The train drivers’ union, Aslef, will stage a series of one-day strikes and call an overtime ban across England’s operating companies at the start of December, ratcheting up the national rail dispute again.
Drivers at each company will strike for 24 hours on dates between Saturday 2 and Friday 8 December, and will refuse to work overtime between Friday 1 and Saturday 9 December, causing more disruption for operators that rely on rest-day working.
The move comes days after the RMT union and employers signalled a possible breakthrough, with an agreement on pay to be ratified in a members’ vote.
The fresh strikes appear to have been partly provoked by remarks made by the transport secretary, Mark Harper, at a select committee hearing on Wednesday, which the union described as “disingenuous”. Harper said Aslef should put an offer rejected as “risible” by the union in April to drivers. The union said the offer was no longer on the table and had in effect been rejected in further votes for strikes.
The Aslef general secretary, Mick Whelan, said he was determined to get a significant increase for drivers who had not had a pay rise since 2019. He said: “What the minister apparently fails to understand is that we have received overwhelming mandates, on enormous turnouts, for more industrial action. Our members have spoken and we know what they think … it is a clear rejection of the offer that was made in April.”
Harper had told MPs at the transport committee: “There is, most people think, a perfectly fair and reasonable offer on the table and I genuinely don’t understand why Aslef won’t put it to their members.”
He said it would take the average annual pay of a train driver from £60,000 to £65,000 for a four-day week.
A Department for Transport spokesperson said after the strike announcement: “It is disappointing that Aslef are targeting the public and hospitality businesses at the beginning of the festive period, when there is a fair and reasonable pay offer for train drivers on the table … Instead of going on strike, Aslef should be following in the footsteps of the other rail unions and giving their members a vote on this fair pay deal.”
The Rail Delivery Group said its offer remained on the table. A spokesperson added: “This wholly unnecessary strike action called by the Aslef leadership will sadly disrupt customers and businesses ahead of the vital festive period, while further damaging the railway.” He said this was happening at a time when the railway is still getting an extra £175m a month in taxpayer cash.
Last week the RMT and the Rail Delivery Group announced an agreement that will result in RMT members voting this month on a backdated pay offer for 2022 and further talks at individual companies.
Drivers will walk out at East Midlands and LNER on Saturday 2 December; at Avanti West Coast, Chiltern, Great Northern Thameslink and West Midlands on Sunday 3 December; at C2C and Greater Anglia on Tuesday 5 December; at Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express and SouthWestern on Wednesday 6 December; at CrossCountry and GWR on Thursday 7 December; and at Northern and TransPennine Express on Friday 8 December.
• This article was amended on 16 November 2023. In an earlier version, a statement from the the Rail Delivery Group said the UK railways were losing £3,000 a month. This has been changed to say that the railways are still getting an extra is £175m a month in taxpayer cash.
