Train drivers in rail union Aslef took rolling strike action across 16 train operating companies over the first week of December in their long-running dispute over pay.
Iain Dalton reports that drivers in Leeds were angry at stories in the press about their pay being over £65,000 a year. They explained that this is only for drivers at the top of some pay scales. They said the fact that driving trains is a reasonably well-paid job is a result both of the skill and safety responsibilities involved, and that drivers have organised in unions.
Nick Chaffey reports that the trades council in Southampton delivered a message of support to the Aslef picket line: “We do not accept that any worker should see their living standards fall when huge profits are being made. An attack on any of our members is an attack on us all. Unity is our strength. We call on all workers and their trade unions to stand together and defend our pay, working conditions and the right to strike, at a time when this government seeks to add more draconian anti-trade union legislation to attack working people.”
Strike-breaking ‘nightmare’
Thousands of Great Western Railway and Heathrow Express passengers suffered “nightmare journeys” on 7 December. Seven trains were stuck near Ladbroke Grove in west London, and passengers on four Elizabeth line trains were stranded in the cold and dark for hours, and had to be led down the track at 11pm.
Aslef union exposed that a manager driving a train as part of the bosses’ attempts to break the strike was involved in an “incident” with an overhead power cable.
Strike-breaking attempts are always potentially dangerous, using people who don’t have the skills or everyday familiarity to do safety-critical work. Attempting to force ‘minimum service levels’ on the railways during strike action would potentially lead to more chaos and possible disasters. As Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan asked: “What happens when 100% of passengers try to get on 40% minimum service level trains?”
