LNER train drivers call off 20 days of strikes after successful talks

Three months worth of weekend strikes by train drivers have been called off following successful talks.

Aslef members working for LNER – the government-owned train operator of the East Coast Main Line – had planned to walk out at weekends from Saturday to 10 November, after the union claimed there had been a breakdown in industrial relations.

More than 20 days of strikes were planned which could have caused misery for customers facing disrupted services in the coming months.

However, Aslef has now said strike action is suspended and drivers will report for duty as normal, following meetings between the union and the company.

“Once again we have demonstrated that by sitting round the table and negotiating, issues on the railway can be resolved in a way that means better workplace practices for rail workers and a better service for the travelling public,” Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef, said.

“Aslef will continue to campaign for a fully staffed railway that doesn’t rely on excessive use of driver overtime.

“We continue to operate in good faith and we are pleased to have finally resolved this long-standing issue with LNER of abuse of our agreements. We look forward to normal working resuming.”

An LNER spokesperson said: “After constructive talks with Aslef, we are pleased that strikes planned to commence from this Saturday 31 August have now been called off.

“We will be looking to strengthen the timetable published for this weekend and advise customers to check for the latest information in advance of their journey.”

The Independent is seeking clarification on how many trains will run at the weekend. Ahead of this weekend’s strike, the rail firm had axed most trains on Saturday and Sunday, leaving a skeleton Edinburgh-Newcastle-York-London service with limited hours.

The new wave of strikes was announced less than 48 hours after the government offered a pay deal in the train drivers’ pay dispute that began in July 2022.

The LNER strikes were unrelated to that dispute, but government critics said at the time the three-year offer to Aslef had set a precedent that would encourage further action.

Former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith told The Independent: “The government has basically shown itself to be quite soft in terms of pay rises, and the unions are going to keep demanding more. We know where [the money] is going to come from – it’s going to come from higher levels of taxes and borrowing.”

The deal agreed between the government and Aslef chiefs, which the union’s members will now vote on, is for increases of 5 per cent for 2022 to 2023, 4.75 per cent for 2023 to 2024, and 4.5 per cent for 2024 to 2025. It would raise the average train driver’s salary from £60,000 to £69,000.

It is unknown what was agreed to settle the LNER strikes.

After the announcement, the transport secretary, Louise Haigh, said: “For too long our railways have been brought to a standstill by industrial disputes with no end in sight. This is a constructive step forward to fixing our railways and getting the country moving.

“Our priority is to deliver the vital reforms our broken railways need, but we cannot deliver reform if services aren’t running, and industrial disputes are left unresolved.

“It’s very welcome that LNER and Aslef have found a resolution to this dispute at no extra cost to the taxpayer and that will deliver an improved service for passengers.”