Train drivers will keep striking to ‘raise profile’ of pay dispute, says Aslef boss

The Aslef union has cautioned that train drivers will continue striking in order to bring attention to their disagreement, which has been ongoing for five years without a salary increase. Throughout England, there will be another week of continuous strikes.

Mick Whelan, the general secretary of Aslef, predicts that the government will attempt to enforce the controversial anti-strike laws for train companies. Although the union was successful in forcing a retreat from these laws in the current situation.

Services in England will be affected by an overtime ban starting on Monday, followed by a series of rolling strikes from Tuesday that will result in trains stopping for a day. This disruption will impact national train operators.

Transportation employees at Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Thameslink and South Western Railway are planning to go on strike on Tuesday, January 30th. Similarly, those employed by Northern Trains and TPE will go on strike the following day, Wednesday, January 31st. Workers at LNER, Greater Anglia, and C2C will participate in the strike on Friday, February 2nd. The transportation workers at West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast, and East Midlands Railway plan to join the strike on Saturday, February 3rd. Finally, employees at Great Western, CrossCountry, and Chiltern will strike on Monday, February 5th.

Most railway companies are expected to cancel their services on the days when they go on strike, and this is likely to result in higher-than-usual passenger traffic on other modes of transportation that offer alternative routes.

The collection of strikes was anticipated to be the initial examination of the legislation concerning minimum service levels. This legislation was put in place to enable train operators to carry out 40% of their usual timetable during industrial action. Out of the three operators overseen by the Department for Transport, only LNER intended to make use of this legislation and demanded that drivers cross the picket line. However, Aslef's sudden announcement of an extra five days of strikes for LNER resulted in a retreat from this stance.

Before the introduction of strike laws, both rail industry leaders and unions had expressed their concerns during consultations and select committee hearings. These laws may also apply to disputes involving the healthcare, education, and firefighting industries. The Labour party has promised to revoke these laws as soon as they are elected.

In an interview with the Guardian prior to the most recent labor strike, Whelan expressed that they had highlighted the fact that the proposed plan was impractical and incredibly hazardous. They had also pointed out, which was proven by the government's evaluation, that it would result in more problems. Instead of attempting to find a solution, the government endeavored to implement compulsory labor within the nation, which is a source of everlasting disgrace.

"The first attempt was unsuccessful, but I believe they will make another attempt. There is no clear instruction on how to do it without endangering anyone's safety."

On a different note, the Public and Commercial Services Union revealed on Saturday that they intend to contest the minimum service regulation using the Human Rights Act. Mark Serwotka, the general secretary of the PCS, disclosed this announcement during a demonstration event commemorating four decades since the prohibition of trade unions at GCHQ headquarters.

Following the proposed long-lasting railway strikes on the primary London-Newcastle-Edinburgh route, including the possibility of such strikes occurring in other regions, individuals travelling through more restricted areas that will only be impacted by 24-hour partial walkouts may feel eased. Nevertheless, taking into account that the strikes have persisted for over 18 months without any improvements, what are Whelan's objectives?

There are two options in life, either you take action or you don't. However, not taking any action is not really an option. This statement was made by the speaker.

There are some drivers that have been working for five years without an increase in their salary. This is a very long time. These drivers have been bravely going to work during the pandemic to make sure other essential workers can get to their jobs, and to transport important supplies like food and medicine across the country.

According to Whelan, the strikes are intended to increase awareness about our conflict until someone comes to negotiate a resolution with us. Despite having experienced disappointment in the past, I am willing to participate in talks to progress forward.

We entered into the situation with honest intentions, but unfortunately, both the Rail Delivery Group and government acted in an untrustworthy and deceptive manner. Nevertheless, we must find a solution to bring this matter to a close.

Starting next Monday, there will be a ban on working overtime at all companies during the strike period. This ban may cause more problems for companies that depend on employees working on their days off, like TransPennine Express.

The RDG has suggested to passengers to verify their travel plans beforehand. If it is necessary to travel, they should anticipate some difficulties, organize their journey in advance and find out the departure times of the first and last trains.

The spokesperson from the RDG stated that the strikes which will cause problems for the customers will not benefit anyone. The spokesperson also expressed that the rail industry could have a positive future but it currently requires an additional £54m per week from taxpayers to run services after the pandemic.

The leaders of Aslef should be aware of the financial difficulties that the railways are facing currently. The drivers have received an offer that would increase their basic pay to almost £65,000 for working only four days a week without overtime. This pay is much higher than the national average and more than the majority of our customers earn who can not work remotely.

Someone from the DfT stated: "The people in charge of transportation and the railway have already helped start discussions that resulted in this equitable and sensible proposal from the rail industry. The leaders of Aslef should present it to their members so that we can sort out this conflict. This has already happened with the RMT, TSSA, and Unite unions."

The railways haven't received the same amount of money from passengers as before the pandemic. As a result, the government had to provide £12 billion in support over the past year to keep them running. Even though strikes are happening, it won't change the fact that there are many necessary changes that need to be made in the workplace, but Aslef is against implementing them.