Southern has said it would meet the RMT “any time, any place, anywhere” to end the strikes.
The company said one in five conductors turned up for work yesterday, although the union maintained that support for the action was “solid”.
Southern published full details of an eight-point written offer to the union which was tabled during talks at the conciliation service Acas last week, which collapsed without agreement.
The Govia Thameslink Railway chief executive, Charles Horton, said:
This comprehensive and incredibly fair offer is on top of existing commitments made on no compulsory redundancies, no reduction in salary, a guaranteed above-inflation pay rise for two years, additional salary paid to staff working voluntary overtime and no compulsory location moves.
Everyone is sick and tired of this pointless, needless and senseless strike, which is so damaging to people’s everyday lives and the south-east economy, and causing undue disruption and hardship to customers and employees.
I urge the RMT to come back to the table to talk, have constructive and productive discussions on the way forward and shake hands on a deal. We are prepared to meet them directly or through Acas any time, any place, anywhere to let common sense prevail and give our customers back their trains and give them the service they expect.
Finally, I’d like to thank the one in five conductors who turned up to work yesterday. They have demonstrated their commitment to serving our passengers in the best way possible. The RMT claimed support for the strike was ‘rock solid’ when the reality is large numbers of conductors now recognise that this is a pointless strike.
The Campaign for Better Transport and a Southern passenger group, the Association of British Commuters, plan to march to the Department for Transport on Wednesday to call on the government to take urgent action to help resolve the Southern crisis.
The RMT is also calling for fresh talks. Mick Cash has written to the company, saying:
The union believes that there is a deal to be done based around the ScotRail principles and that we need to pick up on the progress that was being made when the talks broke down on Friday.
It is in no one’s interests to prolong this dispute when the framework that can take us forward has been so clearly laid out.
We’re closing the live blog for now, but join as again for the afternoon commute as we keep you up to date with all the latest developments.
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Fed-up commuters will have their spirits raised later today as three leading drag queen performers will be entertaining tired travellers at Victoria station.
Coach operator National Express say the stunt will be a show of solidarity amid the ongoing Southern rail service disruption and five-day strike this week. The performance will be led by La Voix, who was in Absolutely Fabulous The Movie, a semi-finalist on Britain’s Got Talent 2014 and second place in Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK 2015 She’s supported by two other prominent London performers, Nancy Clench and Vanity von Glow.
Aimed at bringing some light-hearted relief, with the message ‘travel between Brighton and London needn’t be a drag’, visitors to the station will also have the chance to snap up one of 100 free coach journeys from National Express to anywhere in the UK, or one of 3,000 discount vouchers offering 50% off between Brighton and London. These one-off leaflets will be given away between 4pm and 6.30pm, with the performers interacting with the public before a special impromptu performance around 5pm, at the peak of rail rush hour.
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Summary
The Southern rail strike entered its second day today, after Southern’s operator Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) failed to solve a dispute with the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union over plans to change the role of conductors and other jobs.
While thousands of commuters were affected, the RMT said support from workers remained “rock solid”, with pickets outside stations and depots.
The RMT said the government had put a “blockade” on talks to end the row. The union’s general secretary, Mick Cash, said: “We have it on good authority that the deal, which would have enabled us to suspend the Southern strike action this week, was sabotaged by the government with their director of rail, Peter Wilkinson, directing operations from outside the talks.” The Department for Transport denied the claims.
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There are a few articles about Southern Rail worth reading in other publications.
LBC asks why Southern rail’s services have become so bad.
The Independent looks at how the home counties became the frontline for a industrial fight to the finish.
The New Statesman asks whether the Southern Rail chaos has made the case for renationalising the railways.
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Some commuters, like the Guardian’s Adam Vaughan, are taking advantage of the strike and the morning’s bright weather.
#southernstrike journey complete - bike from Lewes to Haywards Heath, train to London, hire bike across town pic.twitter.com/1iJKnHSPvv
— Adam Vaughan (@adamvaughan_uk) August 9, 2016
LBC’s Nick Ferrari asked Paul Cox, a senior official at the RMT, why a strike affecting over a quarter of a million people should go ahead when only 306 people voted for it. You can listen to the heated interview here.
These are the routes with no or limited service today.
Routes with NO Southern service today. Full details of alternatives can be found here > https://t.co/ky08WXeM05 pic.twitter.com/wjDZhm4yUu
— Southern (@SouthernRailUK) August 9, 2016
Routes with a LIMITED service today between 07:30 & 18:00. Plan your journey https://t.co/AZeIm9asMg pic.twitter.com/x9uoe1HFM0
— Southern (@SouthernRailUK) August 9, 2016
Here are some numbers about the strike:
Southern is cancelling 946 of its normal 2,242 services each day of the walkout.
The stoppage follows a series of one-day strikes since April following a ballot of 393 RMT members.
Southern, which has about 300,000 passengers a day, said on Monday it was operating nearly 60% of its regular timetable during the strike. It added that 88.5% of those services were running on time.
Whether you’re striking or your commute has been affected we’d like to hear from you. You can share your photos and stories by clicking on the ‘Contribute’ button in the live blog. You can also fill in our form or contact us on WhatsApp on +447867825056.
We’ll include some of your submissions in the live blog and in our reporting.
First class has been declassified across all Southern services in an effort to ease the pressure on overcrowded trains during the strike, the Wandsworth Guardian reports.
Southern have said that first-class ticket holders will be able to claim back the difference through their website. All bikes that cannot be folded are also being banned from services for the rest of the week.
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Department for Transport director Peter Wilkinson told a public meeting earlier this year that train drivers who resist changes to their working hours can “get the hell out of my industry”, the Press Association reports.
