Rail strikes are back with a vengeance. Passengers on Avanti West Coast face months of disruption, which began on 31 December and is set to continue until the late May bank holiday weekend.
Train managers working for the West Coast main line operator and who belong to the RMT union walked out on New Year’s Eve and Thursday 2 January. They will also strike every Sunday between 12 January and 25 May.
The plan is to stop work on a total of 21 days, disrupting the plans of up to 100,000 passengers for each of the chosen dates.
These are the key questions and answers.
Avanti West Coast: what routes does it operate?
The main network covers around 700 miles of track. It centres on the West Coast main line to and from London Euston. The main cities served are:
- Birmingham
- Manchester
- Liverpool
- Glasgow
Coventry, Stoke-on-Trent, Preston, Carlisle and Edinburgh are among the other cities on the network.
In addition, Avanti West Coast runs along the North Wales coast, connecting Crewe with the port of Holyhead.
What is the dispute about?
Payments to train managers for working on their rest days.
RMT members say they are poorly rewarded compared with the sums earned by “management train managers”. These are senior managers employed in desk-based roles for Avanti West Coast, who have been trained to stand in as train managers when essential to keep trains running.
An improved offer from the rail firm was put to union members, which Avanti says is worth around £250 for each eight-hour shift worked on a rest day, or £300 at weekends.
But Mick Lynch, the general secretary of the RMT, told BBC Breakfast that his members would earn only £250 for working an 11-hour shift on their rest days at the rate proposed by Avanti West Coast.
He said that the company’s managers, when working as “management train managers”, earn between £500 and £600. Train drivers employed by Avanti earn a flat £600 for working on a day off.
In a referendum on the improved pay offer, train managers resoundingly rejected it; seven out of 10 of all those eligible to vote were in favour of walking out.
“Instead of paying our people a premium rate for working on their rest days, they have decided to pay their management grades much more than our members – up to double what our members can earn,” Mr Lynch said.
“The company must come forward with…
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