How will the rail strike affect you? Tell us what impact the walkout will have on your life
The biggest rail strike in 30 years will start tomorrow when more than 40,000 workers stage a walkout.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union at Network Rail and 13 train operators are taking part in the industrial action in a row over pay and potential job cuts.
The railways are proposing to make efficiency savings, which unions believe could lead to more than 2,000 job cuts. They argue that many of their members worked throughout the virus crisis and were hailed as ‘Covid heroes’ but now face job cuts, changes to their working conditions and pay rises well below the rate of inflation following years of wage freezes.
Talks continued until Monday, involving senior RMT and rail industry officials, but Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said it is up to the unions and employers to negotiate pay and conditions.
Staff at Avanti West Coast and West Midlands Railway are among those taking part in the strikes on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday of this week.
It will lead to fewer than one in five of normally timetabled trains running nationwide, with some places, such as Shropshire, receiving no train service at all on the days workers strike.
We'd like to know how the strike is affecting you this week? Let us know in the comments below or by emailing reporters@shropshirestar.co.uk.
