BBC presenter Nick Robinson gave Aslef basic secretary Mick Whelan a grilling this morning over his claims that the timing of rail strikes had been a ‘coincidence’.
Members of the drivers’ union have walked out in the present day at greater than a dozen prepare operators, inflicting recent journey disruption amid long-running disputes over pay.
Staff from the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) will then strike tomorrow – the day of the Eurovision Tune Contest ultimate in Liverpool. Additional Aslef strikes will then be held on Might 31 and June 3 – the day of the FA Cup ultimate at Wembley.
Aslef introduced its newest three strikes two weeks in the past on April 27 after rejecting what it referred to as a ‘risible’ pay supply of 4 per cent from the Rail Supply Group.
This morning, Mr Robinson spoke to Mr Whelan on Radio 4’s Right now programme and mentioned he had beforehand claimed it ‘was a coincidence that these strikes coincide with the necessity of tens of 1000’s of individuals to move to Liverpool for the Eurovision ultimate’.
Mick Whelan, the final secretary of prepare drivers’ union Aslef, has blamed ‘firms in league with the Authorities’ for failures to discover a decision to forestall strikes
BBC presenter Nick Robinson spoke in regards to the rail strikes on Radio 4’s Right now programme
Empty platforms at London Paddington railway station this morning on a day of strike motion
Trains are stationary in sidings at Peterborough in Cambridgeshire in the present day because the strike begins
Mr Whelan replied: ‘Nicely sure, unusually sufficient, I do not actually watch Eurovision, consider it or not, I did not even know they’d semi-finals.
‘What occurred to us was a direct response to that non-deal that got here out, and beneath the laws we have now to present 14 days’ discover and the primary out there day after 14 days was in the present day, sadly. If we had been focusing on Eurovision we might have performed the Friday, Saturday and the Sunday.’
However Mr Robinson mentioned: ‘As I’ve already identified to you this strike and the one coming tomorrow are disrupting transport everywhere in the weekend. There’s additionally a strike deliberate by Aslef for Saturday, June 3.
‘Is it additionally a coincidence that that’s the day of the FA Cup ultimate when tens of 1000’s of supporters of two Manchester golf equipment might want to journey to London?’
Mr Whelan – was born to Irish mother and father in Paddington in 1960 and is married to retired biomedical scientist Lorraine Phelan MBE – then mentioned in response: ‘I am going to make two transient factors on this one. Community Rail shut down the entire of the West Coast final yr on cup ultimate day intentionally, and engineering work…’
However Mr Robinson then interrupted him, saying: ‘However I am asking you about your choices, not theirs.’
Mr Whelan continued: ‘… However no one makes a remark. Once we unfold out our strikes, so we unfold throughout our relaxation day patterns and rostering processes so that you hope that the identical individuals do not get down twice on strike days, it is coincidental.
‘If anyone can identify me a day when there’s not an occasion happening within the UK that is not going to get hit in some unspecified time in the future if there’s any type of disruption, I might like to realize it.’
Mr Robinson pressed him, saying: ‘Nicely my query was is it coincidental, and I believe the reply is not any, you focused the FA Cup?’
However Mr Whelan replied: ‘It is coincidental. We simply unfold the ache on our members over a time period primarily based on their relaxation day patterns.’
Mr Robinson then thanked Mr Whelan for his time and ended the interview.
Earlier within the interview, Mr Whelan additionally blamed ‘firms in league with the Authorities’ for failures to discover a decision to forestall strikes.
He mentioned: ‘We’ve not had a pay rise for 4 years, we had an underhand deceitful supply come out at Christmas, regardless of that we went again in good religion.
‘I’ve to consider it is the businesses in league with the Authorities who do not need a decision.
‘Having demonised prepare drivers for therefore lengthy, having a settlement while you’ve received nurses and lecturers and different individuals out on strike may be tough for them, however be trustworthy about that.’
Passengers stand with baggage outdoors London Victoria station in the present day amid the rail strike
A buyer signal about providers at a locked entrance to Apsley station in Hertfordshire in the present day
In the meantime on BBC Breakfast in the present day, Mr Whelan has accused the Authorities of performing in ‘unhealthy religion’ throughout negotiations with the union.
Mick Whelan, the previous Barclays clerk married to a retired biomedical scientist
Mick Whelan was born to Irish mother and father within the Paddington space of London in 1960. His mom labored at a candy store in Euston station whereas his father was a bricklayer.
The 62-year-old has beforehand spoken about how his father was a part of the Socialist Staff Occasion and spoke about bettering well being and security on constructing websites. He additionally described his mom as ‘at all times exhausting Labour’.
Mick Whelan and his spouse Lorraine Phelan MBE, a retired biomedical scientist
Mr Whelan attended the identical major college on the Warwick property as fellow union chief Mick Lynch of the RMT.
He then handed his 11+ and went to grammar college on the prestigious Catholic London Oratory Faculty, the place Tony Blair despatched his youngsters.
He achieved 4 A-grade A-levels however his hopes of going to college ended when his father fell off scaffolding and was not in a position to work.
