ASLEF: Strike Action | ASLEF

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ASLEF: FRESH STRIKE CYCLE PLANNED The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) is set to begin a new phase of industrial action, with a programme of rolling strikes planned. The decision comes after a dispute with Southern Rail over driver-only operated trains. The union has accused the company of jeopardising customer safety, while Southern Rail argues that the new system has been extensively tested and improves efficiency. The strikes are likely to cause further travel disruption for commuters in and around London. ASLEF have apologised to customers for the inconvenience caused, but insist that the strikes are necessary to protect jobs and safety standards.

Train operators who belong to ASLEF, the union for train operators, will engage in a fresh round of repeated, single-day strikes along with a six-day overtime boycott to intensify the pressure on 16 inflexible train firms and the Conservative government, which disregards them both. Our aim is to compel the train firms to grant train drivers, who have not seen a salary increase in five years, a salary rise that they have earned since April 2019.

On Friday 5 April, employees from Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway, West Midlands Trains, and CrossCountry will leave their posts. Then, on Saturday 6 April, workers from Chiltern, GWR, LNER, Northern, and TransPennine Trains will also go on strike. Finally, on Monday 8 April, members of c2c, Greater Anglia, GTR Great Northern Thameslink, Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express, South Western Railway main line and depot drivers, and SWR Island Line will also walk out of their respective jobs.

From Thursday 4 to Saturday 6 April and from Monday 8 to Tuesday 9 April, the personnel will decline to work on their scheduled free days.

According to GS Mick Whelan, the railway union has been forced to take action due to the strict anti-union laws enforced by the Conservative government. As a result, the union has renewed their mandate for industrial action and is required to ballot their members every six months. The goal of the industrial action is to negotiate a new pay deal for train drivers who have not received a salary increase since 2019. The train companies and government have been requested to come to the table for meaningful talks to reach a resolution.

Once more, our members have cast their votes in favor of strike action in an overwhelming manner. This demonstrates that train drivers firmly rejected the absurd proposal presented by the Rail Delivery Group in April 2020. The offer was deemed unacceptable to us because it disregarded the terms and conditions we had previously agreed upon through negotiations. It was evident that this proposal was an attempt by the Rail Delivery Group to seize control of these conditions, a move that our members would never accept.

Train drivers have repeatedly decided to take action to demand higher wages. The Transport Secretary, Mark Harper, is being dishonest by suggesting that the offer made to drivers should have been accepted. It is clear that drivers are not satisfied with the offer, as they have continuously voted to go on strike. This offer was rejected in April of last year and Mr. Harper is well aware of this fact.

We requested a meeting with Mr Harper or his representative, the Rail Minister Huw Merriman. We also reached out to the RDG and TOCs to discuss the situation. Our proposal was to have a negotiation at a table. We acknowledge that neither side wants further industrial action or disruptions to the rail network. However, the Tories and TOCs have not provided us with alternatives, leaving us with no choice.

It has been four weeks since the new mandates were announced, but we have yet to receive any communication from Mr Harper, Mr Merriman, the RDG, or the TOCs. It's worth noting that Mr Harper has not engaged with us since December 2022, Mr Merriman since January 2023 and the RDG since April of last year.

We have provided the government with numerous chances to negotiate and settle the conflict, but they appear uninterested in finding a solution. They seem content to allow the disagreement to continue indefinitely. However, we are determined to persevere. Over the past five years, various members of our organization have not received a single raise in pay, despite the fact that inflation has significantly increased during this time period, leading to a rise in living expenses. During the pandemic, we continued to work as essential employees, risking our lives and transporting goods throughout the country to help healthcare professionals and others get to work. We did not request an increase in wages during this time.

In the last 20 months, we have organized 14 strikes that lasted for a day each. Our initial voting process started in June of the year 2022, and our members abstained from working on multiple dates. They participated in strikes on July 30, August 13, October 1, October 5, November 26, January 5 of the year 2023, February 1, February 3, May 12, May 31, June 3, September 5, September 30, and October 4.

Afterward, we initiated a consecutive week of one-day strikes that were scheduled at various companies, beginning from Saturday, December 2nd and concluding on Saturday, December 9th. Thus, another sequence of one-day strikes followed, this time at different transportation operating companies. The strikes were held from Tuesday, January 30th through Monday, February 5th.

We will not be allowing employees to work on their days off, which we call rest days, during the following dates: May 15-20, July 3-8 and 17-22, August 7-12, September 29, October 2-6, December 1-9, and January 29-February 6. This overtime work is not required by their employment contract.

To obtain additional details, kindly get in touch with:

Keith Richmond works in Media and Communications for ASLEF, located at 77 St John Street, London, EC1M 4NN.

To make this blog post more comprehensible to a wider audience, it could be rephrased in simpler language as: If you need to contact Richmond, you can call him on 020 7324 2407 or send him an email at [email protected]. He can also be reached on his mobile number, 07977 498794.