(Bloomberg) -- Britain’s train drivers’ union said members voted to strike over a pay dispute, a move that could bring some of the network to a near standstill for the second time in as many months.
The Aslef union said drivers at eight rail companies overwhelmingly gave the go-ahead for walkouts, potentially adding to a wave of industrial action that’s hit the country across a number of sectors. Travel was also halted in June by a three-day rail strike, the biggest in more than three decades.
The companies affected run some of Britain’s main rail lines, including from London north to Scotland and west to Bristol. Results of voting at three other companies are due later this month. Aslef didn’t set strike dates and left the door open to further talks.
“It’s not too late for the companies – or the government – to resolve this situation,” the union said in a statement.
The Department for Transport said it was disappointed with the strike ballot.
“Our railway is in desperate need of modernization to make it work better for passengers and be financially sustainable for the long term,” a DfT spokesperson said in an email. “We urge the union bosses to reconsider and work with its employers, not against them, to agree a new way forward.”
The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, which led last month’s strike, welcomed the Aslef ballot.
The UK government is facing widespread anger from labor groups over pay and working conditions as inflation continues to spiral higher. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s administration has argued that it needs to be cautious with pay awards to prevent prices rising further, frustrating unions seeking better deals.
“It goes to show that railway workers across every grade from cleaners, catering staff guards, maintenance staff and drivers are fed up with real terms pay cuts, attacks on job security and working conditions,” Mick Lynch, the general secretary of the RMT said in a separate statement. The RMT is yet to agree to proposals to resolve its own dispute. A failure to reach a deal with employers could lead to more stoppages.
Aslef had said earlier that it was likely to coordinate any strikes resulting from a ballot across multiple companies, aiming for maximum disruption to the railway.
Criminal barristers and postal workers are also taking action. The UK’s 114 Crown Post Office locations were set to close on Monday, the Communications Workers Union has said, after a deadlock over wages. About 2,400 Royal Mail Plc managers plan to strike over job and pay cuts later this month.
