UK rail workers to continue strikes against plans for Driver Only Operated trains
By
Tony Robson
31 August 2017
Train drivers and guards in the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) are to strike from September 1 in a long running dispute against the introduction of Driver Only Operated (DOO) trains by the three transport operating companies (TOCS) – Southern GTR, Northern Rail and Merseyrail.
At Southern GTR and Northern Rail, the industrial action consists of two strike days on September 1 and September 4 with Merseyrail involved in a three-day stoppage over the same period including September 3.
The latest round of strike action takes place against the background of concerted efforts by both the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) and the RMT to end the dispute and prevent its extension to other private operators on the network.
Following the last round of strike action by RMT on the three franchises in July, the union and ASLEF called off strike action on Southern GTR planned for the start of August in return for direct talks with Conservative government Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling.
ASLEF and the RMT met separately with Grayling. Prior to the talks on July 21, RMT general secretary Mick Cash stated: “We will also be asking that he pull back from engineering a Southern-style confrontation across the network, including on South West Trains and Abellio Anglia.
“Today’s talks will show us whether he is sincere and bringing fresh thinking to the table or just going through the motions. RMT is entering the talks with positive proposals for resolving the disputes.”
In the press release issued by Cash in the aftermath of the talks, the government’s position was presented as good coin: “Regarding DOO on other companies the…