Train drivers from eight different companies will go on strike on Saturday, July 30. Many routes in Britain will have trouble because of this.
Because the Aslef union is holding a very large strike, about 6,000 more drivers will be involved in the problem with the national rail.
Some of the 40,000 RMT workers who quit Network Rail and other rail companies three days ago were signallers.
“Extremely disappointing,” the government said of the news.
All rail services, including the Great Western Railway, London North Eastern Railway, London Overground, Greater Anglia, Southeastern, Hull Trains, and West Midlands, will be affected by the Aslef strike.
This week, most of the workers at six companies voted to go on strike.
Greater Anglia drivers will go on strike on July 23 in the two businesses where voting ended earlier. Hull Trains drivers will go on strike this Saturday and on July 23.
Avanti West Coast and CrossCountry will have more Aslef ballots, but they will run out on July 27.
Concerns were raised about Northern and TransPennine Express, so the union is holding more strike votes at Northern and TransPennine Express. This week, drivers from both companies also decided to go on strike.
The TSSA union workers at Avanti West Coast will also go on strike on July 27. The RMT action will happen at the same time as this.
Mick Whelan, the general secretary of Aslef, said that the union didn’t want to go on strike but had to because railway companies wouldn’t raise salaries after a three-year pay freeze.
Whelan says that bad negotiations lead to strikes, which is why we don’t want to go on strike. By going on strike, we don’t want to bother people who are on the road or lose money.
But our hands have been tied by the Tory government and the railroad companies. Since April 2019, drivers at the companies where we are on strike have seen their real wages go down.
And these businesses say that the government has put limits on what they can sell to us.
He said the union was still open to talking. Aslef’s action, like the RMT’s, is likely to affect the first few days of the Commonwealth Games because West Midlands trains go to a number of venues, including the aquatics centre.
“It’s a terrible shame that Aslef bosses have already decided to strike instead of having productive talks just three days after their polls ended,” said Grant Shapps, who is in charge of transportation.
He declared, “Our railroad needs to be upgraded right soon if we want to enhance passenger service and ensure that it can remain profitable over the long term.” I beg union leaders to change their divisive plans and find a better solution by working with their employers, not against them.
