Well over a year on from the start of the first national rail strikes since the 1980s, the disputes between the main rail unions and train operators over pay, jobs and working conditions appear as intractable as ever.
July has seen the resumption of industrial action aimed at more than a dozen rail firms, which will continue into August.
The biggest rail union, the RMT, and Aslef, representing train drivers, say many of their members have not had a pay rise for four years. They are demanding no-strings increases that take into account the high level of inflation. The unions are prepared to discuss reforms, but these must be negotiated separately – and be accompanied by commensurate pay boosts.
Train operators and ministers – who must sign off any deal – insist modernisation is essential following the collapse of rail revenue. Much of the “bedrock” of season ticket sales has vanished since the Covid pandemic. The only way to award even a modest increase is to fund it out of efficiency savings,
Caught in the middle: the long-suffering passenger. Since June 2022, national rail strikes and other forms of industrial action have scuppered the travel plans of tens of millions of train passengers. Stoppages have been called frequently, causing massive disruption and making advance travel planning difficult.
These are the key questions and answers.
Who is taking industrial action, and when?
The biggest rail union, the RMT, says 20,000 of its members were out on strike on Thursday 20, Saturday 22 and Saturday 29 July. Thousands of trains were cancelled each day at the start of the main summer school holidays in England.
No further strikes are currently announced. But with no progress in talks since April, and no future negotiations planned, news of fresh strikes is expected soon from the RMT.
On the most recent strike day, 29 July, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “Our members keep voting for more strike action because they haven’t got a settlement we can work with.”
The train drivers’ union, Aslef, is mounting “action short of a strike” in the shape of a series Monday-to-Saturday overtime bans. The next starts on Monday 31 July until Saturday 5 August. After a pause for Sunday, another begins on Monday 7 August to Saturday 12 August.
Hundreds of trains are likely to be cancelled each day as a result.
Which train operators…
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