Unions reject unofficial action charge


Rail unions have written to transport secretary, Grant Shapps, accusing train operator Avanti West Coast of falsely blaming alleged unofficial strike action for problems actually caused by its own ineptitude.


ASLEF general secretary Mick Whelan stated: ‘We are on strike at Avanti West Coast on 13 August. That is official industrial action after an overwhelming mandate from members.


‘There is – and has been – no unofficial action on Avanti West Coast this week. The truth is that the company does not employ enough drivers to deliver the services it has promised passengers it will run.”


And RMT general secretary Mick Lynch wrote to say that the company has drastically reduced its timetable, including temporarily suspending ticket sales and only running four trains an hour from London Euston, one to each of Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham.


His letter states that: “Avanti are falsely and shamefully making allegations that this decision is due to unofficial industrial action when the reality is this decision arises from poor management, cutting staffing to the bare minimum and rock bottom staff morale.”


https://aslef.org.uk/publications/avanti-west-coast-company-lying



https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/rmt-seeks-urgent-meeting-over-avanti-crisis