Unions accuse Lloyds of ‘attack on flexible working’

Rail passengers face fresh travel chaos over the June half term after unions announced new strikes.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) will walkout across England on Friday 2 June.

The strike action involves 20,000 rail workers at 14 train operators, including station staff, train managers and catering workers, the union announced on Thursday.

It means further disruption for passengers already impacted by planned walkouts of train drivers’ union Aslef that same week.

Aslef train drivers are staging walkouts on Wednesday 31 May and Saturday 3 June and have banned employees working overtime on Thursday 1 June, which can lead to last-minute cancellations.

Passengers have also been warned that services will likely be disrupted and start later on the day immediately following strike action.

The combination means the country’s railways will be in disarray for almost all of the week-long half term school holiday next month.

The final day of strike action on June 3 coincides with the FA Cup final at Wembley, the Epsom Derby and Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” world tour concert at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The latest announcement comes after strikes impacted thousands of people travelling to the Eurovision final in Liverpool last week.

The latest strike action from the RMT is part of a long running dispute between the union and operators over pay and working conditions.

The RMT described the previous pay offer and associated conditions as “unacceptable”.

The trade union claimed it has not received a revised proposal, despite being in contact with the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents the train operators, since last week’s walkout.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “The government is once again not allowing the Rail Delivery Group to make an improved offer that we can consider. Therefore, we have to pursue our industrial campaign to win a negotiated settlement on jobs, pay and conditions.”

The RDG accused RMT of prolonging the pay dispute “without ever giving their members a chance to have a say on their own offer”.

An RDG spokesman added: “Instead, they will be subject to yet more lost pay through industrial action, customers will suffer more disruption, and the industry will continue to suffer huge damage at a time when the railway is taking more than its fair share from taxpayers to keep trains running post COVID.”

RMT’s members voted to renew the union’s industrial mandate for strikes earlier this month, meaning passengers could face another six months of disruption.