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A fresh round of rail strikes is set to disrupt national networks during July, after the RMT union announced that 20,000 workers would stage three days of walkouts.
The announcement dashes any hopes of an imminent resolution to a bitter labour dispute that has caused frequent disruption to rail lines across the country during 2023.
The RMT said train operators had failed to make a new pay offer and that members working for 14 rail companies would go on strike as a result, on 20, 22 and 29 July.
RMT general secretary, Mick Lynch, said the new strikes, part of continued labour action by the union, would “show the country just how important railway staff are to the running of the rail industry.
“My team of negotiators and I are available 24/7 for talks with the train operating companies and government,” he said.
“Yet quite incredibly neither party has made any attempt whatsoever to arrange any meetings or put forward a decent offer that can help us reach a negotiated solution.
“The government continues to shackle the companies and will not allow them to put forward a package that can settle this dispute.
The announcement marks a fresh chapter in a bitter and long-running labour dispute.
RMT members have voted 3 times to take strike action over the last 12 months while train drivers’ union Aslef has also staged walkouts.
Rail services across England came to a halt earlier this month, after 12,000 drivers went on strike for the second time in a week amid a long-running dispute with operating companies over pay and conditions. Further labour action is expected in July, after Aslef announced a week-long overtime ban.