Arriva Trains Wales Drivers to Stage 48 Hour Strike

Train drivers for Arriva Trains Wales are set to take industrial action for 48 hours as part of an ongoing dispute over pay.

Arriva Trains Wales Drivers who are part of the RMT and ASLEF unions are to stage a 48 hour strike over pay on Thursday 12th and Friday 13th November.

The announcement comes three weeks after an initial strike over pay was cancelled.

A statement on the RMT website notes: “The key issue is the unwillingness of Arriva Trains Wales to table an adequate pay offer despite RMT postponing previous strike action to allow for further meaningful discussions to take place.”

As a result Arriva Trains Wales Drivers who are members of the RMT Union have been asked not to ‘book on for any turns of duty between 00:01 on Thursday 12th November 2015 to 23:59 on Friday 13th November 2015.

RMT General secretary Mick Cash added: “RMT officials have made every effort to resolve this dispute through negotiation, even postponing previous action in good faith so that management could return to the table with a serious offer. They have point blank refused to do that and, therefore, we have been left with no alternative other than to reinstate the strike action.

“Our members on Arriva Trains Wales are furious over this management intransigence which has left us with no option but to send a message that the union will refuse to stand by and allow them to be treated with such utter contempt over these important issues.

“As ever, RMT remains available for further meaningful talks.”

The scheduled strike is expected to cause delays and changes to rail users travelling across Wales over the 48-hour period.

A statement released by Arriva Trains Wales reads: “ASLEF and RMT drivers have given notification of 2 days of strike action on 12th and 13th November.

“Arriva Trains Wales has held dispute resolution meetings with both Unions during which a revised offer has been established. This will be put before the ASLEF and RMT Executives on Tuesday 10th November which is the next time they are available to meet on the issue.

“We are hopeful that the revised offer will be sufficient to avoid the planned industrial action but in the event that it goes ahead, we would advise our customers to make alternative transport arrangements. We should have more information available on Tuesday afternoon.

“We would like to thank our customers for their patience and we apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause.”