Strikes at Virgin, West Midlands, South Western Railway

Submitted by AWL on 6 November, 2019 - 7:39 Author: Ollie Moore and Jay Dawkey

Rail union RMT has called strikes on Virgin Trains, West Midlands Trains, and South Western Railway (SWR).

On the latter, the union has named a calendar of strikes throughout November and December, which will see walkouts on 16, 23, and 30 November, and 7, 14, 21, and 28 December. West Midlands Trains is the latest Train Operating Company to see its workers plan industrial action over the imposition of Driver Only Operation (DOO).

On Virgin Trains, train managers, a grade of customer-facing train crew, on the West Coast franchise will strike on 19 November to demand the reinstatement of an unfairly sacked colleague.

On Northern Rail, where RMT guards have previously struck in opposition to DOO, RMT members have voted by a 75% majority to reject the company’s latest pay offer, of 2.75%. A Northern worker told Solidarity: “The Executive Committee of the drivers’ union, Aslef, has accepted the offer over the heads of its own membership. Various rumours are circulating about what dodgy deals full-time reps might be concocting. On the shop floor, Northern workers know we can fight for something better.”

On SWR strikes have been called for 2-11 December, 13-25 December, and 27 December — 1 January. They are over Driver Only Operation.

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