01.12.16
RMT accused of ‘co-ordinating’ with Aslef as Southern strike dates change
RMT has changed the dates of strikes planned on Southern Rail in the run-up to Christmas, leading the operator to accuse it of co-ordinating industrial action with Aslef.
The union announced that it is moving the strike planned for 22-24 December to the 19th and 20th. However, strikes planned for 6-8 December and 31 December to 2 January remain unchanged.
Mick Cash, general secretary of the RMT, said the union had made the decision following “daily feedback from passengers”.
“That's the difference between us and Southern,” he added. “We listen, they don't.”
A spokesperson for Southern said the company welcomed the decision to cancel the strikes immediately before Christmas, but called the new strike dates “clearly co-ordinated” to follow strikes by Aslef drivers and “cause maximum disruption”.
Aslef has announced strikes on 13, 14 and 16 December and 9-14 January after its members voted 87% in favour of a strike.
Both unions are leading the strikes in protest at Southern’s plans to extend the use of driver-only operated (DOO) services, which they say threatens passenger safety and guard jobs.
DOO has been pronounced safe by both the ORR and the RSSB. Ian Prosser, the director of railway safety at the ORR, wrote to the Transport Select Committee chair this week saying that it is not the ORR’s role to “arbitrate” disputes between rail companies and their employees after Cash wrote to him about DOO.
RMT’s industrial action throughout the year has also contributed to the unprecedented performance problems for Southern’s parent company Govia Thameslink Railway.
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