Rail strikes will resume over the August bank holiday weekend, with walkouts planned at CrossCountry trains. Members of the RMT have been called out on Saturday 23 and bank holiday Monday (25 August) in a dispute over what the union calls a “breakdown in industrial relations”.
Paignton, Penzance, Bournemouth and many other seaside locations will be more difficult to reach over the long weekend.
The dispute is over a range of issues including enhanced pay for working on rest days, financial incentives for scanning tickets and levels of catering staff. Morale at the train operator is known to be low.
The RMT has also ordered members not to scan tickets on trains from Sunday 24 August onwards.
CrossCountry runs a network stretching from Aberdeen to Penzance, with its main hub at Birmingham New Street. It links key cities including Bristol, Cardiff, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, York, Newcastle and Edinburgh, and serves London Stansted airport.
Among the 56 per cent of eligible union members who voted in the ballot on industrial action, 93 per cent were in favour of a strike.
Eddie Dempsey, general secretary of the RMT, told members: “I would like to congratulate you and your colleagues again for returning a splendid result in the ballot for industrial action.
“This dispute is about protecting the future of your jobs, the protection of negotiated agreements and the right of your union to represent you effectively.”
The action does not involve train drivers belong to the Aslef union, and some trains are likely to run crewed by non-union staff and management. During previous strikes CrossCountry has maintained a skeleton operation on its core network, with a sharply reduced range of routes and trains.
A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said: “This is disappointing news for passengers, particularly over the bank holiday weekend. We strongly urge both the RMT and CrossCountry to get back around the table to resolve this as quickly as possible.”
The Independent has sought a response from Arriva, the company that runs the CrossCountry operation.
Last summer, Labour claimed to have resolved two years of frequent stoppages by members of the two main rail unions, the RMT and Aslef. This strike, however, suggests peace might not yet have arrived.
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