Wimbledon hit by fresh rail disruption as ASLEF announce overtime work ban
Train drivers at 16 train operators will stop working overtime across six days in July, the ASLEF Union announced today, coinciding with the first week of the Wimbledon tennis tournament.
ASLEF members will stop working overtime between Monday 3 July and Saturday 8 July in a long running dispute over pay.
Mick Whelan, ASLEF’s general secretary, said: “Once again, we find ourselves with no alternative but to take this action.”
“Sadly, it is clear from the actions of both the train operating companies and the government that they do not want an end to the dispute. Their goals appear to be to continue industrial strife and to do down our industry,” he said.
“We don’t want to inconvenience the public. We just want to see our members paid fairly during a cost of living crisis when inflation is running at above 10 per cent and to not see our terms and conditions taken away,” he said.
The operators affected will be Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, Cross Country, East Midlands Railway, Greater Anglia, GWR, GTR Great Northern Thameslink, Island Line, LNER, Northern Trains, Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express, South Western Railway main line, SWR depot drivers, TransPennine Express and West Midlands Trains.
The action short of a strike continues an industrial dispute that has shown no signs of abating this year, with rail commuters already seeing fully-fledged walk outs during the FA Cup and Eurovison finals.
During the last walk-out, Whelan spoke of a breakdown in communication with the government, stating that he hadn’t met with DfT officials since at least January.