The Southern rail row isn’t just about the battle between the operator and unions, here’s what’s secretly driving it August 30, 2016 Southern Rail passengers have endured more than their fair share of commuting hell in the past few months: cancelled trains, reduced timetables and, more recently, a string of strikes. The heavy disruption has led to the service being dubbed “Southern Fail” and triggered calls for its delivery to be passed to Transport for London. Public fury [...]
Bus strike starts today on 20 routes in dispute leaving workers “out of pocket” August 26, 2016 As of this morning Transport for London began advising that strike action on buses will start to cause disruption. The strike is by members of the Unite union, who work for Tower Transit. The union said 1,000 drivers, engineers and other workers are involved in a dispute affecting some 28 bus routes across London. Overall, almost [...]
RMT announces another strike on the Govia network that will coincide with the Southern industrial action August 25, 2016 Commuters are facing a double-whammy of industrial action just as the summer holidays come to end. The RMT has announced another strike on 7 September on the Govia Thameslink network in a dispute over the future role of station staff. The 24 hour walk-out follows confirmation of a 70 per cent vote for strike action of ballot of members in [...]
Now Bus workers are going on strike including during Notting Hill Carnival August 24, 2016 After a slew of strikes across train networks, bus workers have now voted to go on strike in London – including on Bank Holiday Monday when Notting Hill Carnival is held. Unite the union said 1,000 drivers, engineers and other workers are involved in a dispute affecting some 28 bus routes across London. The stoppages [...]
RMT announces new strike dates on Southern Rail August 23, 2016 The RMT has announced that further strikes will take place on 7 and 8 September as part of their long-running dispute with Southern Rail. General secretary of the RMT Mick Cash said: This action has been forced on us by the arrogance and inaction of the Govia Thameslink and the government who have made it clear that [...]
More trouble for Southern: Card payment failure hits rush hour August 22, 2016 Customers of Southern Rail, already fuming over ongoing service delays and then strike action, were dealt another blow on the morning rush hour commute. The rail network was unable to accept card payments for tickets at some of its stations due to an unspecified technical problem early on Monday, leaving many customers in long queues or failing to [...]
Southern Rail could be hit by yet another strike as union members hold ballot over ticket office closures August 19, 2016 And so it continues. Ticket office and platform staff at Southern Rail's parent company, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), are voting again on whether to go on strike. This time the ballot is around a dispute over ticket office closures and job losses, the TSSA rail union said today. Read more: Talks between Southern Rail and RMT break down [...]
Economists blast “anachronistic system” system of setting rail fares as ticket prices set to rise August 17, 2016 More misery was piled on to beleaguered commuters yesterday as a hike in rail fares was unveiled. Fares will rise by an average of 1.9 per cent next year following the release of July’s retail price index (RPI), against which fare increases are pegged. RPI rose from 1.6 per cent. The jump in fares comes as rail [...]
Blame Jeremy Corbyn for the increasing number of public sector strikes August 16, 2016 The total number of working days lost through labour disputes last year was, at just 170,000, the second lowest annual total since records began in 1891. What a difference a year can make. Southern Rail commuters have endured months of misery due to the prolonged series of strikes called by the RMT. Union members on Eurostar [...]
RMT vote in favour of station staff strikes on Govia network following planned ticket office closure August 16, 2016 The Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) announced 70 per cent of members had voted in favour of further strike action on the Govia Thameslink (GTR) network. The total number of people balloted was 407 of which 120 voted against the action with a further six spoilt votes – a sizeable increase in the "no" vote compared to recent votes on industrial action. [...]