Rail staff strike may hit trains

Mar 14 2008 by Sam Wood, The Journal

STRIKE action by railway workers could lead to travel chaos in the North East over the Easter holiday period.

Workers based at a Network Rail electrical control room in York are to walk out for five days next week in a row over jobs, causing “severe disruption” to East Coast Main Line services.

The Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) Union said workers at the site will walk out next Wednesday evening, March 19, until early on Easter Monday. The union warned it could disrupt services on one of the country’s busiest routes.

The workers at the York site control the power supply across the entire East Coast Main Line from London to the Scottish Borders. Services from Newcastle to London, Scotland and York would be hit by the strike, at a busy time for the rail network.

Network Rail said it planned to cut staff by a third at the York site, a move which prompted the strike action.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: “We have already told the company that pushing through these drastic cuts when there are serious unresolved safety issues is unacceptable.

“We believe these proposals are budget-led, badly thought out and potentially leave our members dangerously exposed in the event of an incident. We are talking about the safe handling of a 25,000-volt power supply and we have told Network Rail we were not prepared to allow safety to be compromised for the convenience of the company’s balance sheet.”

The union says the stoppage was in protest at plans to reduce the number of jobs at the site by a third, from 18 to 12, and follows a vote in favour of industrial action.

Staff will not book on for any shifts due to start between 6.59pm on March 19 and 6.59am on March 24. Network Rail said it had contingency plans in place to prevent disruption and denied that services on the East Coast Main Line would be severely affected.

A Network Rail spokesman said the company proposed reducing the number of posts from 18 to 12 to cut down on “double manning”, an exercise it said it had carried out in other sites across the country.

He said: “This is a consultation and has not been imposed so the union’s action is premature, to say the least. Full contingency arrangements are in place to prevent disruption to passengers.”

The spokesman described the strike as “totally unnecessary”. He added: “It’s premature, and typical of the RMT’s strong-arm negotiating tactics.

“We will continue to seek a resolution and avert a strike but in the meantime, full contingency planning is well in-hand and we do not expect the strike, if it goes ahead, to impact on any trains services over the Easter holiday period.”