Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan on the picket line at Euston train station in London, April 5, 2024
MICK WHELAN has condemned rail companies for their failure to engage in negotiations in the near two-year long train driver pay dispute.
Aslef’s general secretary said he is “getting lonely” from the bosses’ silence as he joined union members on the picket line today.
Members of the train drivers’ union walked out for the third strike in the past four days, affecting services operated by c2c, Gatwick Express, Greater Anglia, Southeastern, Southern, South Western Railway, Great Northern and Thameslink.
The union says the dispute has cost the industry more than £2 billion so far, with no sign of a breakthrough nor talks planned.
Aslef last met with the Rail Delivery Group, the body that represents all rail companies, in April 2023.
“They’re hardly rushing to try and resolve this in any way shape or form,” Mr Whelan said. “They haven’t come to the table. I’m getting lonely, they don’t write, they don’t ring.
“We want to resolve this, we’re not here to perpetuate it.
“The people behind me haven’t had a pay rise for five years — which is rather ironic considering we have done 17 pay deals in the last 12 months. So, this is very much a Westminster political problem.
“We work for 16 private companies, with contracts with the government, who are all making hundreds of millions of pounds in profits, all declaring dividends to their shareholders, and yet we can’t have a pay rise.”
Mr Whelan said negotiations had so far been conducted in “bad faith,” with unreasonable red lines being drawn in the two deals offered.
“I’ve never dealt with such disingenuous, deceitful and dishonourable people as I have dealt with in this process,” he said.
“It’s not us that has behaved badly, it’s not us who has not gone back to the table, and it is not us who has breached the trust.”
Aslef members at 16 train companies are also banning overtime on Monday and Tuesday.
A Rail Delivery Group spokesperson said: “We remain committed to resolving this dispute and our offer, which would take average driver salaries to £65,000 for a four-day week without overtime, remains on the table.”
