Train drivers on Britain’s flagship railway line will go on strike every weekend from this month until November – despite having just been offered a bumper pay deal.
Hundreds of members of the Aslef union working for London North Eastern Railway (LNER) will walk out for a total of 22 days, including every Saturday between August 31 and November 9 and every Sunday from September 1 to November 10.
The announcement of fresh rail chaos comes just days after the union struck a pay deal with the Labour Government, which will give workers a 14 per cent raise.
Aslef insisted the dispute at LNER – which runs trains on the East Coast main line between London and Edinburgh – is separate from the long-running row over pay, which is set to be resolved after a new offer this week from the Government.
But shadow home secretary James Cleverly mocked the Labour government today for being ‘played by its union paymasters’, adding that the ‘latest wave of strikes will be devastating for families who rely on train travel to see their loved ones’.
And Conservative peer Lord Frost said Transport Secretary Louise Haigh ‘must be feeling really stupid this morning’ after giving Aslef a ‘massive no-strings pay rise’ that will see average driver salaries rise to £69,000 excluding overtime by 2025.
Meanwhile Ben Curtis from the Campaign for Better Transport said the situation was ‘endlessly frustrating to rail passengers’, with airlines ‘fast becoming the winners’.
Labour has been accused of prioritising their union paymasters over rail passengers, pensioners and taxpayers after announcing a series of pay deals for public sector workers since coming to power in early July. This includes a 22 per cent hike over two years for junior doctors who have staged damaging strikes in recent months.
At the same time, Labour is axing winter fuel payments for millions of retirees as Chancellor Rachel Reeves looks to fill a £22billion ‘black hole’ in the public finances.
GPs are currently demanding an 11 per cent funding rise in the hope of becoming the next group of public sector workers to get a cash boost from Sir Keir Starmer.
Conservative MP Neil O’Brien, a former government minister, said it was ‘absolutely unreal’ that Aslef members were planning fresh strike action just days after being handed a pay rise, adding: ‘The Government have been absolutely played.’
And Tory peer Lord Frost said on X: ‘Louise Haigh must be feeling really stupid this morning as Aslef go on strike again after she’s just given them a massive no-strings pay rise.
‘Aslef complain about LNER management. Yet LNER is already in the public sector, so the bad management – if there is any really and it isn’t just an excuse for 70s-style union disruption – is the responsibility of Haigh’s own department.
‘A reminder that nationalisation is going to do nothing to solve the problems of the rail sector. And a warning to the rest of us of what a state-run railway is going to be like under Labour.’
And Mr Cleverley said: ‘The Labour government has been played by its union paymasters. This latest wave of strikes will be devastating for families who rely on train travel to see their loved ones.
‘Offering a no-strings pay deal to militant strikers whilst stripping millions of pensions of their winter fuel payment is nothing short of a national embarrassment.’
In addition, Mr Curtis said: ‘It’s vital that the Government and Aslef work to find a solution to an issue that is endlessly frustrating to rail passengers.
‘Airlines are fast becoming the winners in this situation with disruption on such a key route leading rail users to fly instead. In a climate emergency it’s urgent that we get rail back on track.’
And a spokeswoman for the independent travel watchdog Transport Focus said: “It’s disappointing that passengers will be disrupted in the coming weeks following the announcement today of strike actions by LNER staff.
‘Passengers deserve better and we would urge all parties to get around the table and find a solution as soon as possible.
“Passengers tell us that they want a punctual and reliable railway that delivers on the timetable’s promise at an acceptable price. The railway must remain focused on delivering what passengers rightly deserve.”
Aslef donated £100,000 to the Labour Party in the second week of the general election campaign.
The union has donated more than £200,000 to the central Labour Party and various local branches and politicians since April 2020, according to Tory research.
Aslef said there has been a breakdown in industrial relations, ‘bullying’ by management, and ‘persistent breaking’ of agreements by LNER bosses.
The union’s general secretary Mick Whelan said: ‘The continued failure of the company to resolve long-standing industrial relations issues has forced us into this position.
‘We would much rather not be here but the company has brutally, and repeatedly, broken diagramming and roster agreements, failed to adhere to the agreed bargaining machinery, and totally acted in bad faith.
