{"id":116056,"date":"2024-08-17T10:22:08","date_gmt":"2024-08-17T10:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/17\/aslef-union-denies-new-government-seen-as-soft-touch-as-fresh-lner-strikes-announced\/"},"modified":"2024-08-17T10:22:08","modified_gmt":"2024-08-17T10:22:08","slug":"aslef-union-denies-new-government-seen-as-soft-touch-as-fresh-lner-strikes-announced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/17\/aslef-union-denies-new-government-seen-as-soft-touch-as-fresh-lner-strikes-announced\/","title":{"rendered":"ASLEF union denies new government seen as ‘soft touch’ as fresh LNER strikes announced"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"ASLEF<\/div>


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ASLEF’s lead negotiator has denied the union sees the new government as a “soft touch” after announcing fresh strikes two days after train drivers were offered a pay deal.<\/p>\n

Drivers working for London North Eastern Railway (LNER) – which runs the passenger service on the East Coast main line between London and Edinburgh – will walk out on weekends<\/strong><\/a> from the end of August in a dispute over working agreements.<\/p>\n

Lead negotiator Nigel Roebuck said it is a separate issue from the long-running row over pay, which looks likely to be resolved after a much-improved new offer from the government which will now be put to a vote of ASLEF members.<\/p>\n

But the planned strikes – covering a total of 22 days on every Saturday from 31 August to 9 November and every Sunday from 1 September to 10 November – sparked concerns the deal has encouraged unions to take further industrial action.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of Border Force officers at Heathrow Airport have also announced planned strike action<\/strong><\/a> from 31 August to 3 September in a long-running dispute over enforced changes to terms and conditions.<\/p>\n

Shadow home secretary James Cleverly<\/strong><\/a>, who is a candidate for the Tory leadership, told The Times: “The Labour government has been played by its union paymasters.<\/p>\n

“This latest wave of strikes will be devastating for families who rely on train travel to see their loved ones.”<\/p>\n

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Roebuck said he didn’t think the transport secretary Louise Haigh had been made to look “foolish” and praised her for doing the “adult thing”.<\/p>\n

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\n Image:<\/span>
\n ASLEF general secretary Mick Whelan on the picket line earlier this year. Pic: PA
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\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Asked if he sees the Labour government as “a bit of a soft touch”, he said: “The people that locked the doors on the trade unions and didn’t want to speak and sort out any issues are now throwing the rocks from the side.<\/p>\n

“At the end of the day, it’s not soft at all.”<\/p>\n

He said a “pretty toxic” relationship between ASLEF and LNER had led to a breakdown in industrial relations and called for the operator to “come to the table”.<\/p>\n

“Let’s put an end to it and let’s move this industry forward,” he said.<\/p>\n

Read more from Sky News:
Hull protest organiser apologises to mosque worshipper<\/a>
Farage revealed to be highest earning MP<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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An LNER spokesperson said: “Our priority focus will be on minimising disruption to customers during the forthcoming ASLEF strikes, which sadly will continue to cause disruption and delays.<\/p>\n

“We are surprised and disappointed to hear this news following recent constructive conversations.<\/p>\n

“We will continue to work with ASLEF to find a way to end this long running dispute which only damages the rail industry.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Commenting on the fresh strikes, a Department for Transport spokesperson said: “This is extremely disappointing for passengers.<\/p>\n

“The transport secretary has called on both ASLEF and LNER to get back around the table and work in good faith to resolve this dispute and quickly as possible”.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ASLEF’s lead negotiator has denied the union sees the new government as a “soft touch” after announcing fresh strikes two days after train drivers were offered a pay deal. Drivers working for London North Eastern Railway (LNER) – which runs the passenger service on the East Coast main line between London and Edinburgh – will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/24\/04\/768x432\/skynews-aslef-mick-whelan-euston_6510906.jpg?20240405090053","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[603],"tags":[6601,95023,1454,728,3954,94512,15051,199,5720,6953],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116056"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116056"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116056\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116058,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116056\/revisions\/116058"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}