Off The Rails's blog

Solid Strikes and Choosing Dates

ASLEF's strike on Saturday was solid and effective. We got loads of support from people passing our picket lines, especially posties' vans, bus drivers and fire engines.

However, drivers are unsure of what the strategy is going forward from here. Are we just waiting for instructions from head...

Aslef strikes again

Aslef's strike on nine TOCs has yet again stopped all but a small handful of trains moving.

There were lively pickets at depots across the country, with strong support from other unions - including, in a number of locations, from RMT reps.

With RMT due to strike again, alongside TSSA and Unite, on...

Cleaners' fights spread

With Atalian Servest cleaners on Avanti West Coast and Churchill cleaners on numerous TOCs still in dispute, having taken multiple days of strike action, RMT is expanding its cleaners' fights to several other companies.

The union has announced plans to ballot Atalian Servest cleaners on LNER...

Avanti in Freefall?

Avanti Trains West Coast is in freefall, with around three-quarters of its train services cancelled until further notice. It's an absolute nightmare for staff and passengers alike.

Avanti's profiteering owners (FirstGroup and Trentitalia) seem to think it is OK to trouser the money while treating...

TSSA fails to fight as Bands 1-4 accept below-inflation deal

It's disappointing to see that bands 1 to 4 at Network Rail, the "management grades", have voted to accept a one year, below inflation 4% pay offer.

This is hardly surprising given that TSSA, the union with negotiating rights for bands 1 to 4, recommended accepting the offer. TSSA said that band 1...

Notts Off The Rails bulletin - 06/08/22: Tory Strife Is Our Opportunity

Tory Strife Is Our Opportunity

The Tory leader candidates have denounced each other and (implicitly) the Tories' whole record in government since 2010. The new Tory leader will start out as a choice rejected by over half the Tory MPs. We can take advantage of that strife only if the labour movement...

Unite on NR joins TSSA/RMT strikes

Unite Electrical Control Operators, ECOs, at Brighton, York, Paddock Wood, Raynes Park, Romford, Selhurst Road and York will be taking strike action alongside TSSA and RMT this month.

ECOs are responsible for managing and controlling the power supply to electric trains on the rail network.

Scotrail Votes No!

Scotrail RMT members have voted down the company’s offer by 866 votes to 580.

The union’s leadership recommended rejection, but seemed a bit equivocal. There wasn’t a massive amount of campaigning either way. But with a lot of bothy talk, members swung to opposing the offer.

Workers were...

Organise to Stop New Anti-Union Laws

Organising meeting: 7pm, Wednesday 3 August

With the next Prime Minister highly likely to introduce severe new restrictions on the right to strike, the labour movement must organise to resist.

Free Our Unions will be holding an open organising meeting on Wednesday 3 August at 7pm, to discuss what...

Access Needs Staff

The Disability News Service (a reliably good source of information on all matters concerning disabled people) has revealed a report that Thameslink is inaccessible to many disabled people, and that much of the rail network has the same issue.

Crucially, it points out that improvement to physical...

London Overground joins the fight

RMT members at Arriva Rail London, the TOC operating the London Overground network, are joining the fight on pay and conditions, after a 79.4% majority vote for industrial action on a turnout of over 80%.

Arriva Rail London's latest pay offer is 5%, which workers have rejected. It's great to see...

Prospective PMs plan to ban strikes

In the BBC hustings for the Tory party leadership (and our next Prime Minister), Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak were asked “Will you ban strikes on essential public services like the railways?" Both candidates gave a categorical “yes” to this question.

Liz Truss (the bookies’ favourite to win the...

Pressure on Labour MP forces picket line promise

A recent threat made at West Cheshire Trades Council not to support the local Labour MP because he hadn’t turned up to RMT picket lines was enough to get a promise from him to do so in future. The MP in question, Chris Matheson, also said that he didn’t agree with Sam Tarry being sacked.

A small...

Aslef going it alone?

Aslef has named another strike over pay, at nine TOCs, for 13 August, following up its forthcoming action on 30 July. The TOCs involved are Avanti West Coast, Cross Country, Arriva Rail London, Great Western, LNER, Greater Anglia, Southeastern, Hull Trains, West Midlands Trains.

