Rail union halts four-day strike
RAIL travellers breathed a sigh of relief yesterday when a planned four-day strike was suspended following "productive talks" between the train drivers' union Aslef and South West Trains.
Aslef suspended its strike action, due to start on Monday to allow its executive committee to consider three options put forward by the rail operator.
Options being considered offer one, two and three-year deals. A South West Trains' spokesman said the options met the union's aspirations about reducing the length of driving shifts but did not increase the cost to SWT beyond the original 4.5 per cent pay offer for 2007.
South West Trains' managing director Stewart Palmer said: "I am very pleased Aslef has suspended the strike action which was planned for next week as this would have caused disruption for thousands of passengers.
"Passengers can expect a normal service next week and I am delighted that they will not be inconvenienced."
The rail operator had warned that services on many routes would not run if the strike action went ahead.
Hundreds of drivers were due to walk out from midnight on Monday until April 3 after negotiations over pay and hours broke down last week.
Aslef said 73 per cent of its SWT members had voted in favour of industrial action.
The four-day stoppage could have created chaos for the hundreds of thousands of passengers who use the services across the south and into London's Waterloo station.
7:00pm Thursday 27th March 2008
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CommentPosted by: Christopher, Wallisdown & Winton West on 10:59pm Thu 27 Mar 08
There you go SWT and ASLEF it is good to talk.
There you go SWT and ASLEF it is good to talk.
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