Train drivers earning a minimum of £72,223-a-year are set to spark travel chaos with an eight-week strike from March 31st – in a raging row over a colleague’s sacking. Aslef (the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen) union staff at Hull Trains will walk out for 56 days until May 24st, threatening “serious disruption” to East Coast main line services.
The union claim a driver was unfairly dismissed for being a ‘whistleblower’ by raising a safety workload and fatigue issue at a company meeting – however the operator strenuously denies this claim. Aslef said the unnamed driver, with more than 20 years’ experience and a clean safety record, had been “doing nothing wrong” – yet the firm allegedly decided it was unsafe to allow him to continue and he was dismissed last year.
Annual salaries for Hull Trains drivers start at £72,223 for a 35-hour week – but only after a year of training during which they are paid £39,735 – according to a recent job advert.
The open-access operator runs seven services a day from London King’s Cross, calling at Hull, Brough, Howden, Selby, Doncaster, Retford and Grantham.
Aslef warned that the strikes will “cause serious disruption on the rail network” and force Hull Trains ‘to cancel most, if not all, of its services’ – while the firm said it was “disappointed” and would now review the impact on services.
Aslef’s general secretary Mick Whelan said: “The company’s failure to act responsibly has an impact – and enormous implications – not just for rail workers and passengers at the company but for staff and passengers right across the wider rail industry.
“This is a moral issue because we have a culture on the railway designed to keep everyone safe.
“Anyone who works on the railway should be able to report a safety concern without fearing they will be penalised, punished, or lose their livelihood. The company has behaved deplorably.”
While Nigel Roebuck, Aslef’s lead officer with Hull Trains, said: “Aslef members will be standing on a picket line again after talks with the company failed to find an acceptable outcome regarding the dismissal of one of our members for self-reporting fatigue.
“In a forward-thinking industry like ours we believe that individuals should be able to speak freely about their concerns without fear or favour be it fatigue or mental health issues or anything else that affects their working lives.
“Hull Trains are saying that the situation is unique and difficult, and that they have decided that the individual can no longer drive trains based on a comment made during a safety brief and a collective view of being unsafe with little evidence other than a remark made.
“Our member has been driving trains for more than 20 years with a completely clean safety record.
“The company is punishing and penalising him for something he said, not for anything he has done. And what he said was perfectly polite, proper, and reasonable in the context of a safety meeting.
“What is unique about the situation is that is moves away from the reporting cultures and processes we have in place to support such events, and this is a dangerous precedent for the entire industry that for years has tried to build a no blame culture and support individuals who wish to speak out.”
Train strikes to disrupt public transport in UK (Image: Getty)
Hull Trains is owned by Aberdeen-based First Group which also runs Lumo, another open-access train service on the East Coast main line.
In addition, it runs the franchises of Avanti West Coast, Great Western Railway and South Western Railway, and the Transport for London tram network.
However, it is only Hull Trains that is due be affected by the strike action.
A Hull Trains spokesperson said: “We’re disappointed to receive notice of further strike action from Aslef. Safety will always remain our number one priority.
“We are currently reviewing the impact of these latest proposed strike action dates and any changes to services will be communicated in due course.”
It comes after Aslef announced strike action on February 21st over the same dispute, which the company said at the time would result in short-term changes to early morning and late evening journeys on Fridays and Saturdays in March and April.
This meant the cancellation of both the 7.27am service from London on Fridays and Saturdays and the 7.09pm train from Hull on Fridays.
