A ROLLING programme of strikes by train drivers continues this week as their union Aslef fights for a pay deal.

The union is mounting a week-long rolling programme of 24-hour strikes against 16 train operators, and drivers at c2c and Greater Anglia will be out today.

Drivers are also implementing an overtime ban, which disrupts timetables because rail operators employ insufficient drivers to meet their schedules.

The government is using taxpayers’ money to compensate operating companies for any profits lost through industrial action, giving them no financial incentive to settle the dispute.

Aslef has reached settlements on pay with 14 train operators where the Westminster government is not involved, including in Scotland and Wales.

Drivers voted overwhelmingly to continue striking in a dispute which started in June 2022.

Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said that the union was in the dispute “for the long haul.

“Our members, who have not had a pay rise for nearly five years now, are determined that the train companies, and the Tory government that stands behind them, do the right thing,” he said.

“The cost of living has soared since the spring and summer of 2019, when these pay deals ran out. 

“The bosses at the train companies, as well as Tory MPs and government ministers, have had increases in pay.

“It’s unrealistic and unfair to expect our members to work just as hard for what, in real terms, is considerably less.”

Rail minister Huw Merriman said: “The fair and reasonable offer that’s long been on the table would bring the average train driver’s salary up to £65,000 for a 35-hour, four-day week.”