Train drivers will strike again during the May bank holiday week after negotiations between Aslef, the drivers’ union, and Transport for London (TfL) stalled again.
Aslef has announced a series of strikes from 7-9 May across all national rail operators. Putney residents will be most impacted on Tuesday 7 May when drivers for South Western Railway, Southern Railway, Thameslink and Gatwick Express will walk out.
The action is just the latest in a long-running dispute which had shown signs of resolution last month when several strikes were called off at the last minute after the union said “key issues” had been “successfully resolved” with Transport for London (TfL).
It’s not clear what happened in the meantime but in its announcement, Aslef focused on pay increases, noting that drives “have not had an increase in salary for five years” and referencing the current cost of living crisis. As well as the strike action, there will also be an overtime ban between Bank Holiday Monday (6 May) and 11 May.
Mark Harper, the Transport Secretary, is being disingenuous when he says that offer should have been put to members. Drivers would not vote to strike if they thought an offer was acceptable. They don’t. And that offer – now a year old – is dead in the water.’
Mark Whelan, Aslef General Secretary
Earlier this month, a strike by drivers across the rail network led to a substantial reduction in service with no trains on the Hounslow Loop on the Hounslow loop from Putney station, cutting off Barnes Bridge, Chiswick, Kew Bridge and others.
General Secretary of Aslef, Mick Whelan, said: “It is now a year since we sat in a room with the train companies – and a year since we rejected the risible offer they made and which they admitted, privately, was designed to be rejected.”
That offer was two consecutive annual pay rises if drivers accepted changes to work patterns and training. Drivers are worried that these changes will put some of them out of jobs, whereas train companies are trying to reduce costs by using modern technology to do some of the tasks that train drivers currently undertake.