Wilkinson said there will be “punch-ups” with drivers when the government changes their working hours to improve rail services. “Over the next three years we’re going to be having punch-ups and we will see industrial action and I want your support,” he told residents in Croydon, south London.
Meanwhile, the RMT said today that support from workers on the second day of the strike remained “rock solid”, with pickets outside stations and depots.
The union’s general secretary, Mick Cash, said:
RMT members on Southern stand solid, determined and united again this morning on the second day of this phase of strike action.
Our message that rail safety has to be put before the profits of Govia Thameslink is ringing out loud and clear.
The union thanks the travelling public for their understanding and support as we stand up against this failing and greedy rail operator.
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And more anger...
My daughter's sleeping on a colleague's floor this week; can't get to work. Have they considered consequences? Seems not. #southernstrike
— Michelle Jones (@8MichelleJones) August 9, 2016
Let's make @SouthernRailUK pay for the tickets of all disrupted passengers. That would sort the strike out pronto #southernstrike
— Celia (@_CeliaBB) August 9, 2016
Commuters have also expressed their frustration or support on social media using the hashtag #southernstrike.
Have arrived at #Redhill bus station. Now to go to the station to travel on to London Bridge #southernstrike pic.twitter.com/e1QFcPXxul
— JackFiehn (@JackFiehn) August 9, 2016
Where are the rest of the 'striking' conductors? Usually lots more. Maybe they are away on holiday? #southernstrike pic.twitter.com/TRwWpsEpAi
— AlisonDobson (@allydobo) August 9, 2016
Day two of #southernstrike and chaos at #threebridges. It's far too early for these crowds! @SouthernRailUK 👏🏼👏🏼👊🏻 pic.twitter.com/LFfl6IeIKJ
— tashy (@tashgregory86) August 9, 2016
@SouthernRailUK #southernstrike 🖕🏽 pic.twitter.com/Lrjqp01xse
— Shabba (@RankinCalum) August 9, 2016
Travelling on the 100 bus to #Redhill and then on to London Bridge #southernstrike pic.twitter.com/zYt3FWGI8H
— JackFiehn (@JackFiehn) August 9, 2016
Yes there is disruption, But I'm pleased to support the striking workers 👍👍👍 #southernstrike
— Mick/Michael/Sonic (@LefebveM) August 9, 2016
It's not just who pushes the button. I was on a train with a man waving a cosh threatening to rape. Conductor called BTP #southernstrike
— Em Cee (@emileecee) August 8, 2016
Well done #southernstrike #eastgrinstead cant even run the limited strike schedule!! More cancelled trains!! #solved by conductorless trains
— heather (@1985hevpav) August 9, 2016
I AM ON A TRAIN! (Be it a packed, standing, somewhat smelly train, but still a train!) #southernstrike
— Emily Hilditch (@emilyhilditch) August 9, 2016
No sympathy for #southernstrike workers. Unions are a nuisance and workers sacked for making people's commute a misery. Get back to work
— pussy cat (@ashdown1981) August 9, 2016
Had to get a super early train to work due to #Southernstrike which meant I couldn't watch The Barefoot Contessa. I hate you all.
— Ed (@eddo_) August 9, 2016
The BBC has spoken to some affected commuters at Three Bridges.
It's day two of the #SouthernStrike with thousands of commuters affected. We spoke to some of them at Three Bridges. pic.twitter.com/yGFegl7qS9
— BBC Sussex (@BBCSussex) August 9, 2016
On Wednesday, striking rail workers are to stage a protest outside the Department for Transport amid claims that the government has put a “blockade” on talks to end the row, which would have prevented this week’s strikes. The RMT said a deal was being discussed based on an offer made last week by ScotRail in a similar dispute which led to strikes being suspended. The RMT general secretary, Mick Cash, said:
RMT can confirm that we were within an inch of making progress towards boxing off a deal with Southern in Acas talks on Friday afternoon that was based on the offer from ScotRail, an offer that enabled us to suspend all industrial action in the ScotRail guards dispute.
We were just getting into the detailed wording when suddenly the plug was pulled and our legs were kicked from under us. We have it on good authority that the deal, which would have enabled us to suspend the Southern strike action this week, was sabotaged by the government with their director of rail, Peter Wilkinson, directing operations from outside the talks.
We are now taking our protest direct to the Department for Transport. We want the government to stop weaponising the Southern dispute for political purposes and we want them to stop treating passengers and staff as collateral damage in a war that Peter Wilkinson has unilaterally declared on the rail unions.
The department denied the claims.
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Good morning. For a second day, commuter misery looms for thousands in the south-east, as the five-day Southern rail strike enters a second day.
The walkout is the result of a bitter dispute between Southern’s operator, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) and the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union over plans to change the role of conductors and other job changes, after talks at the mediation service Acas collapsed.
The service has been in the headlines for months as industrial action and staff shortages have hit services, exacerbating Southern’s persistent delays and cancellations, as well as overcrowding on the remaining trains. Last month Southern cancelled hundreds of services each day in an attempt to improve reliability on the remaining routes, while MPs on the transport committee summoned union bosses and GTR management to question them on the chaos.
Southern announced its emergency timetable will include 60% of its normal services this week, although some areas of Sussex will have no trains at all. The BBC has a useful summary of the services that will be worst hit.
Yesterday, the prime minister’s official spokeswoman said Theresa May “strongly condemns” the strike, but Labour claimed it was becoming increasingly clear that the government was a barrier to resolving the dispute.
We’ll be following the strike as it unfolds this morning. You can read the Guardian view of the strikes below:
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