LNER runs the passenger service on the East coast main line between London and Edinburgh, passing through major cities such as Newcastle, York and Durham, so the upcoming strikes will affect passengers on this route.
ASLEF, the train drivers’ union, announced further walkouts fewer than 48 hours after the Government offered a pay deal that looks set to resolve a long-running row over train driver wages at 16 train companies.
But the new LNER strikes are separate from the national pay dispute. The union has accused LNER management of bullying and persistent breaking of agreements.
Mick Whelan, ASLEF’s general secretary, 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.”
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ASLEF says that LNER doesn’t employ enough drivers to deliver the services it has promised passengers, and the Government, it will run. It says this means it has always relied on “favours and goodwill” from staff. But the union said that when these “evaporated”, the train company bullied staff and broke agreements.
Nigel Roebuck, ASLEF’s full-time officer in the North East of England, said: “This dispute started nigh on two years ago, with our members complaining about consistently being badgered for ‘favours’ by managers outside of rostering agreements and being contacted remotely, which is also against our agreements.
“They chose to put managers into our positions, first during strike days, and then it escalated into every day, including periods of ASOS. Unfortunately, whilst the manager numbers driving covered service gaps, LNER without a rest day working agreement with ASLEF has seen daily cancellations, some days in high volume.
“These managers who were, on strike days, scabbing, were paid a bounty of £500 per shift if it was their rest day or £175 for a normal working day – that’s on top of their salaries for their substantive roles of between £82,000 and £96,000 – all sanctioned by the Tory Government and the DfT who were telling us, at ASLEF, that there was no money for a proper pay rise.”
ASLEF has questioned the safety aspect of these managers “dual role-ing”, saying it has left “serious gaps” in on-call duties, which impacts the chain of care for union members should an incident occur.
