He continued: 'We don't see why we should forego an increase in salary to keep pace with inflation and help the privatised train companies make even bigger profits to send abroad.'ĭrivers at Avanti West Coast and CrossCountry voted by more than 9-1 to go on strike, it was announced on Wednesday. Wages are chasing prices, not putting them up.' Excess profiteering is, but the Government isn't asking companies to cut profits or dividend payments to help manage inflation. Especially as the train companies are doing very nicely, thank you, out of Britain's railways - with handsome profits, dividends for shareholders, and big salaries for managers - and train drivers don't want to work longer for less. It's not unreasonable to ask your employer to make sure you're not worse off for three years in a row. He added: 'We want an increase in line with the cost of living - we want to be able to buy, in 2022, what we could buy in 2021. With inflation running at north of 10% that means those drivers have had a real-terms pay cut over the last three years.' 'Many of our members, who were the men and women who moved key workers and goods around the country during the pandemic, have not had a pay rise since 2019. Read more: Shoppers can now buy this cheese at Farm Foods for as little as 9p We don't want to inconvenience passengers - our friends and families use public transport too - and we don't want to lose money by going on strike but we've been forced into this position by the companies, who say they have been driven to this by the Government. Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef, said: 'Strikes are always the last resort. The announcement was made as strikes by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) and Transport Salaried Staffs Association crippled services on Wednesday, with only around one in five trains running and some areas having none at all.

Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (Aslef) announced its members will walk out on Saturday August 13, saying the firms failed to make a pay offer to help members keep pace with cost of living increases.ĭrivers are already set to strike this Saturday, July 30, at seven companies and on Wednesday, July 27, Aslef members at two more train operators voted overwhelmingly for industrial action. Train drivers at nine rail companies are set to stage a one-day strike next month in the worsening dispute which is causing travel chaos across the country.

Western train driving races