RAIL WORKERS on South Western Railway (SWR) have accused management of “making a mockery” of negotiations, after having announced four more days of strike action.

Members of the RMT on the rail franchise will be striking from this Friday until Monday September 2.

Workers are angry and suspicious that the company has failed to give a clear assurance that their new operational model will include the role of a guard on every train service.

This is despite an agreement in February which resulted in a company pledge that “each passenger train shall operate with a guard with safety critical competencies,” with the competencies to be agreed by the RMT and SWR.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “Our members have been left with no choice but to go ahead with a further four days of strike action on South Western Railway from Friday. 

“They are angry and frustrated that SWR have kicked talks into the long grass and failed to bolt down an agreement that will guarantee the role of the guard on the train. Our members believe that they are being mugged off by the company in protracted talks and I think they are right.

“That situation has been compounded by an insistence that future operational models will be governed by the protection of company profits and not the safety of the travelling public.”

A spokeswoman for SWR told the Star it had offered a guard on every train as “part of the framework agreement.

“We want to move the conversation on to how we operate our new trains and take advantage of the new technology on board to benefit our customers. We remain committed to finding a solution that will help us build a better railway for everyone.”