New train strikes announced in May as drivers walk out - see rail companies affected

Aslef union has announced it will strike in May

Train drivers will strike at 16 rail companies from May 7-9, Aslef union has announced.

Train drivers who are members of Aslef, the train drivers’ trade union, will walk out in another series of one-day strikes, coupled with a six-day overtime ban. It will stage walkouts across the 16 passenger operators with whom it is still in dispute. Some 96% of all the train drivers in Britain belong to Aslef.

Aslef says the dispute centres on getting a pay rise for train drivers, who have not had an increase in salary for five years, since their last pay deals expired in 2019. Union chief Mick Whelan said it has been a year since they had been in a room to negotiate a pay offer with train companies, after Aslef rejected a “risible” offer they made.

Aslef first balloted for industrial action in June 2022, after three years without a pay rise. Since then, Aslef We has called 14 national one-day strikes during this two-year dispute. As well as taking strike action, members of the union will also refuse to work non-contractual overtime from Monday 6 to Saturday 11 May, which is likely to affect services.

Members will now walk out at c2c, Greater Anglia, GTR Great Northern Thameslink, Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express, South Western Railway main line and depot drivers, and SWR Island Line on Tuesday 7 May; at Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways; CrossCountry; East Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway; and West Midlands Trains on Wednesday 8 May; and at LNER, Northern Trains, and TransPennine Trains on Thursday 9 May.

Mr Whelan, ASLEF’s general secretary, said: “It is now a year since we sat in a room with the train companies – and a year since we rejected the risible offer they made and which they admitted, privately, was designed to be rejected.

“Since then train drivers have voted, again and again, to take action to get a pay rise. That’s why Mark Harper, the Transport Secretary, is being disingenuous when he says that offer should have been put to members. Drivers would not vote to strike if they thought an offer was acceptable. They don’t. And that offer – now a year old – is dead in the water.”

He continued: “Our pay deals at these companies ran out in 2019. Train drivers at these TOCs (Train Operating Companies) have not had an increase in salary for five years. That is completely wrong. The employers – and the government – think we are going to give up and run away. They’re wrong. In the words of Tom Petty, we won’t back down…”

All 16 rail companies affected

Companies striking on Tuesday 7 May:

• c2c
• Greater Anglia
• GTR
• Great Northern Thameslink
• Southeastern
• Southern/Gatwick Express
• South Western Railway main line and depot drivers
• SWR Island Line

Companies striking on Wednesday 8 May:

• Avanti West Coast
• Chiltern Railways
• CrossCountry
• East Midlands Railway
• Great Western Railway
• West Midlands Trains

Companies striking on Thursday 9 May:

• LNER Northern Trains
• TransPennine Trains