A TRADE union representing train drivers has announced two new strike dates for next month as operators have "forced their hand".
A TRADE union representing train drivers has announced two new strike dates for next month as operators have "forced their hand".
ASLEF, the trade union which represents 96 per cent of train drivers in England, Scotland and Wales, is walking out in a dispute over pay on Saturday, October 1 and Wednesday, October 5.
The affected operators which travel through York station are LNER, CrossCountry, Northern Trains, Transpennine Express and Hull Trains.
ASLEF initially planned a one-day strike on Thursday, September 15, but postponed it as a mark of respect after the Queen's death.
Mick Whelan, ASLEF’s general secretary, said: "We don’t want to go on strike but the train companies have been determined to force our hand.
"They are telling train drivers to take a real terms pay cut. With inflation now running at 12.3 per cent, companies are saying that drivers should be prepared to work just as hard, for just as long, but for considerably less.
"It is outrageous that they expect us to put up with a real terms pay cut for a third year in a row. And that’s why we are going on strike. To persuade the companies to do the right thing and come and negotiate properly with us. Not to run up and say, 'Our hands are tied and the government will not allow us to offer you an increase'.
"That’s why we are calling on the companies – which are making big profits, and paying their chief executives enormous salaries and bonuses – to make a pay offer to our members to keep up with the rise in the cost of living".
The union has successfully concluded pay deals with nine companies and has received other offers which it will put to itsmembers, following its first strikes on July 30 and August 13.
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