Do You Travel on the East Coast Mainline? Unlucky You
Virgin East Coast trains staff will stage a 24-hour strike over Monday 3rd October, according to the RMT union.
The strike means that staff will not work between 00.01 and 23.59 BST on that day.Virgin East Coast operate the line from London to Scotland via the North East of England.
The service was drawn into the Corbyn “traingate” saga after they released footage of the Labour leader, which they claimed showed he could have had a seat, when he claimed on social media that the train was too crowded.
This new strike action is over potential job cuts and disputes over working conditions and safety concerns. The union fears that two hundred Virgin staff might lose their jobs, due to the changes Virgin are planning to the route.
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “RMT will not sit back while nearly 200 members’ jobs are under threat and while conditions and safety are put at risk by a franchise which is clearly in financial trouble.
“We will also not tolerate the cavalier attitude to safety that is now on show as the company mobilises its scab army of managers.
“The union suspended an earlier programme of action when it looked like serious progress was being made in talks but that process has now failed to reach a satisfactory conclusion and we are back into industrial action as a result.
“We have been shocked at the way the company have led us up the garden path when we entered talks in good faith.”
David Horne, Virgin Trains East Coast managing director, said: “These strikes will cost RMT members pay for no reason, and we urge the union to rejoin us around the negotiating table.”
