Christmas shoppers, football fans and people making long-distance journeys to see family over the festive season will be hit by the latest round of rail strikes involving CrossCountry Trains.
Members of the RMT union working for the rail firm will walk out on each Saturday in December – 6, 13, 20 and 27 – in a row over pay and staffing.
Most or all CrossCountry services linking England, Wales and Scotland through a hub in Birmingham New Street are likely to be axed on the strike days. Normally the company carries around 100,000 passengers a day
The dispute centres on what the RMT says are “long-running issues on pay, staffing and previously agreed commitments”.
The union says the company has “failed to honour agreements on overtime payments, staff resourcing and wage discrepancies for different grades”.
RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said: “CrossCountry has not dealt with the core issues in this dispute and has come back with a proposal that is worse than what was already on the table.
“Our members are still facing unresolved staffing shortages, unfair pay outcomes and broken commitments. RMT members have been left with no choice but to take strike action.
“The company must return with a serious offer that meets the commitments it has already made and treats our members with the fairness and respect they deserve.”
Shiona Rolfe, managing director at CrossCountry, said: “We are disappointed for our customers that the RMT has announced further industrial action. We’ve worked hard to make a fair and reasonable offer that addresses the key points raised in this dispute, and we’ve made meaningful progress in negotiations.
“Our priority remains reaching an agreement that avoids disruption for passengers in the busy Christmas period, and we are ready to continue talks at any time.”
The Saturday before Christmas, 20 December, is one of the busiest days for long-distance travel over the festive season. The Saturday afterwards is expected to be busy as it will see the first trains on many lines since Christmas Eve.
In addition, because of engineering work on the West Coast Main Line, many passengers on 27 December were depending on CrossCountry to make journeys around the Network Rail closures.
Union members walked out on the Saturday of the August bank holiday weekend, halting all CrossCountry services. A further strike planned for Saturday 18 October was called off, though many trains were cancelled because it was too late to reinstate a normal timetable.
In a separate dispute involving train drivers working for CrossCountry, the operator apologised to the Aslef union and said “cultural, structural and behavioural issues” at the company would be investigated.
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