Fresh rail strikes have been announced by 14 train companies next month in a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.
The action, to be staged on June 2, will see some 20,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) down tools. Catering workers, train managers and station staff will all take action, which is expected to affect train services across the country.
It comes after RMT members voted to renew their strike mandate – meaning disruption could continue for another six months, reports The Mirror. This latest round of action is likely to hit services to Manchester from Liverpool, where the Arctic Monkeys are due to play on June 2.
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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. Ministers cannot just wish this dispute away.
"They underestimate the strength of feeling our members, who have just given us a new six-month strike mandate, continue to support the campaign and the action and are determined to see this through until we get an acceptable resolution.
"The Government now needs to unlock the RDG and allow them to make an offer that can be put to a referendum of our members."
An RDG spokesperson said: "In recent discussions with the RMT, we have continued to stand by the fair, industry-level dispute resolution proposal agreed line by line with their negotiating team, which would have resolved this dispute and given our lowest-paid staff a rise of up to 13%.
"By calling more strike action, the RMT leadership have chosen to prolong this dispute without ever giving their members a chance to have a say on their own offer.
"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.
"We remain open and willing to engage in national-level talks so that we can secure a pay rise for our people and the long-term future of an industry vital to Britain's economy."
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