Southern Railway guards to stage fresh 24-hour strike on Jan 23 in long-running dispute
SOUTHERN Railway guards are to stage fresh 24-hour strike on Jan 23 in long-running dispute over staffing.
Commuters using the service have already endured months of travel misery because of walkouts, overtime bans and reliability problems.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union will walk out for 24 hours on January 23, the day before drivers go on strike again in protest at driver-only trains - ensuring two days of disruption.
RMT members have staged dozens of strikes since Southern changed the role of guards, with the union complaining safety was being compromised.
Southern train services continued to be disrupted on Thursday by an overtime ban by Aslef, even though drivers returned to work after a 48-hour strike.
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Another drivers' strike will be held on Friday and again for three days later in the month.
Southern has warned there will be no services on Friday because of the strike.
RMT leader Mick Cash said Southern chief Charles Horton promised during a TV debate earlier this week to retain a second member of staff on trains but that the pledge "melts away" during direct talks.
He added: "That is the main reason why we are forced again to put on further strike action.
"It is down to the company to end this posturing and to get back into the room with us to kick-start the negotiating process which is what the public are clearly crying out for."
Responding to the RMT's latest announcement, a Southern spokesperson said: "This wholly unjustified industrial action is causing utter misery and hardship to the travelling public and is having a significant impact on people’s work and family lives and the regional economy.
"We remain ready to meet the RMT leadership, as we do ASLEF, anytime, any place, anywhere to find a way to end their disputes."
GTR, Southern's parent company, is taking fresh legal action against drivers union Aslef in the Supreme Court to try and stop the strikes.
A statement said: "GTR is determined to protect its passengers and its business from unlawful industrial action.
"GTR is therefore prepared to continue its legal claim to the Supreme Court, as it believes that it has an arguable case that the industrial action is unlawful under EU law."
Last month, the High Court rejected an argument from GTR that industrial action would breach customers' rights.
Aslef described last month's legal action as a waste of taxpayers', shareholders' and passengers' money.
in December Theresa May ruled out new strike laws to smash the unions – despite a new report claiming the Southern Rail strikes have cost £300 MILLION.
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