Getty ImagesPassengers traveling on Avanti West Coast trains are facing disruption as staff walk out on the ongoing queue during the rest day’s work.
Rail managers who are members of the RMT union are holding their second walkout this week, which could affect commuters on their first day back at the office after the Christmas break.
In an interview with the BBC, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch claimed that train companies chose to pay their managers “extortionate rates” to work on public holidays, while Union members are paid a lower rate.
Avanti said he was “disappointed” by the strike action, and advised passengers to check the details of their last train home.
On Thursdays, Avanti will run one train per hour between London Aston and Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Crewe and Manchester.
It will also run a limited service between Glasgow and Preston, while the first and last trains on all its services may run earlier than normal.
There will be no Avanti West Coast services in North Wales, Blackpool and Edinburgh on Thursday.
Following planned industrial action over the New Year, RMT members who are train managers at Onti West Coast currently plan to strike every Sunday between January 12 and May 25.
‘Destructive Approach’
“It is completely unacceptable that replacement managers can be paid around £500 per shift, almost double what our Avanti members earn,” said an RMT spokesman.
He claimed it was a repetitive and “destructive approach”, and said it was a reported practice that rewarded managers “rather than resolving conflicts”.
“At the heart of the problem is severe understaffing, which is why there is such a heavy reliance on overtime,” he added.
RMT members initially planned to strike on Christmas Eve, but those plans were canceled at the last minute.
The union said that before the new strike dates were announced, 83 percent of the 400 members involved in the dispute had rejected the revised proposal presented to them.
Avanti said it was willing to work with the RMT to resolve the dispute.