Train strikes: When are the walkouts in December?

No trains ran at four railway companies on Sunday, with drivers staging further strikes on Tuesday over pay and conditions.

Members of the train drivers’ union Aslef at Avanti West Coast, Chiltern, Great Northern Thameslink and West Midlands Railways walked out in the latest action in the long-running dispute.

The disruption is part of a series of rolling strikes affecting different train companies on different days, until 8 December, as well as an overtime ban lasting until 9 December.

On Tuesday, there will be no service on C2C and Greater Anglia trains.

Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary, said on Friday he would resolve the dispute over pay and conditions “tomorrow given the opportunity”, but told the BBC the union had only been presented with “a bad faith deal” from operators and had not been in contact since.

The Rail Delivery Group has called the latest action by Aslef “unnecessary and avoidable” and said the union’s leadership was “blocking a fair and affordable offer”. Rail minister Hew Merriman has said the strikes will cause “more misery for passengers and the hospitality sector this festive period”.

Both Aslef and the RMT union, which represents other rail workers, have taken repeated industrial action over the past 18 months, but the RMT is not currently staging strikes after its members voted to accept a pay offer.

Aslef members are staging a “rolling programme” of walkouts between Saturday 2 December and Friday 8 December with different train companies affected on each day.

Drivers are also refusing to work any overtime from Friday 1 to Saturday 9 December as part of the industrial action.

Many of the affected operators are expected to run no services at all on strike days and travelling on the day before or after strike days might also be affected.

On overtime ban days, there are likely to be some last-minute cancellations or timetable reductions.

Passengers are advised to check before they travel.

For the latest information, passengers should check National Rail or individual operators’ websites.

Rail workers in the RMT union have voted to accept an offer from 14 train companies.

That lifts the threat of RMT strikes until at least the spring.

However, there could be more strike action later next year as the agreement does not cover future pay deals and the government and rail operating companies still want to push through changes to the way the industry works.

Strike action by thousands of RMT members who work in Tube stations was suspended in October following “significant progress” in talks between the union and London Underground.

Passengers with advance tickets can be refunded fee-free if the train that they are booked on is cancelled, delayed or rescheduled.  

If passengers have a return ticket they may also be entitled to a fee-free refund if any part of the journey is cancelled due to strikes.

Season ticket holders (flexi, monthly or longer) who cannot travel can claim 100% compensation for strike dates through the Delay Repay scheme.

Unions say they want a pay offer reflecting the rising cost of living.

But the rail industry is under pressure to save money, after the pandemic left a hole in its finances.

The industry says changes to ways of working need to be agreed in order for pay to go up.

The average salary of rail workers in 2022 was £45,919, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

If drivers are excluded (because they tend to be members of the Aslef union, not RMT) its estimate is £39,518. However, the RMT union said that figure was too high because it does not include rail cleaning staff.

The ONS says median pay for “train and tram drivers” is just under £59,000.

The Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents train companies, made an offer backdating a pay rise of 5% for 2022-23. It also includes some job security guarantees.

After voting to accept the deal, the RMT said it would continue to negotiate with individual operators over reforms to working practices and a second year’s pay rise.

The Aslef union rejected a two-year offer which would see drivers get a backdated pay rise of 4% for 2022 and a 4% increase this year.

Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan has said it had been forced into taking industrial action because the train companies “refuse to sit down and talk to us and have not made a fair and sensible pay offer”.

The Department for Transport has said: “The government has met the rail unions, listened to them and facilitated improved offers on pay and reform.”

Separately, a revised offer from Network Rail was accepted by RMT members on 20 March, ending a dispute with signal workers and maintenance staff.

The union said the offer amounted to an uplift on salaries of between 14.4% for the lowest paid grades to 9.2% for the highest paid.

Unions are obliged to give at least 14 days’ notice of any strike action.

Will you be affected by the next rail strikes? Please share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

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