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Southern rail in court bid to stop strike Three-day Southern rail strike to go ahead despite legal challenge
(about 4 hours later)
Southern railway is taking legal action to try to stop a series of strikes which are due to start on Tuesday, according to the union at the centre of the bitter dispute over the role of conductors. A three-day strike bringing fresh misery to Southern railway commuters is set to go ahead on Tuesday despite a last-minute legal challenge from the company, which has ruled out further talks with the RMT union.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport union said it had received a legal challenge, just hours before the start of a three-day walkout. Govia Thameslink Railway, which owns Southern, would not provide details of its legal move, but it succeeded in blocking strike action against the Aslef union on Southern earlier this year.
Union members on Southern are due to strike from one minute past midnight on Tuesday, causing fresh travel misery for passengers. However, the RMT said it did not believe there was a substantive case and would be pressing ahead with its latest strike in the bitter dispute over the role of conductors.
On Monday, Mick Cash, the union’s general secretary, said: “RMT can confirm the receipt of a formal legal challenge from Southern rail in the guards’ safety dispute. Mick Cash, the union’s general secretary, said: “RMT can confirm the receipt of a formal legal challenge from Southern rail in the guards’ safety dispute.
“It is appalling that rather than sitting down with us at Acas today to seek a resolution, the company have chosen to run to the courts under the cloak of the anti-union laws.“It is appalling that rather than sitting down with us at Acas today to seek a resolution, the company have chosen to run to the courts under the cloak of the anti-union laws.
“The union intends to continue with the planned action and is examining the details of the paperwork. We will issue a further statement in due course.”“The union intends to continue with the planned action and is examining the details of the paperwork. We will issue a further statement in due course.”
In a message to RMT members, Cash said the union was “obviously dealing with and considering” the legal threat, but added that the strike was “definitely on”.
A Southern spokesman said: “On Friday, they told their conductor members to accept a deal, and then tomorrow they plan to strike against it.A Southern spokesman said: “On Friday, they told their conductor members to accept a deal, and then tomorrow they plan to strike against it.
“It is a situation which will leave our passengers baffled, and in that context we are presently considering all possible options to stop the strike.”“It is a situation which will leave our passengers baffled, and in that context we are presently considering all possible options to stop the strike.”
Southern confirmed it had ruled out further talks, although the RMT said it was available for negotiations.
Labour called on the company to return to talks. Andy McDonald, the party’s shadow transport secretary, said: “Nobody wants to see these strikes go ahead, least of all staff. But the way to avoid industrial action is for all parties to get back around the table and reach a negotiated settlement, not by launching legal challenges.”
Meanwhile the union has claimed that a “leaked” document compromised Southern’s claims over the safety of running trains without conductors – the issue at the heart of the dispute.
The company has pointed to the advice of independent experts ruling it is perfectly safe for drivers to have sole responsibility for operating modern trains.
But the RMT circulated a research briefing memo for train operating companies from the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) discussing driver-only operation that contained a passage on the financial benefits of redeploying guards, and stated that “adopting a strategy of guards redundancies delivers the greatest economic benefit”.
The RMT said Charles Horton, the chief executive of Govia Thameslink Railway, was involved in the discussions. Horton is listed as a non-executive director of the RSSB.
Cash said the memo “blows apart the repeated claims from Southern rail that RSSB is an independent organisation”.
The RSSB said it did not recognise the document but said the passages were not leaked as they were part of a publicly available report.
A spokesman said: “While Charles Horton is a non-executive director, he had no input into the report. We were asked to provide information; we are not advocating a position. This research is all on the website.”
Tuesday’s strike is the latest in a series of walkouts by RMT conductors on Southern. Four more three-day strikes have been scheduled over the next two months.