Train and London Underground drivers will go on strike again next month, Aslef has announced.
Drivers at 16 companies who are members of the train drivers’ union will take part in a series of rolling one-day strikes in April, alongside a six-day overtime ban.
The union said it wanted to “increase the pressure on 16 intransigent train companies – and the tone-deaf Tory government that stands behind them”.
Members will walk out at Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway, West Midlands Trains, and CrossCountry on Friday 5 April; at Chiltern, GWR, LNER, Northern, and TransPennine Trains on Saturday 6 April; and at c2c, Greater Anglia, GTR Great Northern Thameslink, Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express, South Western Railway main line and depot drivers, and SWR Island Line on Monday 8 April.
Meanwhile, Tube drivers are to stage two one-day strikes on 8 April and 4 May.
The strikes are likely to cause disruptions to travellers during the final weekend of the school Easter holidays.
Mick Whelan, the Aslef general secretary, said: “Last month, when we announced renewed mandates for industrial action, because under the Tories’ draconian anti-union laws we have to ballot our members every six months, we called on the train companies, and the government, to come to the table for meaningful talks to negotiate a new pay deal for train drivers who have not had an increase in salary since 2019.”
He added: “Since then train drivers have voted, time and again, to take action in pursuit of a pay rise. That’s why Mark Harper, the transport secretary, is being disingenuous when he says that offer should have been put to members.
“Drivers wouldn’t vote for industrial action, again and again and again, if they thought that was a good offer. They don’t. That offer was dead in the water in April last year – and Mr Harper knows that.”
While progress has been made on pay talks between other unions and train operators, Aslef has not reached a resolution with the companies since its members first went on strike in July 2022.
It last rejected a pay deal in April 2023, which prompted further strikes last year. It then announced strikes in February and March this year.
The rejected deal included a 4% pay rise over two years alongside changes to working conditions, which Whelan called “risible”. No formal talks have been held since.
The Rail Delivery Group, the membership body for train operators, said: “Nobody wins when industrial action impacts people’s lives and livelihoods, and we will work hard to minimise any disruption to our passengers.
“We want to resolve this dispute, but the Aslef leadership need to recognise that hard-pressed taxpayers are continuing to contribute an extra £54 million a week just to keep services running post-Covid.
“We continue to seek an agreement with the Aslef leadership and remain open to talks to find a solution to this dispute.”
Train operators are now subject to minimum service levels regulations, which require employers to ensure they have enough employees to provide an adequate level of coverage during industrial action, although none have adhered to the controversial new rules so far.
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