for more disruption in August after train drivers’ union Aslef announced its latest industrial action.
Aslef is involved in an ongoing pay dispute with 15 train companies in England and its members will refuse to work overtime from 7-12 August, which will mean more disruption including cancellations to services across the country.
Members of the RMT union, which is locked into its own separate pay dispute with train operators, are also due to strike again on Saturday (29 July) after walking out for two days last week.
Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary, said: “We don’t want to take this action because we don’t want people to be inconvenienced.
“But the train companies, and the government which stands behind them, have forced us into this place because they refuse to sit down and talk to us and have not made a fair and sensible pay offer to train drivers who have not had one for four years – since 2019 – while prices have soared in that time by more than 12 per cent.”
Aslef’s latest overtime ban will affect the following companies: Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, Cross Country, East Midlands Railway, Greater Anglia, Great Western Railway, GTR Great Northern Thameslink, Island Line, LNER, Northern Trains, Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express, South Western Railway, TransPennine Express and West Midlands Trains.
The union has already held 11 one-day strikes during the dispute, as well as imposing four previous week-long overtime bans for members.
There was some better news for business travellers visiting London after the RMT, Aslef and Unite called off planned strikes on the London Underground later this month following talks with Transport for London (TFL), which “made progress” in the dispute over jobs and pensions.
But RMT general secretary Mick Lynch warned that it was “not the end of the dispute”, despite the suspension of the strikes.
“Our members were prepared to engage in significant disruptive industrial action and I commend their resolve,” added Lynch. “RMT's strike mandate remains live until October and we are prepared to use it, if necessary.”