The RMT has announced that strike action on West Midlands Trains regarding Driver Only Operation will go ahead.
The strike action is set to take place this weekend and a number of other days.
The train company has been said to be continuing to resist calls for the safest possible means of operation.
West Midlands Trains Senior Conductor, Senior Conductor Instructor and Train Driver members are instructed to not to book on for any shifts between:
- 00.01 hours until 23.59 hours on Saturday 16th November
- 00.01 hours until 23.59 hours on Saturday 23rd November
- 00.01 hours until 23.59 hours on Saturday 30th November
- 00.01 hours until 23.59 hours on Saturday 7th December
- 00.01 hours until 23.59 hours on Saturday 14th December
- 00.01 hours until 23.59 hours on Saturday 21st December
- 00.01 hours until 23.59 hours on Saturday 28th December
What did the officials say?
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said;
“RMT strike action on West Midlands Trains goes ahead as planned from this Saturday in the face of the company's refusal to pull back from their threat to bulldoze through Driver Only Operation and their attack on the safety critical role of the guard at the platform/train interface.
“The inevitable and serious disruption to services will be wholly down to the company and their refusal to agree to the safest possible means of operation.
“We will not allow the drive for profit to override the core issue of safe and accessible services for all on West Midlands Trains and we stand firm on that very basic principle. We will never compromise on the issues of passenger safety and accessibility.
“The union remains available for talks.”
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There was a time decades ago when train and rail staff were underpaid, but it is now a sick joke, particularly given the abysmal ‘service’ and the abuse if passengers by staff, especially by guards. Their staff are already grossly overpaid, epitomised by train drivers who have had a 69% pay rise since 2012 so that most if them now earn more than a third of captains on airlines. Guards serve no positive purpose anymore seldom checking tickets, failing to give credible information and quite literally there merely for the ride. Sack them all, and start giving us some credible service. There is absolutely no health and safety benefit served by their (questionable) presence. If their union is so concerned about the welfare of passengers, why do their staff continue to abuse them every day and compromise their safety through their sheer greed? I really now despise all train and rail staff for what they have put me through over the last few years, especially London Northwestern whose staff, without exception, deserve to die of cancer.
This action is all about the union getting at the operating company and nothing to do with passenger safety.
And as usual it’s the fare paying customers who will be penalised.
Hope their wives enjoy there Xmas shopping on Saturday (s), that’s if any of the staff manage to make it to work
Damn that’s annoying, comic con takes place this weekend. This is gonna cause some major annoyance from people who plan on going to go to comic con via train.
Yet again, Mick Cash and his agenda disrupts the plans of hard working brits. What a monster, he’s only interested in untold misery. Tube trains have had no guards for years, way busier than this service, DLR was designed without a driver either. What a self centred egomaniacal self serving idiot