Train drivers will take strike motion on 30 September and 4 October to coincide with the Conservative Party's convention in Manchester, a union has introduced.

Aslef stated the businesses affected by the strikes embody Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, c2c, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Greater Anglia, GTR Great Northern Thameslink, Great Western Railway, Island Line, LNER, Northern, Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express, South Western Railway, TransPennine Express and West Midlands Trains.

As properly as putting, drivers on the rail community can even comply with an additional time ban on 29 September and from 2 to six October - which the union stated would "seriously disrupt the network" as a consequence of what they stated was the privatised prepare corporations' failure to "employ enough drivers to provide a proper service".

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The contemporary industrial motion will come as a blow for Rishi Sunak, who may have his first Conservative Party convention as chief and prime minister disrupted by separate strikes by junior medical doctors and consultants.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper instantly criticised the brand new strikes and accused them of being "politically motivated".

Posting on X, previously often known as Twitter, he stated there was an "offer on the table" to extend their pay to £65,000.

"Still they strike, putting their own jobs at risk," he wrote.

Mick Whelan, Aslef's common secretary, stated that whereas union members "regret having to take this action - we don't want to lose a day's pay or disrupt passengers as they try to travel by train - the government, and the employers, have forced us into this position".

He added: "Our members have not had a pay rise for four years - since 2019 - and that's not right when prices have soared in that time.

"Train drivers, completely fairly, need to have the ability to purchase now what they may purchase 4 years in the past."

Junior doctors and consultants in England announced they will take joint strike action for the first time over four days across this month and next - including on 4 October.

The strikes by Aslef are just the latest development in the ongoing battle between the union and the government over pay and working conditions.

There has already been severe disruption to the rail network this summer, with a 24-hour strike in early September coinciding with the final weekend of the summer time holidays.

Content Source: information.sky.com