The prospect of an early end to disruption on Southern rail services has receded as Aslef announced plans to ballot train drivers on industrial action.
The announcement came on the second day of a 72-hour strike by conductors on Southern trains. While Southern has managed to run more than half of its scheduled trains during the walkout by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union , a strike by drivers would cripple the service.
Plans to extend driver-only operated trains are opposed by both unions. Aslef, which was blocked from taking action by a court injunction earlier this year, will ballot its drivers on Southern for industrial action after talks at the union’s head office on Monday failed to resolve the problems at the heart of this dispute.
The union’s general secretary, Mick Whelan, said: “We have genuinely sought to reach a compromise with Southern. We have always been prepared to talk to the company, and we have always been of the view that it is, or should be, possible to do a deal – as we did with ScotRail – but it takes two to tango and the company has not been prepared to negotiate.
“They want to impose, not to discuss. They have dug in their heels and forced us to ballot our members.
“Our trade dispute with the company is that there should be no introduction and/or extension of new driver-only operated routes on Southern without the agreement of Aslef.”
Drivers will be balloted next month.
A spokesman for Southern’s operating company, Govia Thameslink Railway, said: “We are very disappointed that Aslef has decided to ballot its members for industrial action. We will now sit down with union officials as quickly as possible to see if we can resolve the issue. If we can’t, we’ll await the outcome of the drivers’ ballot and the union’s next steps and we’ll respond at that time.”
The strike by RMT members on Southern, in the ongoing dispute over reforms to the role of conductors, entered its second day on Tuesday. Southern planned to run about 61% of the normal timetable.
The union’s general secretary, Mick Cash, said: “Despite a vicious campaign of company lies and dirty tricks, including the spreading of bogus numbers about staff working and an attempt to bribe our members with a £2,000 bounty to sell out on passenger safety, the strike action this morning remains absolutely solid.”
“The solution to this dispute can be achieved easily through a cast-iron guarantee of a second, safety critical member of staff on all current services with a guard.”
Three further walkouts are planned by the RMT in November and December.
