Rail users face national chaos over the Easter weekend after signallers voted to walk out in a dispute over rosters.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers Union (RMT) will announce plans for the action next Thursday March 25 which will be the first national rail strike since 1996. A total of 54% of those who voted backed the strike.
RMT general secretary Bob Crow, who had already warned Brits against making plans to travel by train over the Easter weekend, sought to justify the strike, saying: “Once again in this ballot RMT members have shown that they back the unions campaign against Network Rail’s cuts programme and the assault on jobs and working conditions that even the Government’s own regulator, the ORR, has said will have severe safety implications out on the tracks.
“Nobody should be under any illusions about just how determined RMT members are to win our fight against Network Rail’s cuts programme and to stop this reckless gamble with rail safety.
“RMT remains committed to reaching a negotiated settlement with Network Rail based on protecting safety-critical jobs and safe working practices. With the combination of the strike mandates, political and public pressure the focus is now on the company to pull back from the brink and reverse their cuts programme.”
Network Rail director of operations and customer services Robin Gisby criticised the plans, adding: “The RMT must be disappointed with the weakness of the result with little more than a third of those balloted voting to strike.
“Despite its militancy, the RMT would be foolish to move forward with any action that would cause misery to millions of passengers and damage the recovering British economy.
“This dispute is nothing to do with safety or the job reductions for the maintenance teams – that is a separate issue. We have a handful of local issues under debate with our signalling people, for example, we are asking small numbers of signallers, who have average earnings of almost £50,000, to move from a three day week to a four day week.
“Contingency planning is well underway in the event that there is a strike but we urge the union to get back round the negotiating table and talk to us about the real issues, and stop trying to hold the country to ransom.”