Rail travel disruption due to strikes in the UK on July 27 and July 30

LONDON, July 14 (Reuters) – Train drivers at eight British rail companies will strike on July 30 over a pay dispute, the drivers’ union ASLEF said on Thursday.

“Strike action is, now, the only option available but we are always open to talks if the train companies, or the government, want to talk to us and make a fair and sensible offer,” General Secretary Mick Whelan said in an emailed statement.

ASLEF said it had announced a day of strike action after train companies failed to make a pay offer to keep pace with the increase in the cost of living.

The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) said members at eight companies – Arriva Rail London, Chiltern Railways, Greater Anglia, Great Western, Hull Trains, LNER, Southeastern and West Midlands Trains – will strike on Saturday 30 July.

The latest strike action by rail workers over pay and working conditions have hit an already fragile travel sector struggling with labour shortages, cancelations and severe delays.

British rail workers and station staff will strike this month in disputes over pay and conditions, two unions said, announcing the latest in a growing catalogue of industrial unrest as workers demand wage rises to cope with soaring inflation.

The 24-hour walkout by members of the RMT and TSSA will take place on July 27, the unions said on Wednesday, leaving travellers facing further disruption during the school holidays after tens of thousands of striking workers brought Britain’s rail network close to a standstill last month.

The RMT said Network Rail, the owner and infrastructure manager of most of the rail network in Britain, had made an offer of 4%, followed by a possible 4% the following year dependent on staff accepting changes to their contracts.

Inflation in Britain is due expected to rise above 10% later this year but the government has urged businesses to exercise restraint in pay settlements to avoid fuelling what it says would be an inflationary spiral.

“The offer from Network Rail represents a real terms pay cut for our members and the paltry sum is conditional on RMT members agreeing to drastic changes in their working lives,” general secretary Mick Lynch said in statement.

“Strike action is the only course open to us to make both the rail industry and government understand that this dispute will continue for as long as it takes.”

Transport Minister Grant Shapps criticised the union for rejecting the pay offer, saying in a statement that RMT was “hellbent on causing further misery for people across the country”.

The TSSA said its members in station roles at Avanti West Coast – the west coast mainline operator of routes, including London to Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow – would strike on the same day to coincide with the RMT action.

Separately, the TSSA said 700 of its members working for other rail operators had voted in favour industrial action, but dates had not yet been set.

Earlier this week, other groups of British rail and transport workers also voted in favour of strike action.

Staff at airlines and airports have also taken action or are planning walk-outs.