UK rail workers kicked off a month of strikes today over pay and conditions. The industrial action is causing travel chaos for passengers already blighted by snow disruption.
According to the UK’s biggest rail union, the RMT, 40,000 of its members across the country will strike this week after voting by 64 per cent to reject Network Rail’s latest offer, labelled “substandard” by RMT general secretary Mick Lynch.
This means that strike action will go ahead from this week until 8 January 2023 for both Network Rail and the 14 train operating companies under the UK’s Department for Transport (DfT).
According to the RMT, “The Network Rail offer included a 5 per cent and 4 per cent pay rise over a two-year period with thousands of job losses, 50 per cent cut in scheduled maintenance tasks and a 30 per cent increase in unsocial hours.”
In a statement, the union continues, “Our members, along with the entire trade union movement will continue their campaign for a square deal for workers, decent pay increases and good working conditions.”
When are the UK train strikes this month?
Strikes will go ahead on Tuesday 13, Wednesday 14, Friday 16 and Saturday 17 December, as well as Tuesday 2, Wednesday 4, Friday 6 and Saturday 7 January.
These strikes will affect Network Rail and the 14 train operating companies under the DfT mandate, which include Chiltern Railways, Cross Country Trains, Greater Anglia, LNER, East Midlands Railway, c2c, Great Western Railway, Northern Trains, South Eastern, South Western Railway, Transpennine Express, Avanti West Coast, West Midlands Trains and GTR (including Gatwick Express).
Train services will be significantly reduced on these dates. If you plan to travel, you should check your first and last available trains before leaving. On the days following the strikes, expect continued disruption in the mornings, with trains resuming later than normal.
From 6pm on Christmas Eve until Tuesday 27 December, additional strikes are planned on Network Rail only, specifically targeting engineering works.
