Aslef union announces date train drivers will walkout again in pay dispute

The strike will take place at the end of November after Aslef said its members were not given a pay offer. Credit: PA Wire/PA Images

The union for train drivers has announced a fresh strike at the end of November in the long-running dispute over pay.

Members of Aslef will walk out on 26 November, impacting 12 operators across the country.

The union said it was still waiting for a pay offer from the employers, despite a series of talks.

Mick Whelan, general secretary for Aslef, said they "don’t want to be taking this action", and added: "Withdrawing our labour is always a last resort for a trade union."

Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan at a picket line at Euston station Credit: Victoria Jones/PA

Mr Whelan added that the industry wanted drivers "to take a real terms pay cut" amid soaring inflation.

“We want the companies – which are making huge profits – to make a proper pay offer so that our members can keep up with the cost of living”, Mr Whelan said.

What rail strikes have been cancelled as Tube strikes go ahead?

What train companies will be affected?

The 12 companies facing the fresh strike are:

  • Avanti West Coast

  • Chiltern Railways

  • CrossCountry

  • East Midlands Railway (EMR)

  • Great Western Railway

  • Greater Anglia

  • London North Eastern Railway (LNER)

  • London Overground

  • Northern Trains

  • Southeastern

  • Transpennine Express

  • West Midlands Trains

Aslef members have taken a series of strikes in recent months, while the RMT and TSSA unions are also still embroiled in industrial disputes.

The RMT suspended three planned strikes on Friday after it said it had secured “unconditional” talks with Network Rail.

In response to the Aslef strike, a Rail Delivery Group spokesperson said: “We are incredibly frustrated the Aslef leadership has decided to take further strike action.

“We regret Aslef’s decision, which will cause real disruption to passengers and hit its members’ pay packets.

“Instead of staging more counterproductive strike action which increases the very real financial challenge the industry is facing, we ask them to work with us to secure both a pay deal and the changes needed for it to thrive in the long term and improve reliability across the network.”

Meanwhile, LNER has expressed disappointment that members of Aslef have decided to withdraw overtime from the end of the month in a separate row over terms and conditions.

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Warrick Dent, LNER safety & operations director said: “In recent discussions with Aslef’s representatives at LNER we set out how we are responding to the issues they raised, and we are focused on running reliable services for our customers.

“We believe that these matters are best resolved between LNER and Aslef through discussion rather than further industrial action which only damages the rail industry.

“We remain fully committed to working collaboratively with Aslef’s representatives at LNER. In the meantime, we are confident that our contingency plans will keep disruption to LNER services to a minimum.”

LNER said its base timetable requires 371 drivers.

The company employs 402 drivers, up from 368 in June 2018 and is committed to recruiting a further 40 drivers over the next 12 months.

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