Union to vote on further strikes on South Western Railway
THE union mounting a 28-day strike on South Western Railway is balloting members on whether to carry on with industrial action next year.
The RMT is voting on whether to renew the mandate for its leaders to continue calling walk-outs on the network, which includes the New Forest and Christchurch, as required every six months by law.
It will be the sixth time a ballot has been held in the dispute which has been on-going between the RMT and SWR since 2017. The disagreement is over the future role of guards as the rail company seeks to expand driver-only operated trains.
There had been hopes of the sides drawing closer to an accord as the RMT put forward a six-point “road map to a settlement” as a basis for getting back around table.
In a message to union members, RMT general secretary Mick Cash said the latest ballot had “regrettably” been required under the “anti-union” 2016 Trade Union Act.
He praised them for having “solidly supported” the action so far and said: “RMT and our members believe that nothing less than an operational method that clearly protects the safety critical role of the guard is acceptable.
“RMT is willing to talk about the best ways we can improve and provide a safe and accessible railway system for our members and the travelling public.”
He added: “RMT is willing to enter talks with no pre-conditions with SWR under the auspices of ACAS with the aim of finding a settlement to this dispute.”
Passengers have faced disruption on the rails since the industrial action started on 2nd December, with less than half of services likely to be cancelled under a temporary timetable, according to SWR.
The strike was paused for 24 hours last Thursday for the general election.
A South Western Railway spokesperson said: “Passengers will be extremely disappointed that after calling 28 days of strike action through December and January, the RMT union is trying to take this dispute into yet another year.
“The RMT has repeatedly said it wants an end to this dispute, but announcing a new ballot suggests that the union’s real goal is to continue striking, no matter the cost to passengers.
“We have written to our all of our guards to reiterate our commitment to keeping a guard on every train in a safety-critical role. We want to enable guards to spend more time helping people in wheelchairs and with buggies as well as walking the length of the train to ensure the safety of passengers.”
RMT member guards, commercial guards and drivers are striking from:
- Friday 13th December until Tuesday 24th December
- Friday 27th December until Wednesday 1st January
For travel information during the strikes, go to www.southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey/rmt-industrial-action.
