Skip to main content
Advertise with the Morning Star
Aslef urges ‘ostrich’ Mark Harper to discuss bitter pay dispute by Christmas
Transport Secretary Mark Harper during a visit to the site of the HS2 project at Curzon Street Station, July 17, 2023

RAIL trade unionists likened Transport Secretary Mark Harper to an ostrich after he said the government “won’t throw money” at train drivers today.

Mr Harper was asked how negotiations over the bitter pay dispute and more than a week of industrial action this month were going on LBC.

He insisted an offer was on the table “that everyone says I should get round, it’s there.”

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan on the picket line at Euston train station in London, as members of train drivers union are launching a wave of fresh walkouts in a long-running dispute over pay, April 5, 2024
Trade Unions / 13 August 2025
13 August 2025
Members of the Aslef union on a picket line near to Leeds tr
Transport / 18 April 2025
18 April 2025

Walkout follows long-running dispute over sacking

Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan (centre) on the picket l
Features / 22 February 2025
22 February 2025
Aslef general secretary MICK WHELAN speaks to Ben Chacko about rail renationalisation, the Employment Rights Bill and why we shouldn’t write off this Labour government
Trains at Elizabeth Line depot at Old Oak Common, in west Lo
Britain / 13 February 2025
13 February 2025