London Midland commuters braced for possible disruption if strike action agreed

RAIL commuters in the West Midlands could be facing disruption to their journeys if unions agree to ballot workers at London Midland on possible job losses.

Staff at the train company could be balloted on strike action later this week if talks between the RMT union and management fail to reach agreement. The union is asking for assurances there will be no compulsory redundancies.

The threat of industrial action follows the decision by London Midland in March to cut staff numbers.

The train operator has said most of the job losses will be in its Birmingham head office and no frontline positions will be cut.

London Midland, which operates services across the West Midlands, has said the cuts will not affect services.

Its passengers have faced disruption in recent times. The firm was hit by strike action earlier this year and in the past driver shortages have led to cancelled or delayed services.

Between October and the end of December 2012 almost 1,000 London Midland trains were disrupted due to driver shortages.