RMT has today confirmed that the strike action this Saturday WILL take place on Northern Rail.
This comes after the train operator failed to respond by noon to request for urgent talks around the responsibilities of the guard.
The union had set out three core objectives to be met which would have allowed for tomorrow’s action to be suspended:
1. An absolute guarantee that no trains will run without the second member of staff on board.
2. That the second member of staff will be clearly designated as safety critical to the running of all services.
3. That the second member of staff will retain the full suite of safety and operational competencies of the guard, including a direct role at the platform/train interface and train despatch.
What did the officials say?
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said,
“RMT made it clear that we needed a formal response from Northern Rail by noon today to the core principles around the role and responsibilities of the second person on their trains. We are angry and frustrated that no such response has been forthcoming and as a result of the company’s failure the action goes ahead tomorrow exactly as planned.
“It has only been the resilience of RMT members and our supporters from the travelling public whose solidarity and determination have been instrumental in getting the focus of the dispute back on to the guarantee of a second person on the train. It is deeply disappointing that the company have failed today to meet the union’s call to move the issues forwards.”
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Responses
People living in counties in Northern England should rather not travel on Arriva Northern trains anymore because of the train operator has put so much misery and have also affected local communities such as villages and smaller towns that are near to a railway station have suffered with constant delays and cancellations. And with local businesses also been affected by the strike action. And with rail replacement buses which is just one way to travel between places and to swap between replacement bus and trains with other trains operators at stations in the North of England that do provide better services than Northern.
I hope that Arriva who manages the Northern franchise should lose the franchise. And to give it to another franchise who would take over and to put a end to the strikes and to add more extra trains and pay outs for staff, drivers and guards.