Aslef pronounces months of practice strikes EVERY weekend till November

Train drivers on LNER are set to stage a series of strikes for every weekend from this month until November – despite having just been offered a bumper pay deal.

Hundreds of members of Aslef will walk out every Saturday between August 31 and November 9 and every Sunday from September 1 to November 10, a total of 22 days.

The announcement of fresh action comes just days after the trade union struck a pay deal with the Labour Government, which will see rail workers handed a 14 per cent hike.

In a ‘no strings’ agreement struck between ministers and Aslef, train drivers see their average salaries rise to nearly £70,000.

Aslef said the LNER dispute is separate from the long-running row over pay, as they claimed a breakdown in industrial relations and breaching of agreements.

LNER runs the passenger service on the East Coast main line between London and Edinburgh.

Train drivers’ union Aslef has announced a series of strikes for every weekend from this month until November

Workers on the LNER network are to stage a series of walkouts, with general secretary Mick Whelan claiming a breakdown in industrial relations and breaching of agreements

A passenger looks through the closed Moor Street Station in Birmingham when Aslef staged a previous strike on May 31 last year

Aslef says there has been a breakdown in industrial relations, ‘bullying’ by management, and ‘persistent breaking’ of agreements by the company.

Mick Whelan, 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.’