It's good the union...

We shut down the job again: now let's step up the action

It’s been another excellent day of picketing across the country, as RMT members at Network Rail and mainline TOCs struck again in the dispute over pay, jobs, and conditions. TSSA members at Avanti West Coast also struck, joining picket lines at Euston and elsewhere.

TOCs were only able to run a...

Sam Tarry sacked: Make Labour the party of strikes

Sam Tarry, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Buses and Local Transport has been sacked by Keir Starmer for attending an RMT picket line at Euston today. This follows threats of action against other shadow ministers who did the same during our three days of action at the end of June.

Here in...

The Hot Strike Summer: support the rail workers!

Rail workers’ strikes are an integral part of what some are calling the “hot strike summer”. Here’s an overview of the calendar of action:

RMT members on the Churchill cleaning contract across three TOCs in the southeast strike again from 14-16 July.

RMT and Aslef members at Hull Trains struck...

TSSA to strike alongside RMT in August

TSSA has named strikes at Avanti West Coast, c2c, East Midlands Railway, CrossCountry, Great Western, LNER, and Southeastern on 18 and 20 August, coordinating with RMT's action on the same day. It has also named action short of strikes on West Midlands Trains, Northern, Greater Anglia, and...

Steps forward on strike funds, more needed

RMT has announced to reps and activists that it is freeing up £500k for hardship payments from its national dispute fund, which has been bolstered recently by public donations, which will be administered via branches.

This is welcome news. We've argued previously that a sustained strike needs...

Off The Rails, July 2022: Step up the Action!

The new edition of the printed Off the Rails bulletin is out now. This edition looks ahead to RMT and TSSA action on 27 July, and Aslef strikes on 30 July.

Click here to download the PDF, or click on the attachment link below.

If your printer struggles with collating/resizing the pages, the...

Sustained strikes need strike funds

The media never tires of reporting, often inaccurately, on train drivers' salaries. It's true that drivers are paid relatively well, but many other workers involved in the national dispute aren't on those figures. And even for drivers, if you're supporting a family or paying a mortgage, the salary...

All out on 27 July... and let's name more dates!

It's good that RMT has named a further strike in our national dispute for 27 July. Preparations are already underway to ensure lively and effective picket lines.

But striking for just one day, especially after an effective three-day strike in June, would be a step back. So let's put more dates on...

Aslef drivers vote for strikes: now name coordinated action!

It’s great to see Aslef drivers at Chiltern, Great Western Railway, LNER, London Overground, Northern, Southeastern, TransPennine and West Midlands and have voted for strikes.

Overall drivers voted for strikes by a 9-1 majority, with turnouts as high as 92% . It’s a spectacular set of results from...

Don't let 5% become the norm: fight for above inflation rises!

Aslef drivers on ScotRail have voted to accept a pay deal including a 5% increase, and various improvements on other issues such as rest day working, instructor pay, and maternity pay. The deal also includes a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies for five years. There’s also a longer term...

TSSA members join the fight

More than 6,000 TSSA members at Network Rail have voted for industrial action over pay, jobs, and conditions, potentially bringing them into battle alongside RMT members at Network Rail, and RMT, Aslef, and other TSSA members at the TOCs.

TSSA disaggregated its ballot into three sections, with...

Aslef drivers: vote yes for action!

Aslef ballots for action over pay and conditions for drivers at Arriva Rail London, Chiltern Railways, Great Western, LNER, Northern Trains, Southeastern, TransPennine Express, and West Midlands Trains close on 11 July. There's still time to vote yes and return your ballots!

Drivers at Avanti West...

GTR workers join the fight

Congratulations to RMT members at Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) for clearing the thresholds in their re-ballot, enabling them to join the national dispute.

Despite a huge majority for action, GTR members narrowly missed the (arbitrary) turnout threshold last time, further evidence of the...

Sheffield Solidarity Group distributes On Guard

An article in the Forge, the University of Sheffield's student newspaper, reports on the activities of the Sheffield Solidarity Group, a group of anti-capitalist student activists, in support of the recent rail strikes.

We're pleased to see the article mention the fact that Solidarity Group...

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