Rail war wages on: More strike action coming this month

More train strikes will take place across the country in September, as trade unions and rail bosses struggle to come to an agreement on a long-drawn out pay dispute for workers.

Strike action will take place on Thursday, September 15 and Saturday, September 17, as announced by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers and the Aslef union.

The strikes are the latest in a long line of industrial action organised by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers in recent months – attempting to force the hand of train companies in a long-term pay dispute.

Union leaders are asking for a reasonable pay boost in line with inflation and the rising cost of living, with the RMT suggesting all that has been offered so far is a real terms pay cut.

It comes after claims that the government asked the rail sector to reduce costs by 10% due to a lull in footfall through the COVID-19 pandemic – despite Network Rail recording a £1.6 billion profit before tax in the 2020/21 financial year.

The RMT are accusing Network Rail and the government of prioritising profit over people. | Photo: Ellis Karran for The Lincolnite

The RMT will be joined by 9,000 members of the Aslef union on September 15, making it the biggest strike train drivers have taken part in so far.

12 train-operating companies will be affected by the strikes, including East Midlands Railway, London North Eastern Railway and Northern Trains – all of which run services through Lincolnshire.

In all instances for the 12 companies, there will either be very few or no trains at all running on the announced dates.

There will also be a strike on Monday, September 26, starting from midday, at nine train-operating companies, as announced by the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association.

How Lincolnshire will be affected

| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

East Midlands Railway has stated it will run a “significantly reduced” service on Thursday, September 15 and Saturday, September 17 – advising people to only travel by rail if absolutely necessary.

The operator has also wanted that services on the Friday and Sunday, in-between strike action days, will also be affected. For more information, visit the EMR website.

London North Eastern Railway has announced that it will be providing provisional timetables for the strike action from Friday, September 9 – finalising changes to impacted services.

At the time of reporting there are no announced amendments to the timetables as yet, but details will be available from the LNER website from Friday.

Northern Trains have also said they are “currently working on a plan” for service updates, announcing that the operator will be expecting “severe disruption to travel” on the announced strike days.

You will be able to check affected services and cancelled routes in due course by visiting the Northern Trains website.

Strike action so far in Lincolnshire

A picket line of RMT workers outside Lincoln train station, striking over pay and job security. | Photo: Ellis Karran for The Lincolnite

Industrial action from train workers is becoming quite common in 2022, as the RMT continues to plea with industry bosses for a fairer wage deal for its workers.

A three-day rail network shutdown was called in June, the largest action of its kind since the 1980s, which brought the train system to its knees as no LNER or EMR trains ran to or from Lincoln on June 21, 23 and 25.

This was then followed by another RMT picket line on July 27, which prompted Lincoln train station to be kept closed for the whole day.

Then, on August 18 and 20, the RMT called yet more strike action, including around 40,000 workers and again grinding the Lincolnshire rail services to a halt.

Another month has arrived and more action is on the way, as this dispute over job security and pay doesn’t seem to show any sign of slowing down at present.