Train strikes at present – stay: RMT congratulates members for strike that cripples rail community

Some passengers concern the disruption following the 48-hour rail strike might final till a minimum of Sunday, due to trains and drivers being within the flawed locations.

It is “up to the unions to decide” if they want train services in northern England to improve, according to Transport Secretary Mark Harper.

The Cabinet minister claimed he gave TransPennine Express and Northern “the scope they need to put a meaningful and generous” offer on rest-day working to drivers’ union Aslef.

Thousands of companies have been cancelled throughout the area at quick discover in latest months.

Much of the disruption has been brought on by employees now not volunteering to do paid shifts on their relaxation days, amid an industrial relations disaster throughout the sector.

In a press release to Parliament, Mr Harper wrote: “Aslef need to enter negotiations and put any new deal to its members and, if accepted, do all it can to make that deal work.

“TransPennine has made a generous revised offer to Aslef and it was almost immediately rejected without being put to members.

“It is up to the unions to decide if they want to improve services, for the good of passengers and the wider economy in the North.”

More railway union strikes are deliberate within the coming weeks, threatening big disruption to trains within the busy run as much as Christmas.

RMT basic secretary Mick Lynch is because of maintain one other assembly on Thursday with employers and the Government, however there’s little signal of a breakthrough within the bitter row.

He stated: “If all 16 days of action go ahead, over £300 million will have been spent by the taxpayer to ensure they [train companies] suffer no financial detriment.

“The cost-of-living crisis is accelerating out of control and the trade union movement is stepping up to the plate across multiple industries to protect workers.

“We send our heartfelt solidarity to the nurses and their union the RCN on their historic strike tomorrow, along with our heroic postal workers who are striking on issues very similar to our own.”

A 48-hour strike by rail workers has been “solidly supported”, causing travel chaos across the country, a union said on Wednesday.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) walked out on Tuesday in a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.

The union congratulated its 40,000 members for taking 48 hours of strike action which shut down large parts of the railway across the country.

Mick Lynch said: “I congratulate RMT members who have shown enormous dignity and rock-solid fortitude throughout this 48-hour strike.

“They have shown how important their work is to the functioning of the economy and wider society.”

Real considerations stay in regards to the stage of canopy nurses will present for most cancers sufferers throughout Thursday’s strike, the top of NHS Employers has stated.

In a letter to NHS leaders, Danny Mortimer stated some facets of talks with the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) had been disappointing and warned that “unless the Government indicates a willingness to negotiate on pay-related matters, further strike dates will be announced by the RCN for January 2023 and beyond”.

The letter, dated Wednesday December 14 and seen by the PA information company, stated: “To be clear – real concerns remain.

“There are areas where we are disappointed that we have not been able to make more progress with the RCN, with the limited national derogations for cancer services a particular area of worry.”

A British soccer fan claims to have booked two flights from Manchester to Birmingham to achieve a soccer match in Coventry on a practice strike day.

Twitter consumer @ASCFC_x, named solely as Ashley, stated he had discovered that flying through Dublin was cheaper than taking a coach between the 2 UK factors.

Ashley posted a display shot of Ryanair flights departing Manchester Airport at 8.05am on Saturday (17 December), connecting in Dublin and reaching Birmingham at 11.45am. The soccer match will happen at Coventry Arena, a 23-minute drive away.

The fan claimed the air fare had price him £22 return.

Fellow followers identified that National Express coach fares have been obtainable for £23.10, however Ashley responded that he’d discovered the air route each simpler and cheaper.

“I booked a return flight for £21 and a single with the national express was £25, just made sense to take the flight, luckily I’m getting picked up from Brum airport and getting a lift to Cov from there,” he defined in a follow-up tweet.

The tweet has sparked a debate about the easiest way for soccer followers to get round December’s practice strikes.

Even although the newest practice strike by members of the RMT union ends at 1.59am on Thursday, disruption to rail companies will proceed nicely into the morning.

The actual stipulation is that Network Rail and practice operator workers mustn’t signal on for work till 2am on the earliest, which means some night time shifts can be left uncovered.

This means airline passengers within the London space making an attempt to achieve an airport might encounter critical issues making early flights.

The first practice from London Victoria to Gatwick airport doesn’t arrive till 7.49am, too late for the primary wave of flights. All National Express buses from Victoria Coach Station to Gatwick earlier than 8am are bought out.

At Luton Airport Parkway, the primary arrival from London St Pancras worldwide is at 7.41am. The first National Express bus from Victoria Coach station is the 5.40am, arriving at 7.15am.

Stansted airport is accessible by practice from London Liverpool Street from 7.25am (arrives 8.15am). National Express has no coach seats obtainable between 1.10am and 9.30am.

London Heathrow is at all times obtainable in a single day by the N9 bus from central London.

On the second day of the newest nationwide rail strike, commuters within the London space who depend on the London Underground and Elizabeth line are experiencing “severe delays” on some stretches.

The segments of the Elizabeth line exterior central London are presently disrupted. Transport for London (TfL) is saying: “Severe delays between Paddington and Reading and between Liverpool Street and Shenfield due to strike action by national rail staff.”

On the London Underground the day has been characterised by delays and cancellations on some strains.

The Hammersmith & City and Circle strains have had staffing and congestion issues, with lengthy delays at occasions. The northeastern section of the Central line, between Leytonstone and Epping, is experiencing “severe delays”.

TfL says there are minor delays on the remainder of the road as a consequence of practice cancellations.

Elsewhere, the southwestern finish of the District line between Turnham Green and Richmond is disrupted “due to strike action by national rail staff”. The Underground line is shared with rail companies and signalled by Network Rail personnel.

There’s no practice strike scheduled for tomorrow – the official RMT Union strike dates this week are 13-14 December and 16-17 December (Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday).

However, as with most practice strikes, operators expect disruption working into the morning of Thursday 15 December, the “between” day.

Network Rail advises that “Services will start later in the morning”, with disruption usually persevering with on UK practice routes till round 11am the day after strike days. As with the strike days themselves, travellers hoping to make use of the practice networks very first thing on Thursday ought to verify with their practice operator or the departures info of their native station for any disruption.

The identical can be true of Sunday (18 December), after the second 48-hour RMT walk-out on Friday and Saturday; in addition to 5 and eight Jan, the “between” and “after” days across the RMT Union’s January strike dates.

Train drivers at Avanti West Coast are to be balloted for industrial motion in a row over rosters.

Aslef accused the corporate of imposing new working patterns with out settlement.

General secretary Mick Whelan stated: “I can hear the sound of chickens coming home to roost.

“Avanti West Coast has never employed enough drivers to deliver the services it has promised passengers, businesses, and the Government it will run, which is why, every day this year, the company has come up short.

“Earlier this year, in the summer, Avanti tried to blame drivers for taking “unofficial industrial action”, which it knew to be unfaithful.

“Now the company has been caught out again because it is trying to run its service on the West Coast main line on the cheap – cheating staff, passengers, and taxpayers – to line the pockets of its shareholders. That is a disgrace.

“If it had done the right thing and employed, as we have consistently asked it to do, enough drivers it would not have had the problems that have persisted all through this year.

“Now the company, to try to cover its own inadequacies, is trying to impose rosters on drivers without going through the proper and agreed process.”