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| Southern rail strikes set for Christmas and new year | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Southern Railway workers are to stage strikes for three days from 22 December and three days from New Year's Eve. | |
| The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union has announced the strikes as part of the long running dispute over the role of conductors. | |
| Union members will strike from 00:01 on 22 December until 23:59 on Christmas Eve and again from 00:01 on New Year's Eve until 23:59 on 2 January. | |
| A separate 48-hour strike is due to start at 00:01 on Friday. | |
| 'Sheer pig-headedness' | |
| Mick Cash, the RMT's general secretary said Southern's owners Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) and the government had no interest in resolving the long-running row. | |
| "Yet again the sheer pig-headedness of the company and the government means that our members are being forced to take further industrial action in a bid to maintain a safe and secure service on Southern Rail," he said. | |
| Earlier, the RMT said backdated holiday pay was being withheld from conductors who take part in strikes. | |
| The union is seeking legal advice over a letter from GTR which says the company will withhold pay unless conductors have worked or will work normally during the dispute. | |
| "We feel we cannot make these payments to conductors who are currently taking industrial action," the rail firm said. |