RMT union workers have voted to strike on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday this week (21, 23 and 25 June) in a dispute over pay and redundancies. This will impact services in England, Wales and Scotland, while staff at Network Rail, which maintains infrastructure, also plan to walk out.
Michael Kill, NTIA chief executive, said: “The prospective impact on trade will be set to run into millions as we embark on festival season and move into the busy summer periods for tourism.
Paying the price
“Limited rail services across the UK will leave many stranded at night, compromising the safety of staff and customers, with very few alternative transport services available.”
This comes after UKHospitality (UKH) announced the strikes would cost the hospitality sector £540m this morning.
UKH chief executive Kate Nicholls said: “For a devastated hospitality industry beginning its tentative post-pandemic recovery, the planned strike action couldn’t come at a worse time and might deliver a fatal financial blow to those businesses already struggling to survive.”
“A rail strike will cost the sector £540m across the week, based on a 20% drop in sales where a typical June week sees takings of £2.75bn.”
Catastrophic impact
Kill previously said the strike table would have “catastrophic impact” on the sector, as would leave many stranded at night, compromising safety with few alternate transport services available.
Network rail urged passengers to plan ahead before travelling as, while thousands of trained operatives would be stepping in the keep vital services running during the action, only a “severely limited service” was expected to be available.
Furthermore, UKH and NTIA are among the trade bodies from across the sector to issue a statement regarding the strikes, set to be the biggest network dispute since 1989, echoing concerns around safety and the “devastating” hit to the sector.
