Rail Union, RMT, has confirmed that more strike action will take place on Northern Rail in June 2018.

The strikes are taking place on the long doing the dispute over Driver Only Operation and the role of the guard.

The next phase of strike action will take place in the latter half of June 2018.

All Arriva Rail North Conductor, Conductor Instructor and Train Driver members are instructed to take action by not booking on for any shifts between:

• 00.01 hours and 23.59 hours on Tuesday 19th June 2018
• 00.01 hours and 23.59 hours on Thursday 21st June 2018
• 00.01 hours and 23.59 hours on Saturday 23rd June 2018

What did the officials say?

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said:

“We have seen over the past fortnight that Northern is a company which has declared war on its passengers and staff alike. RMT will not stand aside while the threat to axe safety critical guards from Northern services remains central to the company plans.

“This company has reduced the timetable to total chaos and the union will not allow them to slash the safety culture to ribbons in the same fashion.

“It is a tribute to the determination and professionalism of RMT members on Arriva Rail North that they have remained rock solid for over a year now in what is a clear-cut battle to put public safety before private profit.

“German-owned Northern Rail want to run half a million trains a year without a safety critical guard on board in a move that would wreck both safety and access ‎to services and they should listen to their front-line staff and pull back from that plan immediately.

“RMT has agreed arrangements in Wales and Scotland that enshrine the guard guarantee. If it’s good enough for Wales and Scotland to have safe rail services it should be good enough for the rest of Britain.

“The failure to reach a solution to this dispute to date is solely down to the company and the union remains ready for genuine and meaningful talks.”

Richard Allan, Northern’s Deputy Manager Director, said:

“Northern is working extremely hard to stabilise and provide certainty in delivering a reliable train service on those parts of our network affected by recent very significant disruption and cancellations.

“We have apologised repeatedly and extensively to customers, are working urgently on our additional customer compensation offer, and our energy and focus is on providing a better service for customers.

“The May timetable problems and the latest RMT strike action will not deter us from delivering our modernisation plans for customers – £500m of new trains which are currently under construction, better stations and more services by 2020.

“We are still prepared to guarantee jobs and pay reviews for conductors until the end of our franchise in 2025, with the Government guaranteeing jobs beyond that, but both guarantees depend on RMT ending its strike action.”

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