The rail union RMT has confirmed it will stage a national strike across three days on 21, 23 and 25 June, effectively shutting down the country’s rail network.
The strike will involve around 40,000 staff from Network Rail and 13 train operating companies and will take place if no “concrete proposals” on pay and job security are offered by the employers.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said that railway workers had been treated “appallingly” after three years of pay freezes and plans to cut thousands of jobs.
He said negotiations had so far not been able to secure a pay proposal or guarantee of no compulsory redundancies.
“We have a cost-of-living crisis, and it is unacceptable for railway workers to either lose their jobs or face another year of a pay freeze when inflation is at 11.1% and rising,” he said.
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“Rail companies are making at least £500m a year in profits, whilst fat cat rail bosses have been paid millions during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The union claims that Network Rail plans to cut 2,500 maintenance jobs over the next two years to make cost savings.
The Rail Delivery Group, which represents train companies, said it was “extremely disappointed” with the plans for strike action and urged the RMT to return to the negotiating table.
“We have to look at how we can reform,” said Steve Montgomery, managing director of First Group and a spokesperson for the RDG. “We’ve not said ‘we’re not going to give staff a pay increase’, but we need to sit down and talk with RMT on how we can move reform forward to make it fair for everybody.”
He added that the rail industry had received £16 billion in subsidies over the course of the pandemic, and suggested the union was using “inflated figures made up of smoke and mirrors to disguise the real issue”.
The strikes will affect commuters over two weekdays at the end of June and will also impact people getting to the Glastonbury Festival and England’s cricket test against New Zealand. The companies taking part include the London Underground.
Lynch added: “This unfairness is fuelling our members’ anger and their determination to win a fair settlement.
“RMT is open to meaningful negotiations with rail bosses and ministers, but they will need to come up with new proposals to prevent months of disruption on our railways.”
A government source told the BBC that the plans were “selfish” and “thoroughly irresponsible”.
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