Commuters face more chaos as unions warn of escalation in strikes

Greater Anglia passengers are braced for more chaos
Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Dick Murray28 September 2017

Commuters today faced the prospect of more disruption after union barons today dramatically escalated industrial action.

The RMT ordered a month-long overtime and rest day working ban by guards on many Greater Anglia services including those to and from Liverpool Street station.

The rail companies rely on overtime and rest day working to run the full timetable.

The ban will come into force on Tuesday 10 October and last until the end of service on Monday 6 November.

It is is protest on what the RMT union claims is a lack of “guarantee” by Greater Anglia – operated by transport giant Abellio - over the future of the guard.

The action is in addition to two 24-hour strikes already ordered to take place on next Tuesday (3 October) and Thursday (5 October).

The union is campaigning against driver-only operation (DOO) which they claim is unsafe - allegations robustly denied by rail industry chiefs which say it is used safely across large parts of the UK.

They are the same dates as walkouts ordered to take place on Southern Rail – which will be the 35th and 36th endured by the company’s long-suffering 300,000 plus passengers – in the dispute over guards.

Strike dates have been deliberately timed to cause maximum disruption during the week but Greater Anglia said it intends to run a full service on those dates.

It means passengers across the UK now face strike action at four rail operators next week with walkouts also taking place at Arrive Rail Northern and Merseyrail next Tuesday and Thursday in related disputes.

London commuters face a double whammy of strike action next Thursday – 5 October – with a walkout by Aslef train drivers on the Tube in a row which threatens to shut down the whole network used by four million people a day.

That is in protest over an entirely separate dispute concerning working conditions

Mick Cash, the RMT leader, said: “It is the wholesale failure of Greater Anglia to address our members concerns over safety that has left us with no option but to escalate our programme of industrial action.”

Richard Dean, Greater Anglia Train Service Delivery Director, said: “We are planning a full service throughout the period of the overtime ban announced by the RMT.

“We are guaranteeing the future of conductors on our trains right through to the end of the franchise in October 2025.”

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