Rail strike threat as talks break down

Talks aimed at resolving a dispute at the country's biggest rail freight firm have broken down, sparking the threat of strikes, it was announced today.

The Rail Maritime and Transport union said its members at EWS would be consulted on stepping up industrial action in a row over jobs and conditions.

The union's 1,300 engineering and groundstaff have already held a 48 hour walkout and look set to strike again after the failure of talks at the conciliation service Acas.

"We had hopes that these talks might make some progress after the company dropped its proposals to load engineering and groundstaff duties on to drivers and lengthen drivers' hours, and agreed to come with us to Acas," said RMT general secretary Bob Crow.

"The company has failed to make progress on the outstanding issues, or to give us the guarantees we are seeking that there will be no further back-door job losses or worsening of conditions.

"RMT reps will now be consulting members around the country on how best to step up our campaign of industrial action, and the executive will meet to set further dates in due course."