‘When we make an agreement, we stick to it. This company doesn’t and we are not prepared to put up with their boorish behaviour and bullying tactics.’
But an LNER spokesperson said: ‘Our priority focus will be on minimising disruption to customers during the forthcoming Aslef strikes, which sadly will continue to cause disruption and delays.
‘We are surprised and disappointed to hear this news following recent constructive conversations. We will continue to work with Aslef to find a way to end this long running dispute which only damages the rail industry.’
Former Labour minister Bill Rammell said that the dispute at LNER was ‘particularised to that regional rail company’ and negotiations would be taking place over the next two weeks before the action is due to start.
He told GB News: ‘It’s not about pay, it’s about working conditions and management, and I think it can almost certainly be resolved. But what we’re seeing is about fairness and getting Britain back to work.
‘The Tories always keep public sector pay excessively low and that causes real problems in terms of recruitment, retention and morale within those services which affects the public services – and this is about rebalancing and getting it right.
‘And a pay rise, if we’re taking about the train drivers, is ultimately I think a better deal for the taxpayer than a dispute carrying on which has already cost more than £850million.’
The new Aslef strike could also embolden the equally militant RMT which settled its 18-month dispute with train operators last year – but then said last week that its workers at ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper had voted in favour of a walkout over pay.
The Tories have accused Labour of bowing down to trade unions over passengers, taxpayers and elderly people.
Charities said many ‘angry’ retirees felt they were being treated as a ‘lower priority’ by the Government as they hit out at ‘unfair’ actions by ministers.
Caroline Abrahams, of Age UK, said: ‘We have been inundated with messages from pensioners who are angry and upset about the impact on them of losing their winter fuel payment this winter.
‘And, in the light of news stories about various industrial disputes being settled, some are also commenting that they feel they are being treated as a lower priority and that this is unfair.’
Tory MP Helen Whately, the shadow transport secretary, said: ‘The Government has chosen to prioritise the unions over passengers and taxpayers – and pensioners, too.’
Train drivers are set to vote on their multi-year pay offer, which comprised a 5 per cent hike for 2022/23, 4.75 per cent for 23/24 and 4.5 per cent for 24/25.
The deal will see the average driver’s salary soar from £60,000 to £69,000 – and bosses at the Aslef union claimed it was a ‘no strings’ offer.
The previous Tory government had proposed reforms to working rules – dubbed ‘Spanish Practices’ – as part of a deal with Aslef in a bid to reduce the cost of running the railways.
But these appear to have been ditched by Labour after they began talks with union bosses shortly after winning power last month.
As well as a hike for striking junior doctors, pay rises for other public sector workers were also recently announced by Ms Reeves as she laid out plans for public spending in the early weeks of Labour coming to power.
The Chancellor said she would take winter fuel payments away from about 10 million people by only making them available for those on means-tested benefits.
Previously the payments were universal for all pensioners in England and Wales.
Ms Reeves said the Government will keep paying winter fuel payments of £200 to households receiving pension credit, or £300 to those who also have someone over 80 years old.
Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds this morning said it was ‘unfair’ to suggest more public sector workers will take industrial action in light of the Government’s pay offers to train drivers and junior doctors.
He said the Government was ‘sticking to the promises we made in opposition’ in its deals with public sector workers.
When it was put to him that other public sector workers will be queuing up for a double-digit pay rise after the Government’s offer to train drivers and junior doctors, Mr Thomas-Symonds disagreed.
‘I think that’s an unfair characterisation as well,’ the Paymaster General told Times Radio.
‘I think what is absolutely crucial here is we are a Government again that is sticking to the promises we made in opposition.
‘We promised we would sit down and find solutions, and people expressed scepticism about that, but actually that is precisely what we have done in Government.’
He said it was wrong to suggest there would be no reform of the railways alongside the pay offer, adding: ‘We are absolutely looking to deliver a better service for passengers and, frankly, it’s a low bar given the state the railways have been in in recent years.’
Aslef’s pay dispute is believed to be the longest-running one of its kind in history of Britain’s railways, according to the union.
The drivers are being recommended to accept the offer, which would end the two-year-long dispute, during which they have taken 18 days of strike action as well as refusing to work non-contractual overtime, causing huge disruption to passengers.