More rail strikes are an embarrassment for Labour

It is less than 48 hours since the government hailed a new deal with train drivers as proof that two years of rail strikes would soon be coming to an end. So it will be some embarrassment that Aslef, the rail union, today announced a further 22 days of strike action on the east coast mainline. Passengers travelling between London, Leeds, York and Edinburgh face months of disruption, with walkouts starting on 31 August and lasting until 10 November.

Rather than pay, Aslef claims that ‘a breakdown in industrial relations, bullying by management and persistent breaking of agreements’ is behind the renewed strike campaign. This dispute, which centres around LNER services, is separate to the ongoing national strikes. Mick Whelan, the union’s general-secretary, accused LNER bosses of ‘boorish behaviour and bullying tactics’. He said: ‘The company has brutally, and repeatedly, broken diagramming and roster agreements, failed to adhere to the agreed bargaining machinery, and totally acted in bad faith.