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30/07/2009
Passengers Disrupted By Rail Strike
Thousands of rail passengers are to face disruption for the next 48 hours as National Express East Anglia workers go on strike.
Services to and from Liverpool Street Station were crippled with just skeleton staff, with trains in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex - including routes into London and Stansted airport - affected by the action.
The strike is by the Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) and Aslef unions and a further three are planned for next month.
Union bosses said the action had been "solidly supported", with pickets on duty at the main stations and train depots.
RMT General Secretary Bob Crow, said he did not wish to cause disruption to passengers, but said they felt they had no choice.
"Our job only exists because we've got the public using trains," Mr Crow said. "But criticism must be put in the management’s way because they haven’t taken us seriously at all.
"And if they'd got around the table in the last couple of days we could have resolved this."
He added: "The strikes on National Express East Anglia come down to one simple fact - this is a greedy company, pumped full of public subsidies who now expect their staff to take a hit on their pay and working conditions while the top bosses fatten up their profits at the expense of the travelling public and the workforce.
"National Express have already created chaos through the impending collapse of their franchise on the East Coast route and under the franchise rules they should be given notice to quit on East Anglia and C2C lines.
"The sooner the government kick them off the tracks and renationalise all their franchises the better."
Andrew Chivers, managing director of National Express East Anglia, called the unions' demands "totally unrealistic", especially in the current economic climate.
"We have offered salary increases above the rate of inflation, and remain available at any time for discussions to reach a sensible, affordable and fair agreement," he said.
"Strike action is unnecessary, simply not the solution and I would like to apologise to our customers."
(JM/BMcc)
Services to and from Liverpool Street Station were crippled with just skeleton staff, with trains in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex - including routes into London and Stansted airport - affected by the action.
The strike is by the Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) and Aslef unions and a further three are planned for next month.
Union bosses said the action had been "solidly supported", with pickets on duty at the main stations and train depots.
RMT General Secretary Bob Crow, said he did not wish to cause disruption to passengers, but said they felt they had no choice.
"Our job only exists because we've got the public using trains," Mr Crow said. "But criticism must be put in the management’s way because they haven’t taken us seriously at all.
"And if they'd got around the table in the last couple of days we could have resolved this."
He added: "The strikes on National Express East Anglia come down to one simple fact - this is a greedy company, pumped full of public subsidies who now expect their staff to take a hit on their pay and working conditions while the top bosses fatten up their profits at the expense of the travelling public and the workforce.
"National Express have already created chaos through the impending collapse of their franchise on the East Coast route and under the franchise rules they should be given notice to quit on East Anglia and C2C lines.
"The sooner the government kick them off the tracks and renationalise all their franchises the better."
Andrew Chivers, managing director of National Express East Anglia, called the unions' demands "totally unrealistic", especially in the current economic climate.
"We have offered salary increases above the rate of inflation, and remain available at any time for discussions to reach a sensible, affordable and fair agreement," he said.
"Strike action is unnecessary, simply not the solution and I would like to apologise to our customers."
(JM/BMcc)
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