Avanti West Coast train drivers to be balloted on strike action in roster row
Train drivers at Avanti West Coast are to be balloted for industrial action in a row over rosters.
Aslef accused the company, which runs trains through the West Midlands, of imposing new working patterns without agreement.
General secretary Mick Whelan said: “I can hear the sound of chickens coming home to roost.
“Avanti West Coast has never employed enough drivers to deliver the services it has promised passengers, businesses, and the Government it will run, which is why, every day this year, the company has come up short.
“Earlier this year, in the summer, Avanti tried to blame drivers for taking ‘unofficial industrial action’, which it knew to be untrue.
“Now the company has been caught out again because it is trying to run its service on the West Coast main line on the cheap – cheating staff, passengers, and taxpayers – to line the pockets of its shareholders. That is a disgrace.
“If it had done the right thing and employed, as we have consistently asked it to do, enough drivers it would not have had the problems that have persisted all through this year.
“Now the company, to try to cover its own inadequacies, is trying to impose rosters on drivers without going through the proper and agreed process.”
Avanti’s trains link the West Midlands and Staffordshire with London Euston as well as major cities including Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow. It is already badly hit by action from the RMT union, which is decimating services between now and Christmas.
