UK rail strikes planned on the London Underground, Northern Rail and Southern Rail

Home Top

The seals outnumber the guests! Scottish holiday island with spectacular sea views, a restaurant and lighthouse is yours for £2,000 a night
From TOWIE to Downton Abbey: The best of Britain's TV locations (and whether it's a blessing or a curse to be linked to the show)
British tourist suffers horrific leg injury after 'false widow spider bite' while on holiday in Lanzarote
Are YOU brave enough to wear a slashkini? Stars can't get enough of summer's hottest swimwear trend so we sent one brave volunteer to Brighton to find out if it shapes up (with help from a very eager lifeguard)
Is this the future of room service? Robots deployed to cater to hotel guests' needs... and they can even navigate the lifts
They won't visit odd numbered homes which have been burgled but British police ARE going to patrol Magaluf and Ibiza streets to help tackle rowdy UK revellers
Hundreds of passengers stranded in Cyprus after Thomas Cook plane bound for Gatwick returned an hour into the flight because the air conditioning wasn't working
They are endorsed by Twilight star Kellan Lutz and help you sleep on planes: Why Blackout Bands are the latest must-have in-flight accessory
Is this the future of holiday homes? Space-age tower set in a forest has 360-degree views, fingerprint entry and a beer dispenser in the couch... but there's nowhere to go when nature calls
British holidaymakers warned about travel to Cyprus as temperatures hit 57C and steering wheels MELT
Welcome to the 'Condom-inium': Stay in this Ibiza apartment for FREE for a week - if you don't mind sleeping in a bed covered with safe sex messages and STI statistics
There's love in the air: New Tinder-inspired app, CrewMe, connects pilots and cabin crew looking for romance
Men spend £400 on beauty treatments and new clothes to prep for a holiday in Marbella (but those going to France, Italy or Portugal splash out just £50)
Pagan burial grounds, the ghost of Anne Boleyn and the property that inspired The Shining: These are the world's most haunted hotels
'Highway to the Danger Zone!' Moment Southwest Airlines crew blared Top Gun song through cabin as plane took off
Hotels in Spanish holiday hotspot of Lloret de Mar given power to evict badly behaved tourists amid concern over rowdy image
Timing is everything: Save up to 45% on your summer holiday... simply by travelling during the week of August 22
Holidaymaker's fury after currency exchange shop gave her €600 worth of counterfeit notes... and she still hasn't been reimbursed
He ran out of countries! Meet the traveller who visited EVERY country on the planet - before turning 40 (and he's got advice on how you can do the same)
'Only a sick mind would do something like that': Couple burgled on Lanzarote holiday as they tend to daughter with Down's syndrome in the next room
Plane wing found washed up on Reunion island IS from missing MH370, Malaysian PM reveals as investigators are finally able to confirm the jet crashed into the sea 515 days after it vanished
Is this the world's creepiest hotel? Inside the CRYPT where guests sleep in a coffin on a concrete platform that held a priest's remains for 100 years
Southwest Airlines flight delayed after plane's wing knocks over catering truck at US airport
Adventurer converts his grandma's van into a mobile home enabling him to live and work on the road - clocking 60,000 miles

RMT announces five-day strike among engineers at Southern Rail
Following ballot, workers at Northern Rail are set to strike as well
24-hour stoppage on Underground due to start Wednesday evening
Workers are protesting at plans for all night tubes from September

Published: 09:12 EST, 3 July 2015 | Updated: 09:44 EST, 3 July 2015

View
comments

Britain is set for weeks of rail chaos after union bosses announced strikes on two major overground networks with a planned strike on the London Underground looking increasingly likely to go ahead.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union today announced a five-day strike among engineers at Southern Rail, and a ballot result for action at Northern Rail.

Meanwhile, talks aimed at averting a strike by London Underground workers will not resume until Monday, days before a 24-hour stoppage is due to start from Wednesday evening.

On the buffers: The Rail, Maritime and Transport union today announced a five-day strike among engineers at Southern Rail, and a ballot result for action at Northern Rail

RMT General secretary Mick Cash said Southern Railways had broken promises on working hours

The union said hundreds of engineers on Southern Rail will strike for five days from July 12, and ban overtime over the weekend of July 10-12 over claims of a 'comprehensive breakdown' in industrial relations.

The move follows a 9-1 vote for strikes among union members at Southern, which operates commuter and other services between London and the Sussex coast.

Officials said under the 2013 pay settlement, a working group of union reps and managers was set up to find productivity measures that could cut the working week.

The union said the group could not find any way to bring in a 35-hour week with no extra cost to the company.

Productivity measures were subsequently brought in for engineers without leading to a reduction in the working week, said the RMT.

General secretary Mick Cash said: 'RMT will not stand by while agreed policies, procedures and agreements are unilaterally ripped up by Southern and promises on the reduction in the working week are kicked aside despite increases in productivity.

'Southern is a company intensively under the spotlight over its performance at the moment and RMT will not have our members left unrewarded as they hit work targets and then face a barrage of attacks on working conditions and procedures. RMT remains available for talks.'

Southern said: 'We are disappointed that the RMT has decided to take this action at this time in the franchise, especially as we have been having meaningful talks with the union throughout this process about the issues raised.'

The union also announced that around 1,500 of its members on Northern Rail voted by 4-1 to strike in a row over jobs and safety.

The dispute is said to be over a series of issues, including the removal of permanent posts and the creation of zero-hour jobs through a contract with a security company, cuts to booking offices and attacks on the role and responsibility of train guards.

Workers on the London Underground are due to strike in a dispute over the new all-night Tube, due to start over weekends from mid-September

The union said Northern Rail had also given no commitment that there will be no compulsory redundancies beyond the end of its current franchise in February next year.

Adrian Thompson, human resources director for Northern Rail, said: 'We are disappointed that RMT Northern members have voted in favour of strike action and industrial action short of a strike, but note that only 38 per cent of members who were asked to vote, voted yes to this. That means 62% of people who were asked to vote either voted no or did not vote.

'The RMT executive committee has said it is now considering the result. As soon as we have any further information, we will update our customers.

'Some of the RMT's issues within this strike ballot are about the requirements for the next Northern franchise, which starts in April 2016.

'We have explained to the RMT that this means the issues they are concerned about are not part of Northern Rail's current franchise and are not within our control to change. They would need to be discussed with the new operator of the franchise from April 2016.

'The Department for Transport is expected to announce the winner of the next Northern franchise later this year.'

Four unions are planning to strike on London Underground next week in a dispute over the new all-night Tube, due to start over weekends from mid-September.

Talks have been held this week at the conciliation service Acas, but the dispute remains deadlocked.

The talks will not resume until Monday, with time running out on averting a walkout which would cripple Tube service in the capital, hitting tennis fans going to Wimbledon.

The strike is due to start on Budget day.