Network Rail issues legal challenge to strike ballot
Network Rail yesterday issued a legal challenge to the TSSA union over its planned bank holiday strike, as talks to avert the 24-hour industrial action dragged on.
The rail employer said it was issuing court proceedings against TSSA – which represents around 3,000 “white-collar” workers who would be on strike – to contest “numerous defects” in its ballot.
The organisation explained why it was exploring the legal route while in the middle of talks to avert a strike that would disrupt the travel of millions of Britons.
“Talks with the unions continue, and we hope to reach a settlement, but we must explore all avenues at our disposal and that includes legal ones.”
Members of the TSSA voted to joint around 16,000 RMT members in a day-long walkout from next Monday at 5pm, coinciding with the end of the Bank Holiday weekend.
The strike over pay and job security was planned to accompany a 48-hour ban on overtime and emergency callouts.
TSSA told Morning Wire yesterday it had not yet received any paperwork, but was bemused by the legal threat, as talks at
Acas to resolve the dispute have been running for two days and are set to resume today, and that the legal threat could be an attempt to thwart the last-ditch mediation.
The union also tweeted: “Network Rail are very wrong if they think they can resolve this dispute in the courts, rather than by speaking to their own workforce”.