LONDON (Reuters) – Train drivers at eight British rail companies will strike on July 30 over a pay dispute, the drivers’ union ASLEF said on Thursday.
“Strike action is, now, the only option available but we are always open to talks if the train companies, or the government, want to talk to us and make a fair and sensible offer,” General Secretary Mick Whelan said in an emailed statement.
ASLEF said it had announced a day of strike action after train companies failed to make a pay offer to keep pace with the increase in the cost of living.
The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) said members at eight companies – Arriva Rail London, Chiltern Railways, Greater Anglia, Great Western, Hull Trains, LNER, Southeastern and West Midlands Trains – will strike on Saturday 30 July.
The latest strike action by rail workers over pay and working conditions have hit an already fragile travel sector struggling with labour shortages, cancelations and severe delays.
(Reporting by Muvija M and Farouq Suleiman; editing by William James)
