Derbyshire rail passengers face disruption as union calls string of summer strikes

Rail passengers face disruption after union bosses announced a string of strike dates on East Midlands Railway.
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Rail union RMT has announced eight days of industrial action following a dispute over EMR “issuing inferior contracts to some train guards”.

EMR senior conductor members are instructed not to book on for any shifts that start on Sundays June 27, July 4, July 11, July 18, July 25, August 1, August 8 and August 15.

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EMR, which operates inter-city trains between London and Sheffield, via Chesterfield, as well as regional services from Norwich-Liverpool, via Chesterfield, and Matlock-Derby, said it was “extremely disappointed” by the decision. It stressed it was “only regional services affected” by the industrial action, with inter-city services expected to operate as normal..

Mick Lynch, RMT general secretary, said: “RMT has again been left with no choice but to call strike action on EMR.

“This is due to EMR’s continuing refusal to stop enforcing inferior contracts on some train guards in spite of the strength of feeling from the workforce.

“The patience of our members has reached its limit.

“The union remains available for talks to resolve this dispute and the lead officer has cleared his diary to discuss all outstanding disputes on EMR.”

Passengers face disruption after the RMT announced a string of strike dates affecting East Midlands Railway's regional services.Passengers face disruption after the RMT announced a string of strike dates affecting East Midlands Railway's regional services.
Passengers face disruption after the RMT announced a string of strike dates affecting East Midlands Railway's regional services.

Second round of industrial action

The industrial action follows three days of strikes in May.

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The RMT said EMR was imposing contracts “that include a reduction of £5,500 in the first year of employment and are also rostering additional hours expected to be worked that are explicitly against the terms and conditions”.

An EMR spokesman said: “We are extremely disappointed the RMT has taken the decision to extend its strikes throughout the summer.

“At a time when the railway continues to benefit from taxpayer support and no-one has been furloughed or lost their job, this action damages our ability to support the East Midlands’ recovery from the Covid pandemic and attract people back to the railway and support public transport as a whole.

“We have robust contingency measures in place and will continue to run the majority of our advertised timetable on Sundays throughout the summer, but encourage customers to check their journey before setting off.”

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