The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport workers (RMT) has confirmed its calls for strike action on East Midlands Railway today. The Union have said Leicester services "have been left with no choice" but to strike later this month due to a dispute over contracts.
A spokesman for RMT said: "East Midlands Railway have imposed different contracts that include a reduction of £5,500 in the first year of employment and are also rostering additional hours expected to be worked that are explicitly against the terms and conditions.”
General Secretary for RMT, Mick Cash, said: “Despite clear demands from RMT, East Midlands Railway have refused to stop enforcing these inferior contracts for some train guards which have been resisted for years and the patience of members has now reached its limit."
Involving 225 staff, three 24-hour walkouts are set to be staged on 16, 23 and 30 May. The last of these would impact on the late May bank holiday weekend
In response Will Rogers, EMR Managing Director, said: "This is the wrong decision for the East Midlands and the towns, cities and communities we serve.”
"This strike action comes at a time of national recovery, when the government is paying billions of pounds to keep trains running and protect jobs."
However, EMR added it was "confident in [its] contingency arrangements".
The strike actions may cause some service disruptions, but Mr Cash added: Mr Cash added: "The union remains available for further talks and open to discussions on another safety critical role to assist the Train Manager on these trains."
