Eurostar rail workers plan to strike for 7 days
Eurostar rail workers will strike for seven days this month due to a long-running dispute over work-life balance, Britain's National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport says.
The dispute is over unsocial hours and duty rosters for about 80 train managers, the RMT union said Wednesday.
The workers plan to strike from this Friday to Monday and from the bank holiday weekend of August 27 to August 29, according to the union.
The strike by workers of Eurostar rail, which links Britain to continental Europe via the Channel Tunnel, is expected to cause huge disruption for holidaymakers.
The RMT said Eurostar has not honored an agreement from 2008 over conditions for its staff.
"Our train manager members at Eurostar have a heavy commitment to shift work and unsocial hours and are sick and tired of the company's failure to honor agreements,” said RMT General Secretary Mick Cash.
"Our members have every right to have a fair work-life balance that fulfils the operational needs of the company while guaranteeing quality time off for friends and family,” he added.
He called for negotiations in which "a set of proposals” are put forward that honor the agreements and guarantee members a genuine work-life balance.
This comes on the heels of an ongoing five-day walkout by workers of Southern, one of the UK’s major train operating companies.
They started their protest Monday by walking out from their positions over planned job changes which may lead to staff layoffs.
Southern has admitted that 946 of its daily 2,242 trains will be cancelled due to the industrial action which is reportedly the longest of its kind since 1968.
The railway company moves some 300,000 passengers from London Victoria and London Bridge to Surrey and Sussex every day. The company said Monday that it was only able to operate 60 percent of its regular services due to the walkout.
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