RAIL ticket inspectors and station booking staff are going on strike in Essex and East London on Monday. Members of the two big rail unions are planning a 24-hour walkout on the C2C network from Southend and Tilbury into Fenchurch Street
RAIL ticket inspectors and station booking staff are going on strike in Essex and East London on Monday.
Members of the two big rail unions are planning a 24-hour walkout on the C2C network from Southend and Tilbury into Fenchurch Street.
It follows talks by the RMT and TSSA which broke down last night in a bid to resolve a dispute over holiday pay.
“We called off a strike two weeks ago to allow further talks,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.
“But despite hours of discussions, there has been no satisfactory move from the company. We have no alternative but to reinstate strike action.”
The 130 inspectors and ticket clerks are refusing to book on for shifts starting between Midnight Sunday and midnight Monday.
The dispute centres on a company holiday policy by C2C, part of National Express, that means paying staff only for bank holidays they work. But staff want a commitment to 28 days’ paid leave “and not ever-more complex ways of avoiding it.”
TSSA’s general secretary Gerry Doherty said: “It beggars belief that National Express is refusing bank holiday pay after profits of �194 million.”
Union bosses plan to keep commuters in the loop through the RMT website. Monday’s dispute is not expected to involve train drivers.
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