Arriva Trains Wales strike to go ahead from midnight

Train services will be affected from midnight on Saturday as two days of industrial action by drivers from Arriva Trains Wales begin.

The action called by the Aslef union follows a long-running pay dispute.

There will be no Arriva Trains Wales services on Sunday or Monday and no alternative transport is being provided.

Managers say an offer of a 12% rise over two years is extremely generous.

The union has accused the company of paying Welsh drivers less than their English counterparts.

The 01.50 GMT Fishguard Harbour to Cardiff service on Sunday will be replaced by a bus service but passengers on all other services are being advised to make alternative travel arrangements.

Services on Tuesday are also likely to be disrupted as the network returns to normal.

Peter Leppard, Operations Director for Arriva Trains Wales, said: "Arriva Trains Wales' senior management and officials from the ASLEF and RMT trade unions have been in talks for many months in an attempt to reach a final agreement on pay and working conditions for train drivers.

"We are extremely disappointed that once again our generous offer has been rejected and that the planned industrial action by ASLEF for 27 and 28 February will go ahead."

He said the strike would cause significant inconvenience to customers.

An Aslef spokesman said: "We regret the disruption to the service and our passengers but we would not have staged the strike if there had been any alternatives."

For service updates customers are advised to check the Arriva Trains Wales website - www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk or contact National Rail Enquiries on 08457 48 49 50.

* Story taken from BBC Wales News. Read it here *

Worst Late Western Cleaners to strike!

Cardiff and Swansea FGW cleaners begin 24-hour strike

Cleaners on First Great Western trains at the main stations in Cardiff and Swansea have gone on strike for 24 hours in a dispute over pay and pensions.

The RMT union said the workers, who are employed by Mitie, are low-paid and badly treated.

Mitie said it believes it has settled all outstanding issues with the union.

The rail firm said it will not disrupt its south Wales to London services.

The RMT said the industrial action was in response to its dispute with the firm over "wage discrepancies" suffered by its members.

It said its Mitie members had delivered a unanimous vote in favour of striking.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said: "This appalling situation shines the spotlight on just how these facilities companies operate and how they treat their low-paid staff.

"The company has seen the unanimous vote for strike action, which reflects the anger amongst their staff, and it's now up to Mitie to step up with a line-by-line resolution to each of the issues we have raised in this dispute."

A spokesman for Mitie said: "All issues between Mitie and the RMT referred to on the original ballot have been resolved."

"Mitie has not been formally advised by the union of any further issues which would warrant a strike action this coming Friday and is seeking clarification."

FGW said it did not anticipate delays to its services on Friday as a result of the dispute between the RMT and Mitie.

A spokesperson said: "It won't affect any of our services. Mitie will be providing its service as normal.

"There was a previous strike on 4 February and there was no disruption to the service on our trains. Our customers did not experience any disruption."

RMT train drivers for Arriva Trains Wales, which operates in the south Wales valleys, had planned to strike on 4 February, the day of the Six Nations rugby clash between Wales and England at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

That action was called off on legal advice to the union after the rail firm launched legal proceedings.

* Story taken from BBC Wales News. Read it here *

Arrivatrainsnails says........

To see the state on some of the train carriages, we don't think anyone will miss them when they do strike! Infact, we didn't even realise that they employed cleaners.

No more money to avert strike

Arriva Trains Wales says it will not make an improved pay offer to its staff to avoid a strike later this month.

Aslef union members will walk out for 24 hours on Monday 28 February.

The rail company said it would meet the union for talks next week but it had already improved its offer several times and it could not go any further.

Aslef said the strike was not just over pay but also working conditions and it hoped "common sense" would prevail and the company would negotiate.

Arriva said it had offered a 12% pay rise over two years but the figure has been disputed.

The train operator said the offer would take a train driver's basic salary to £39,117.

The company's operations and safety director Peter Leppard told BBC Radio's Good Morning Wales: "They are going down a blind alley.

"We have been negotiating this matter now for nine months - we have improved the offer several times.

"It cannot go any further - they know that - they've been told very clearly that."

He said as part of the deal drivers would no longer be able to choose whether or not to work Sundays.

