Virgin booking office railway staff set to strike
Dec 28 2009 by Jon Griffin, Birmingham Mail
WEST Midland rail passengers returning to work in the New Year face delays and disruption on Britain’s busiest rail route.
Over 200 Virgin booking office staff along the West Coast line have voted for strike action which will begin after the Christmas holiday break, the Transport Salaried Staffs Association announced.
A series of walkouts will close ticket offices at 14 mainline stations in protest at planned cutbacks which will see more booking office windows close and leave passengers dependent on more expensive ticket machines.
Among the stations to be hit will be Birmingham New Street, Birmingham International, Coventry, Rugby, Wolverhampton and Stafford.
Dates for strike action are yet to be announced
Union leader Gerry Doherty said his members were striking to defend their jobs and the booking windows service to passengers.
“Virgin are just the latest of the privately owned rail companies to cut back on customer services to boost their bottom line during the recession.
“We highlighted last week what it meant to passengers at one station – Coventry – where they had to wait 30 minutes in a 100-metre long queue just to buy a ticket. Well, that will start happening right along this busy line if management get away with these latest cutbacks.”
He said the union was delaying the action so as not to disrupt holiday travel over the festive break and to also give management a chance to re-open negotiations on plans which the union fear will lead to a ten per cent cut in booking office jobs.
He pointed out that Virgin owner Sir Richard Branson was already receiving £1.3 billion in taxpayers money as a subsidy for operating his franchise.
“He is also planning to raise standard day fares by 6 per cent in January after raising his car park charges by 50 per cent in August.
“We think it is time he started to give something back to the passengers rather than just taking from them all the time,” added Mr Doherty.
The stations that took part in the strike ballot were Euston, Watford, Milton Keynes, Rugby, Coventry, Brimingham International, Birmingham New Street, Wolverhampton, Stafford, Crewe, Manchester Piccadilly, Preston, Carlisle and Glasgow.
Virgin Trains have admitted that staff shortages meant four instead of six ticket office windows had been open in the Coventry incident but denied it planned to cut jobs.
“There’s no question of getting rid of any of them,” said a Virgin spokesman.
