A RAILWAY company has responded after a union confirmed staff would be walking out over a pay dispute.
West Midlands Railway’s Hereford line and Birmingham Snow Hill line, which include routes through Worcester, Droitwich, Malvern, Colwall and Ledbury, will not be running on Friday (May 22) and Saturday (May 23).
Following a ballot of 100 of its members, Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) said roster clerks, duty train crew managers and control staff would be striking.
The union has said staff are seeking “parity” for rest day pay with other unions.
It said West Midlands Trains, a state-run company operating West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway, has not met their demands.
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TSSA general secretary Maryam Eslamdoust said: “As things stand these strikes will go ahead as planned because the company is simply refusing to give our members parity with those in other unions.
“That is an intolerable situation, especially given the fact these are modest demands.
“Our reps at West Midlands Trains have consulted the membership and they remain determined to proceed with their legitimate action.
“It’s now up to the company to come to their senses and stop these walkouts. Our union remains open to further discussions and only takes strike action as a last resort.”
In response, West Midlands Railway (WMR) said it was encouraging the union to continue talks.
Ian McConnell, WMR managing director, said: “We encourage TSSA to continue talks with us to reach a resolution to this dispute.
“This strike action will cause disruption to our customers with a significantly reduced timetable in operation on both dates.
“We are doing all we can to minimise the impact as far as possible and apologise to customers for the inconvenience.
“However, where services are running, we advise customers to only travel if necessary and to allow more time for their journey.”
