Staff at nine train companies to stage 24-hour strike in September

Staff at nine train companies will be staging a twenty-four-hour walk out in September in an ongoing dispute over pay and working conditions, the TSSA union has announced.

The industrial action is set to take place on Monday September 26th, and will also include Network Rail, the owner of Britain’s train infrastructure.

TSSA said it remained in discussion with National Rail over the possibility of a settlement that would avoid the strike.

The train companies likely to be involved in this strike include the TransPennine Express, West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast, c2c, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway, LNER and Southeastern.

Jon David Houghton / Wikimedia Commons

Along with Network Rail, TSSA said that these train operators would be at the centre of September’s walkout.

Staff have been calling for better work conditions and an increase in pay, having rejected a 2% pay rise offer earlier this summer.

Union leader Manuel Cortes has accused Transport Secretary Grant Shapps of stopping train operating companies from making a ‘revised and meaningful offer’.

He said: “Frankly, [Mr Shapps] either sits across the negotiating table with our union or gets out of the way to allow railway bosses to freely negotiate with us, as they have done in the past.

“The reason for the current impasse lies squarely at Shapps’ door and passengers are paying a high price for his incompetence and intransigence.

“I welcome the fact that negotiations are ongoing with Network Rail and the gap towards a resolution is narrowing. Time will tell whether a deal can be done to avert our next strike.

“I will be standing on our picket line in Liverpool and will be encouraging fellow delegates and Labour MPs to do likewise, so they can rightly show they stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those fighting the Tories’ cost of living crisis.”