‘WE HAVE been forced to go on strike by an intransigent management that has not been prepared to negotiate with us. Southern are bullies,’ Mick Whelan, general secretary of ASLEF, said on the first day of the three-day Southern drivers strike.
Southern had to admit yesterday that there were no trains running on the Southern service. Whelan added: ‘It’s now up to the company, and the government, to be flexible and to end the misery of commuters. The ball is in their court.’
There was a lively ASLEF drivers picket at London Bridge yesterday. ASLEF Southern region district organiser Graham Morris told News Line: ‘We are taking action in opposition to the imposition of driver only trains by Southern rail.’
This means that the trains will no longer have guards on board to ensure that all passengers travel in safety and are able to enter and exit the train without leaving anyone behind.
Morris continued: ‘Southern is not prepared to negotiate with us. We came to an agreement in the past but now there is an impasse. Southern are backed by the DfT (Department for Transport) to continue with this policy of a far less safe railway.
‘Our concern is they want to transfer the operational responsibility of train dispatch from the conductor to the driver and remove the second safety critical staff member from trains. The only people politicising this dispute are (Transport Secretary Chris) Grayling and the government.
‘They are using it as another excuse to weaken organised labour and the trade unions.
‘There’s three more days of strike action the week after next. After that we will be considering our position. If there is no movement there will be further action.’
