Fresh strike planned by rail workers in train guards dispute

Workers on Arriva Rail North will stage a fresh strike later this month in the long-running dispute over the role of guards on trains.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union will walk out for 24 hours on July 21, causing fresh disruption to services.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: "It is a tribute to the determination and professionalism of RMT members on Arriva Rail North that they have remained rock solid for over a year now in what is a battle to put public safety before private profit.

"RMT is angry and frustrated that while we are making some progress in discussions in similar safety disputes?, Arriva Rail North refuse point blank to engage with the union in any meaningful fashion.

"German-owned Northern Rail want to run nearly half a million trains a year without a safety critical guard on board in a move that would wreck both safety and access ?to services and they should listen to their front-line staff and pull back from that plan immediately.

"We have seen repeatedly in recent weeks that Arriva are not capable of running a railway and have chosen to declare war on passengers and staff alike in the drive for increased profits while safety, access and reliability are left to rot.

"RMT has agreed arrangements in Wales and Scotland that enshrine the guard guarantee. If it's good enough for Wales and Scotland to have safe rail services it should be good enough for the rest of Britain."