Industrial action heading North as ballots open

The turmoil that has hit the Southern rail franchise could soon be heading North as rail union RMT confirms it is balloting its workers in the Arriva Rail North franchise.

In a letter to staff of the Northern franchise, the union said that workers would be balloted over strike action and industrial action short of a strike over the role of guards on its trains.

The union claimed that Arriva Rail North had failed to give assurances about the future of guards. 1,200 staff are being balloted.

It said that management “propaganda” had been circulated following the announcement last week which was “riddled with inaccuracies and misinformation”.

Its ballot closes on 28 February and papers have now been sent out to workers, it said.

RMT is currently in talks with Arriva Rail North, which operates the Northern network of more than 500 stations.

Last week RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said: “The union’s position on Driver Only Operation (DOO) is perfectly clear. We will not agree to any extensions of DOO and will fight to retain the safety critical role of the guard and to keep a guard on the train.

“The response from the Company was ‘we are not in a position to offer either of these guarantees at this present time’. This has been particularly disappointing as Arriva Rail North have reneged on their previous position when they stated they ‘were prepared to offer guarantees around a second person on board trains in addition to the driver’.”

This follows a vote by Southern rail workers to reject a deal forged by their union Aslef with Southern’s parent company, Govia Thameslink Railway.

The network has seen a year of turmoil and industrial action over plans to cut on board train staff to just a driver. It fell through after details emerged which would concede that only a driver could be on board in certain circumstances.