Travelers have been warned that, the most recent train strikes would cause severe disruption. The Aslef railway drivers’ union have gone strike at 16 firms, some of which are operating no trains at all. TransPennine Express, Northern, Avanti, East Midlands Railway, Thameslink, and Southern are a few of these.
Aslef asserts that, the strike was not planned to target Eurovision concept and is the first of four days, the two unions will be on strike. Some specific days has been chosen for the strike action, and they are Friday, Wednesday May 31, and Saturday June 3, which happens to be the day of the FA Cup final, Aslef will be on strike.
Moreover, 14 train operators will be impacted by the RMT union’s strike on Saturday May 13, the day of the Eurovision final in Liverpool. Mark Harper, the Transport Secretary, has blamed the two unions with picking on the competition.
The train companies have predicted that, the action “is likely to result in little or no services across large areas of the network,” and there would be no services on the days immediately following the strikes. Passengers have therefore been advised to make plans and verify service before traveling.
Aslef And RMT Denies Picking On Eurovision
Both Aslef and RMT have denied the allegation that, they have made the Eurovision concept their target. The general secretary of Aslef, Mick Whelan said, “if the union had targeted the concept, it would have taken action on the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday instead.”
Whelan also said, “we don’t want to hurt anybody, but there is no good day for a strike. If you pick any one day in the given weeks, you’ll hit some event.” The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) that represents the train firms, insisted that, the strike action was planned to collide with Eurovision, and would “distract the plans of thousands of fans.”
The Transport Department has lamented that, it is “hard to believe” Aslef would be “unaware of the huge impact” on Eurovision of its action. When asked if Aslef would be able to reach a “middle ground” with the government, Mr. Whelan responded that no discussions have taken place. “I haven’t seen the government since January, they take no ownership, they exclusively communicate with the rail businesses, not us,” he added.
Huw Merriman, the Rail Minister argued that, Aslef had been given a “fair and reasonable” pay package. “We had a good positive meeting and it was agreed with Mick Whelan and the Rail Delivery Group, that they’d go off and have further talks,” Huw said. Huw Merriman added that a pay offer was tabled to Aslef but have not been “put through” to members to vote on.
Mr. Merriman claimed that train driving is a “well paid job” and that it would be “even more so if this pay offer was put forward to members and accepted.” Merriman said this responding to a question, why the government has not done more to stop the strikes.
“At the moment a train driver is paid on average, for a 35-hour week, just short of £60,000,” Merriman averred. “The latest offer would take them up to £65,000.” “It was malicious lie” that the offer was fair and reasonable, “because the string attached to it rip up every condition we’ve gained over the last 140 years,” Mick Whelan responded to Huw Merriman’s claims.
Strike action has been already on for six days with regard to Aslef’s long running pay negotiations, but Mr. Whelan claimed a resolution seemed even far fetched. Members were still campaigning for “harder and faster” action. Mick Whelan said, the options available included more or longer-lasting walkouts, a total ban on overtime, or both.
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