A transport union in the UK said on Wednesday that staff at nine train companies will hold a 24-hour strike starting at noon on Sep. 26 over pay and working conditions.
Negotiations with Network Rail, who own the UK’s rail infrastructure, are ongoing in an attempt to avoid the strike action, said the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA).
TSSA General Secretary Manuel Cortes said: “The dead hand of (British Transport Secretary) Grant Shapps is sadly stopping DfT (Department for Transport) train operating companies from making a revised, meaningful offer.
“Frankly, he either sits across the negotiating table with our union or gets out of the way to allow railway bosses to freely negotiate with us, as they have done in the past.”
The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, a British trade union covering the transport sector, held the largest train strike in 30 years earlier in the summer.
The TSSA then went on strike themselves. On this September’s strike, Cortes said the government should allow train companies to produce a “revised” deal that improves on the “insulting” 2% offer that they rejected earlier in the summer.
Britain has seen a wave of industrial action in recent months, with the transport sector being particularly restive, amid a biting cost-of-living crisis caused by double-digit inflation.
Source: Anadolu Agency