Highly paid train drivers are striking because bosses contacted them at home offering the chance to earn more cash.
The railmen, represented by the hard-line ASLEF union, will begin the action next Saturday and continue each weekend until November.
The dispute comes just days after they were given an inflation-busting 14 per cent pay rise over three years by the new Labour Government.
ASLEF bosses claim their members — who earn around £60,000, often for a four-day week — are being contacted by bosses from train operator London North Eastern Railway outside of working hours to be offered lucrative overtime.
Negotiator Nigel Roebuck said: “This dispute started nigh-on two years ago with our members complaining about consistently being badgered for ‘favours’ by managers outside of rostering agreements and being contacted remotely, which is also against our agreements.
“The bottom line is that LNER does not employ enough drivers to deliver the services it has promised passengers, and the Government, it will run.”
An Aslef statement said the decision to strike “follows a breakdown in industrial relations, bullying by management and persistent breaking of agreements by the company”.
The Government offer could take the earnings of some drivers to more than £80,000 a year.
Despite taxpayers paying their 14% rise, these thin-skinned drivers will use any minor inconvenience as an excuse to bring the railways to
William Yarwood
a standstill
William Yarwood, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Hard-working Brits looking to enjoy their weekends will go off the rails with fury at the news of yet another train strike.
“Despite taxpayers being on the hook for their 14 per cent pay rise, these thin-skinned drivers seem intent on using any minor inconvenience as an excuse to bring the railways to a standstill.
“LNER Drivers should grow up and get back to work.”
ASLEF previously sparked fury by accusing managers of “scabbing” — a term used during the bitter industrial disputes of the Seventies and Eighties to describe staff who cross strike picket lines to work.
When they announced the action, the union said of LNER: “They chose to put managers into our positions, first during strike days, and then it escalated into every day, including periods when the company did not have a rest day working agreement, and drivers would not work non-contractual overtime.
“Managers who were scabbing, on strike days, were paid a bounty of £500 per shift if it was their rest day, or £175 for a normal working day — and that’s on top of their salaries of between £82,000 and £96,000.”
Labour, under Sir Keir Starmer, has promised to renationalise railways within five years.
The Labour Government has already caved in to the union. By nationalising rails, they are handing the keys to hard-line union barons
Kieran Mullan
Shadow rail minister Kieran Mullan said: “The unions risk taking us back to the nasty, dark era of scabs and strikers.
“It is ugly and confrontational language which has no place in a modern working environment.
“This dispute goes to the heart of Labour’s problem. The Government has already caved in to the union. By nationalising the whole system they are handing the keys of the railway to hard-line union barons.
“Anyone who works for a service that runs at weekends and late at night has to expect that, every now and then, they might hear from people who are desperately trying to put on a service for the public. I can’t imagine people would have much sympathy with a strike being called because of how people are contacted about the opportunity to earn more money.
“It’s sad that the union’s first concern is whether their workers are disturbed and not the disruption there might be on the railways that people are trying to fix.
“It’s not surprising, because I don’t ever feel that their priority has been passengers.”
The action by Aslef comes despite Labour announcing a raft of measures to further strengthen the hand of rail unions.
Deputy PM Angela Rayner has vowed to repeal the Tory Government’s Minimum Service Levels legislation, designed to minimise the impact of industrial action.
This required train companies to run at least 40 per cent of time- tabled services.
It was fiercely opposed by Aslef chief Mick Whelan and RMT boss Mick Lynch.
The Government is also planning to introduce legislation giving workers the right to “switch off”.
A code of practice will be introduced, detailing standard working hours and including guidance on contacting employees out of hours.
Employers who repeatedly flout this code could face costly legal battles.
LNER is already a nationalised railway service after former operator Virgin Trains East Coast handed back in 2018 the franchise to run trains between London and destinations as far as Inverness.
An LNER spokesman said: “Our priority focus will be on minimising disruption to customers during the forthcoming Aslef strikes, which sadly will continue to cause disruption and delays.
“We will continue to work with Aslef to find a way to end this long-running dispute, which only damages the rail industry.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves was forced to defend pay deals with the unions this week.
“We have not caved in to any demands,” she told the Guardian.
“We haven’t done so with the train drivers or the junior doctors.”
The recent wave of railway strikes started in 2022 under Boris Johnson’s government.
Workers walked out over wages and changes such as the removal of guards on trains and ticket office closures.
Mr Johnson rejected demands for pay rises, saying passengers would not pay for “working practices that date back in some cases to the 19th century”.
Rishi Sunak’s government brought in anti-strike legislation in July 2023, although it was never used.
It faced a fierce backlash from unions, but also proved difficult to implement due to the logistics of running a 40 per cent timetable with few staff.
New Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh, has vowed to “reset” industrial relations.
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “This is the longest running national strike in the history of our railways. We’re putting passengers first by ending this dispute.
“The cost to the taxpayer of ongoing strikes is extortionate, and that’s on top of the impact they have on hardworking people’s day- to-day lives. Every decision this Government takes is with a focus on growing the economy and getting the country moving.”
