Posted 12th October 2018 | 3 Comments

RMT announces more strike days on Northern

THE RMT has announced further Saturday strikes on Northern, as the train staffing dispute continues.
 
Walkouts had already been set for tomorrow and 20 October, but further strikes have been called for 27 October as well as 3 and 10 November.
 
The union and Northern have both said that the other is refusing to take part in 'serious' talks aimed at resolving the dispute over who should be in charge of a train, and whether a second member of staff should be mandatory.
 
The union's general secretary Mick Cash said: 'RMT continues to make every effort to get serious and meaningful talks going with Northern but the company are not interested and would prefer to continue to bury their heads in the sand regardless of the impact on the travelling public.
 
'German-owned Northern Rail want to run nearly half a million trains a year without a safety critical guard on board in a move that would wreck both safety and access ‎to services and they should listen to their front-line staff and pull back from that plan immediately.
 
'RMT has secured  agreements on other English franchises that enshrine the guard guarantee. Similar agreements have also been reached in Wales and Scotland. Arriva Rail North need to do the right thing and come to an agreement that secures a guard on their trains too.'
 
Northern had already warned that its services are being seriously disrupted by walkouts, and said it would run as many trains as possible.
 

Reader Comments:

Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.

  • MikeB, Liverpool

    Rumour from "Up North" has it that the RMT has already pencilled in strike days for every Saturday right up to Christmas and therefore, coupled with the ongoing ASLEF dispute over Sunday rest day working, passengers are going to be inconvenienced for some time to come. If Arriva, who own the franchise, fail to solve this problem, Grayling should consider their future as a train operator.

  • Philip Russell , Carlisle

    By going back on the previous agreement to discuss drivers closing train doors with northern, the RMT alone have cynically chosen to prolong this dispute and associated misery in the region even further. Whether they’ve acquired reliable inside information of the impeding arrival of Jeremy Corbyn at no 10 or something, I’ve no idea .

  • Andrew Gwilt, Benfleet Essex

    Will Northern continue to strike next year. If they don't sort out their staff with giving them money for their salary. This year has been pure misery for passengers using Northern. But not just that but with the constant cancellations and disruptions that has lead to such misery for commuters. I think Northern should be stripped from operating its franchise or at least Arriva to lose its Northern franchise and give the trouble franchise to the Government. So that they can sort out the franchise and to introduce more extra trains and to pay the staff with money they want as part of their job.