"We are not changing the number of Sundays that drivers work - we are saying if it is your Sunday you must work it," he added.

"No-one in the current climate is going to get a 12% pay rise without something attached to it."

Arriva Trains Wales launched legal proceedings to avert a planned strike by the RMT union on the day of the Six Nations rugby clash between Wales and England earlier this month.

Mr Leppard said it was action they may try to take again.

"We always, if faced with an industrial action threat, look to see if that might be a possibility but we only had the documentation from Aslef yesterday [Thursday] afternoon."

Aslef district organiser Stan Moran said 70% of its members working for Arriva Trains Wales voted in favour of strikes on an 80% turnout.

"These drivers have overwhelmingly voted against any offer that the company has made," he said.

"We are meeting with Arriva on Tuesday next week. We always have to think positive. Our members have voted so we have to try and please the membership.

"You never know what we can to do resolve the issue. We'll talk, we're always willing to talk and hopefully we'll resolve it."

Mr Moran said it was not all about getting a better deal than the current pay rise offer.

"It's all about conditions, it's not the money, and there's other things as well involved."

Mr Moran defended the train driver salary of £39,000 and said it was far behind pay in England.

"A loaf of bread is the same price anywhere in the country," he added.

He said he was "very optimistic" about the outcome of the talks and he said that previous disputes had always been resolved through "common sense".

*This story has been taken from BBC News Wales. Read it here *

Arrivatrainsnails says...... "We think it's wrong of the members of staff at Arriva Trains Wales to constantly threaten to strike over pay when a lot of people this year will be lucky to get a 1% payrise. Many more will be taking a pay cut in 2011 and many will lose their jobs, so why do these members of staff believe that a 12% payrise over 2 years is a bad offer? If you hate your jobs so much, give them up and give other people a chance to do your jobs better! Keeping up this strike action will only lead to you alienating more of your passengers!" 

Let us passengers join together and show the drivers that we won't be beaten and find an alternative method of travel on the strike days.
Here are some alternative options to the trains:

• Why not car share? Split the cost and use one of the three Park and Ride facilities dotted around Cardiff City Centre (Cost is only £3 per car and buses are every 15 minutes)
  
  Click here for more info 
• Use a bus? For example, Newport Bus offer a unlimited day ticket for only £2.75 - You can travel all around Newport and to Cardiff and back as many times as you like - Great Value.
  
  Click here for Newport Bus or here to search for other bus companies
   
• Take a taxi? Might sound expensive, but sharing one with other people you are travelling with will reduce the cost and you can book it for the time you like - No waiting in the cold!
  
  Click here for taxi companies

Arriva Trains Wales drivers to strike again!!!

Train drivers in Wales have voted to stage a 24-hour strike in an ongoing row over pay.

Aslef said its 500 members at Arriva Trains Wales (ATW) would walk out on Monday, 28 February.

The planned strike comes after another rail union, RMT, called off its own action which was due to be held earlier this month.

ATW said it had made a substantial offer that had been "improved several times".

Aslef said a ballot of members showed a 70% vote in favour of strikes and 80% for other forms of action.

The union and the company are due to meet next Tuesday with a view to "reviewing the position and hopefully making progress by negotiation", according to Aslef.

An Aslef spokesperson said: "The action is in pursuit of an acceptable pay increase, which months of negotiation has failed to provide.

"The general secretary has advised the company's human resources director of the union's decision to take strike action because of the company's failure to provide a satisfactory pay offer."

Aslef said the turnout for the ballot was more than 80%.

ATW says it has offered a 12% pay rise over two years but the figure has been disputed.

The train operator said the offer would take a train driver's basic salary to £39,117.

ATW operations and safety director Peter Leppard said: "Channels of communication remain open and we are continuing to do everything we can to bring this situation to a resolution.

"We urge Aslef to suspend their action and accept this generous pay offer."

The RMT union had threatened to hold a strike on the day of the Six Nations rugby clash between Wales and England at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff earlier this month.

The RMT said the decision to call it off had been made on legal advice.

