Trains in Suffolk are set to be cancelled again this weekend as a summer of industrial action in the county continues.
Train drivers will walk out this Saturday as part of a strike over pay meaning only around 10% of Greater Anglia's services will be running.
A Greater Anglia spokeswoman said a limited intercity service will run, but there would be no service for branch or local lines. There will be no rail replacement bus services either.
The following trains will run this Saturday:
- Norwich-London Liverpool Street Intercity service, one train an hour, with first and last trains from Norwich at 8am and 7pm, and from Liverpool Street at 10.30am and 9.30pm.
- Colchester-London Liverpool Street, one train an hour, with first and last trains from Colchester at 8.13am and 8.13pm, and from Liverpool Street at 10am and 10pm.
Services may also start late on Sunday as a result of the strike, and rail replacement buses will be operating due to planned engineering works.
Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director, said: “We know that the weekend of July 23-24 is really busy – the start of the summer holidays, Latitude Festival and other events in London.
“We are genuinely very sorry for all the inconvenience these strikes will cause our customers, especially on Saturday, July 23 when it’s followed by major engineering works the next day, when we anticipate more people might be travelling because they’re unable to make their journeys on Saturday.
“Negotiations to try to resolve the pay issue causing the strikes are continuing at an industry level and we hope we can resolve this situation soon.”
Railways
Suffolk's railways have already been disrupted by rail strikes and a heatwave this summer, but more disruption is to come.
Two separate trade unions have called strike action that will affect the county's trains.
Greater Anglia train drivers from the Aslef union will walk out on Saturday, July 23 and then again on July 30.
While a variety of railway workers from the RMT will also walk out on August 18 and 20.
Mick Whelan, general secretary of train drivers’ union Aslef, said the industrial action planned for the end of July will mean “virtually no service” in areas affected.
“That saddens us – we’d much rather be talking to find a way out of this but unfortunately no-one’s coming to the table," he said.
A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: “Governments do not get involved with union talks, it hasn’t happened under Labour or Conservative Governments.
“Industry is offering daily talks to the unions. We encourage the unions to stay at the negotiating table, and call off these strikes.”
Greater Anglia members of another rail union, TSSA, have voted for industrial action short of a strike but there are no details at this stage of what that action might be or its potential impact on services
BT
BT and Openreach workers are to stage the first of two 24-hour strikes in a dispute over pay next week.
Around 40,000 members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) – including some of the 3,600 BT staff who work at Martlesham's Adastral Park – will walk out on July 29 and August 1 after voting overwhelmingly for industrial action last month.
The union said it wanted a “substantial” pay rise, especially with the spiralling rate of inflation – arguing that BT could afford it.
Those involved in the row look after the majority of Britain’s telecoms infrastructure, from mobile phone connection, broadband internet and back-up generators to national health systems, cyber security and data centres.
It will be the first strike action at BT Group since 1987 and the first national call centre workers’ strike, said the union.
A BT Group spokesperson said: “At the start of this year, we were in exhaustive discussions with the CWU that lasted for two months, trying hard to reach an agreement on pay.
“When it became clear that we were not going to reach an accord, we took the decision to go ahead with awarding our team member and frontline colleagues the highest pay award in more than 20 years, effective April 1.
“We have confirmed to the CWU that we won’t be re-opening the 2022 pay review, having already made the best award we could.
“While we respect the choice of our colleagues who are CWU members to strike, we will work to minimise any disruption and keep our customers and the country connected.
“We have tried and tested processes for large-scale colleague absences to minimise any disruption for our customers and these were proved during the pandemic.”
Postal workers
Around 115,000 postal workers across the country could walk out later this summer, after 97.6% of CWU workers voted in favour of strike action.
No strikes are likely to happen for a while due to negotiations between the union and the Royal Mail Group, and a mandatory two-week notice period before strike action can take place.
Earlier this summer, Paul Moffat, eastern regional secretary of the CWU, said workers had been offered a 2% pay raise, which he described as "ludicrous".
Barristers
Several cases at Ipswich Crown Court had to be adjourned from Monday, July 18 as barristers started their first whole week of strike action over levels of legal aid funding.
Members of the Criminal Bar Association, which represents advocates in England and Wales, began action with a two-day strike at the end of last month and have been escalating it by an extra day every week.
If a deal is not agreed with the government criminal barristers will stage five-day walkouts every other week from now on.
Teachers
The National Education Union (NEU) will consult its members this autumn on whether they back strike action. Pay cuts and high workload are among the major gripes the trade union has raised.
Graham White, from the Suffolk NEU, told this newspaper: "No teacher takes strike action lightly, but they have a responsibility for their own families as well as their pupils.
"And if their own families are suffering through the cost-of-living crisis because teachers are not being paid enough, then staff have to put their family first and that, unfortunately, means that they may well have to take strike action."
NHS staff, council workers and police officers
Around 80,000 UNISON members employed by the NHS and councils in the east have been waiting to find out whether they get a pay rise via a central pay review process.
Yesterday, the government announced it would offer NHS staff, including nurses, paramedics and midwives, a pay rise of at least £1,400 with lowest earners receiving a pay rise up to 9.3%.
Eligible dentists and doctors will also receive 4.5% and police officers 5%.
Earlier this month, Suffolk police fed chiefs accused the government of breaking their promise to pay police officers fairly.
Christina McAnea, UNISON general secretary, said: “Th e government has made a big mistake. This short-sighted decision risks harming the UK's most cherished institution beyond repair.
“ Ministers might have shifted their pay position a little, but nowhere near enough. This award is barely half the lowest level of inflation. The price surge shows no sign of easing and hikes to energy bills will wipe out the rise for almost everyone.
“It’s unlikely the increase will apply to the many staff working in hospitals and ambulances services but employed by private contractors. They need a wage boost too.
“A decent pay rise isn’t a magic cure for every NHS ill. But it would show staff and patients that ministers care enough to start sorting out the workforce crisis at the heart of the health service’s many problems.
“Sadly, this award fails on every front. It doesn’t protect health workers from the growing cost of living crisis, arrest the decline in patient services or cut queues.
“Wages are key to fixing the staffing shortages hampering the health service's post-pandemic recovery. The public understands this. It's a pity the government doesn't. The Treasury should fund this pay award fully.
“Ministers seem intent on running down the NHS, showing scant regard for the millions of people languishing on waiting lists for tests and treatment.
“Rather than save the NHS with proper investment in staff and services, those vying to be the next Prime Minister want to keep back the cash for pre-election tax cuts.
“Fed-up staff might well now decide to take the matter into their own hands. If there is to be a dispute in the NHS, ministers will have no one to blame but themselves.”
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