RMT has announced new strike dates on Arriva Rail North (Northern) in addition to the current strike dates already announced.
The new strike dates are because of the continued dispute over the role of the guards and Driver Only Operation.
The announcement has come after the 31st day of strike action this year last week.
All RMT Arriva Rail North Conductor, Conductor Instructor and Train Driver members had already been instructed to take action as follows:
- Between 00:01 hours and 23:59 hours on Saturday 13th October 2018
- Between 00:01 hours and 23:59 hours on Saturday 20th October 2018
The additional dates that strike action will be taking place are:
- 0001 Hours and 2359 Hours on Saturday 27th October 2018
- 0001 Hours and 2359 Hours on Saturday 3rd November 2018
- 0001 Hours and 2359 Hours on Saturday 10th November 2018
What did the officials say?
RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said:
“RMT continues to make every effort to get serious and meaningful talks going with Northern but the company are not interested and would prefer to continue to bury their heads in the sand regardless of the impact on the travelling public.
“German-owned Northern Rail want to run nearly 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 secured agreements on other English franchises that enshrine the guard guarantee. Similar agreements have also been reached in Wales and Scotland. Arriva Rail North need to do the right thing and come to an agreement that secures a guard on their trains too.
“We thank the public for their support and understanding throughout this dispute over rail safety and access and the union remains ready for genuine and serious talks.”
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The strikes are totally futile. There’s no indication anywhere that progress towards resolving the issues is being made. It has gone on long enough now, and has to stop. Right now! My son travels between Bingley to Leeds to work each day. He works in retail and works shifts and on Saturdays needs a train home after 8.30pm. His journey home on these Saturdays is long and tiring as there is no train back to Bingley from Leeds without a lengthy wait until the King’s Cross to Bradford train arrives in Leeds at around 10pm – and board that and alight at Shipley. If he’s lucky! He then has to organise a further journey from Shipley to Bingley by bus. On 13 October 2018 it was after 11pm when he finally arrived home from work after a long day. He is just one casualty of this stupid strike. I would like some credible comment from Northern Rail how it feels at how this pointless stupid action is having on its customers. They are certainly not being valued or cared for. And it had better be a good one! My son used to live in London and travelled on guardless trains all the time. He readily admits that not once did he feel unsafe or vulnerable in all the years he travelled on them. If London can do it with all its security worries why not Northern Rail. This strike action is just an excuse until something else comes along for it to disrupt its passengers. Get a grip Northern Rail. End this action now. . Sympathy for you is wearing very thin and customers will eventually start and vote with their feet . You simply cannot justify carrying on in this way. People use trains as my son does to get to work etc. Surely they deserve better from you than this.
I fully support the strike as we need these guards on our trains.
I bet there will be more strikes happening on Northern next year. Oh boy.
That picture of the Northern Converted Class 769 unit is in fact “769434” I think.