A WAVE of strike action was announced yesterday as Britain’s privatised rail network workers resisted attacks on jobs, wages and the right to strike.

Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union members led the way, announcing a five-day engineering strike at Southern Rail, while workers at Northern Rail will also be walking out. 

RMT isn’t afraid to lead its members into strike action to guarantee the best for workers, union general secretary Mick Cash said: “The attacks on pay, jobs and working conditions have come thick and fast in recent weeks and RMT members working in a range of sectors and for a number of companies and organisations have stood up and said loudly and clearly that they are prepared to fight back. 

“RMT members have been delivering massive votes for action in a whole series of disputes and this union is proud to be taking a clear stance based on the fundamental principles of unity and solidarity in the workplace, which is the best weapon we have when it comes to resisting these attacks.”

At Southern Rail 200 engineers will strike for five days from July 12 and ban overtime on July 10-12 over a “comprehensive breakdown” in industrial relations. The vote at Northern Rail was 80 per cent in favour of strike action against the introduction of precarious jobs and planned redundancies. 

Management at both Southern and Northern Rail said they were “disappointed” with their workers’ decision. Northern Rail human resources director Adrian Thompson claimed that some of the issues his employees were walking out on was not a responsibility of the network’s current franchise, which expires next April. 

“The issues they are concerned about are not within our control to change. They would need to be discussed with the new operator of the franchise,” he said. Further strikes include workers on TransPennine Express, who have been staging weekly strikes over the unfair sacking of a train guard in Grimsby.

In London, four unions representing 20,000 Underground workers will strike for 24 hours from Wednesday next week in opposition to London Mayor Boris Johnson’s grandiose plans for enforced introduction of overnight working.

At First Great Western, around 3,000 RMT members will strike for 48 hours from Wednesday evening over threats to jobs and services.

And at Scotrail, RMT is balloting drivers alongside drivers’ union Aslef over pay.