Bid to avert UK rail strikes

Frantic efforts to re-start talks were being held today in a bid to avert a strike in Britain which would cripple train services after Easter.

Network Rail has not ruled out legal action to try to prevent a four-day walkout by maintenance workers, signallers and supervisors in a row over jobs and changes to working practices.

The Rail Maritime and Transport union and Transport Salaried Staffs Association announced that their members will take industrial action from April 6-9, warning that the rail network would “effectively be shut down”.

Network Rail said today it was trying to convene new talks with the unions, probably early next week, in an attempt to resolve the dispute and prevent the action going ahead.

The strikes would be the first national walkout since a signal workers’ dispute in 1994.

The row is over plans to cut 1,500 maintenance jobs and change existing working practices which would see more work carried out in the evenings and weekends.

The unions claim the move would hit safety – a claim strongly denied by the company.

NR said it hoped to achieve the vast majority of the 1,500 job losses through voluntary redundancy.

The Association of Train Operating Companies condemned the action, while the UK government has urged both sides to resume negotiations.

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said: “A strike is in no-one’s interests and could cause serious disruption to passengers. Both sides should seek to resolve this dispute by negotiation and not confrontation and I am urging them to do so.”