That came after ATW had launched legal proceedings to try to avert the RMT strike planned for 4 February.

*Story taken from BBC News Wales. Read it here *

Rail union in game strike threat

RAIL union leaders have refused to rule out targeting future major events in their ongoing industrial dispute with Arriva Trains Wales.

Train drivers with the RMT union are due to be re-balloted for more strike action after tomorrow’s planned walk-out was cancelled following legal advice.

The next big event on Cardiff’s sports calendar is the Six Nations clash between Wales and Ireland on Saturday, March 12.The new ballot was evidence, according to one Welsh MP, that the union was determined to “strike at all costs”. The results will be known in about two weeks and further industrial action could be announced should talks over pay continue to break down.

Two weeks later, on March 26, the Millennium Stadium will again be at capacity when Gary Speed’s Wales take on England in a European Championship qualifier.

When asked if the union could rule out targeting these dates, RMT regional representative Brendan Kelly responded: “No, I cannot rule that out.”

Mr Kelly said the union had received “a lot of representation” from members regarding what dates to take strike action and this would be taken into account.

Vale of Glamorgan’s Conservative MP Alun Cairns said rather than re-balloting, the union should return to the negotiating table.

“By re-balloting immediately, this demonstrates a determination to strike at all costs. They are not interested in negotiating,” he said.

“They would prefer to cause havoc, inconvenience and potential health and safety risks for the thousands of people who use the trains each day.”

The RMT, meanwhile, yesterday refused to reveal the results of a referendum on whether to accept the latest offer of a 12% wage increase over two years.

The union says the offer is effectively a “pay cut loaded with strings” and said drivers are against compulsory Sunday shifts.

Bob Crow, the union’s general secretary, said: “It is our firm belief that the current offer of 2.5% as a pay rise is completely inadequate for the commitment the company wants you to make for Sunday working.”

The results of a separate strike ballot by the train drivers’ union Aslef will be known on February 17.

*Story taken from Wales Online. Read more here *

Arriva Trains Wales rugby match day strike called off

A strike by train drivers on the day of the Six Nations rugby clash between Wales and England at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff has been called off.

The rail union RMT said the decision had been made on legal advice.

Arriva Trains Wales (ATW) had launched legal proceedings to avert Friday's strike, which was announced last week after pay talks with unions failed.

An ATW spokesman said it would mean "a full and comprehensive timetable of services" for the rugby match".

An estimated 32,000 fans usually use ATW's services on Six Nations match days.

The union said its members at ATW would be re-balloted over taking industrial action.

Meanwhile, they have been instructed to work normally on Friday.

The decision to cancel the strike was in part taken as a result of legal action over its dispute with the Docklands Light Railway in London, the union said.

Continue reading the main story

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said: "While our fight for pay justice for our driver members on Arriva Trains Wales remains well and truly on, we have now received further legal advice on the nature of the anti-trade union laws in respect of recent court judgments.

"Nobody should be in any doubt about how the noose of the anti-union laws has been tightened around workers' necks and it's the full weight of those undemocratic laws that has been brought in to play in this dispute.

"It remains the case that ATW drivers are some of the worst paid in the country and that all they are fighting for is a comparable wage, a pay increase that protects their standards of living without strings and working conditions that ensure a decent work/life balance. That fight goes on."

ATW said it had offered a 12% pay rise over two years but the union disputes the figure.

ATW has said its "generous" offer would take a train driver's basic salary to £39,117 with time and a quarter on Sunday.

'Timetable'

The union has said the rise for this year was actually 3.7% and an effective pay cut.

The chosen strike day coincided with Wales kicking off their Six Nations campaign with an evening match against England at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

An ATW spokesman said: "We welcome the RMT union's decision to call off their planned industrial action on Friday, which will mean ATW will be able to provide a full and comprehensive timetable of services for the rugby international and across the rail network in Wales."

Vale of Glamorgan MP Alun Cairns said a strike would have been "disastrous".

He added: "I am naturally troubled that they say it was cancelled on legal advice, rather than a recognition of the safety concerns, inconvenience and PR disaster it would have caused Wales".

*Story from BBC News Wales. For further information click here *