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| Virgin East Coast rail staff to strike on 3 October | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Workers on Virgin Trains East Coast are to stage a 24-hour strike on Monday 3 October, the RMT union has announced. | Workers on Virgin Trains East Coast are to stage a 24-hour strike on Monday 3 October, the RMT union has announced. |
| The union said the action was being taken over threatened job cuts, as well as disputes over working conditions and safety. | The union said the action was being taken over threatened job cuts, as well as disputes over working conditions and safety. |
| It said talks aimed at resolving the issues had failed and staff had been instructed not to work any shifts between 00:01 and 23:59 BST on the day. | |
| Virgin Trains said it would be running a full timetable during the strike. | |
| Virgin Trains East Coast, which operates services between London, the North East and Scotland, said it was making changes to customer-facing roles which would "see a single person take responsibility for the customer experience on our trains". | |
| The RMT union claims the measures would lead to job cuts and impact on working conditions and safety measures which currently ensure a guard on every train. | |
| It said nearly 200 jobs were threatened by the cuts and remaining staff would be expected to cover the extra work. | |
| 'Cavalier attitude' | |
| RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: "RMT will not sit back while nearly 200 members' jobs are under threat and while conditions and safety are put at risk by a franchise which is clearly in financial trouble. | |
| "We will also not tolerate the cavalier attitude to safety that is now on show as the company mobilises its scab army of managers." | |
| Virgin Trains said the changes would have "no impact" on safety and had assured the union there would be no compulsory redundancies. | |
| David Horne, Virgin Trains East Coast managing director, said: "With our guarantees that there will be no compulsory redundancies, no impact on safety and a full timetable in place during the walk-outs, these strikes will cost RMT members pay for no reason, and we urge the union to rejoin us around the negotiating table." |