Mick Whelan, 62, was born in Paddington
This noticed Mr Whelan as a substitute begin work as a financial institution clerk for Barclays aged 18 earlier than turning into a prepare guard just a few years later, then retraining as a driver and becoming a member of Aslef.
He’s married to Lorraine Phelan MBE, a retired biomedical scientist whom he mentioned of in a Guardian interview in 2017: ‘My spouse is ex-Staff Revolutionary Occasion, so let’s not go there – she’s mellowed a bit down the years.’
Mr Whelan provides proof to the Commons Transport Committee on July 13, 2022
Mr Whelan, who helps Chelsea FC, has three grownup sons and two grandchildren.
He took house £151,371 in whole remuneration in 2021 in accordance with the TaxPayers’ Alliance.
Mr Whelan lives in a home in Wembley, North West London, which Zoopla estimates to be value £588,000.
Requested about his final vacation in a Guardian interview this week, Mr Whelan mentioned he ‘hardly ever takes all of it’ however had ‘a seashore vacation in Turkey final summer time when my spouse retired’.
He mentioned: ‘In some unspecified time in the future somebody’s going to understand these are Authorities-led strikes, the Authorities are interfering their free collective bargaining course of and so they need unrealistic targets.
‘They despatched out a deal earlier than Christmas that we might by no means seen, we might by no means negotiated and tried to power it by by the again door in a complete act of unhealthy religion, and even then we got here again from the desk.
‘We suspended all motion within the hope of discovering a means ahead after which what occurs? We sit down for 3 months in good religion, we agree a course of that we will undertake after which proper on the finish somebody interferes, revokes it, and places out a deal that might comprise all of the crimson strains we beforehand opposed in these talks, destining it to fail.
‘I do not suppose the Authorities and the businesses need a answer.’
He additionally mentioned that the union has seen ‘neither disguise nor hair’ from the Authorities since January.
Mr Whelan instructed BBC Breakfast: ‘I have not seen the Authorities since January, one token assembly with the rail minister on January 6, and we have neither had disguise nor hair from the Authorities that should be facilitating and aiding these talks.
‘They speak a great recreation, they do not truly interact, they have not taken any possession of this course of so far as we’re involved.
‘The one individuals they speak to are the businesses, they do not speak to us, and each time we try to discover a center floor – it was our concept of how one can drive this ahead, it was our concept how we might get out of it and with regards to the top of that course of – they did one thing that was intentionally set as much as fail.
‘I can not emphasise this sufficient: we don’t wish to be on strike, my members don’t wish to be shedding cash, all of us have households which can be impacted by this.
‘We do not wish to be right here however after 4 years and not using a pay rise we really feel that we have now no alternative however to articulate the issues that we’re having to attempt to get a decision or do nothing.’
Nevertheless rail minister Huw Merriman urged Aslef and the RMT to place the Authorities’s ‘truthful and cheap’ pay supply to its members in a bid to avert additional strikes.
The Conservative politician instructed Instances Radio: ‘I am very sorry for the inconvenience that passengers must bear. The unhappy actuality of this case is that there are provides on the desk which have been given to each the prepare drivers’ union and the RMT.
‘The management have chosen to not put these provides to their members and I really feel in the event that they did, there can be the chance for members to determine in the event that they want to take them.
‘For those who take a look at the prepare driver scenario, they’re paid just below £60,000. The pay supply would take them to £65,000 for a 35-hour week.
‘We really feel these are truthful and cheap, and we have to see these put to their members. So, it isn’t the case that there’s not a proposal there – the supply is there, we simply want it put to members to see what they give it some thought.’
Mr Merriman pointed to RMT members working for Community Rail having already accepted a ‘very related’ Authorities pay supply, including: ‘If that is the case for somebody who works on the tracks, why not their fellow staff who work on the trains? And that is what we’re calling the RMT and Aslef’s management to do.’
Mr Merriman additionally mentioned in the present day that he thought it was not democratic for RMT o decide to not put the UK Authorities’s pay supply to its prepare employee members.
He instructed BBC Breakfast: ‘The proof for whether or not it’s or is not truthful and cheap is all the way down to the members.
‘For those who take a look at what occurred with the RMT, who’re placing tomorrow, they put the same supply to their members who work on Community Rail and that was accepted – 76 per cent of those that voted accepted it.
‘That would appear to point that the workforce will choose it as truthful and cheap, will take it as a result of they wish to transfer on.
Travellers stand subsequent to a departure board at London Paddington railway station this morning
London Bridge station is closed to the general public this morning throughout strike motion by Aslef
‘Why is it the case that an RMT member that works on the tracks will get a pay rise and will get the prospect to vote on a pay rise, however fellow members who work on a prepare do not get that chance? It would not appear truthful or democratic to me.’
As well as, Mr Merriman mentioned the UK Authorities couldn’t modernise the rail community or lay on additional trains with out the introduction of recent pay phrases placing an finish to the strikes.
He instructed BBC Breakfast: ‘What we wish to do is change the best way that the workforce operates.
‘For instance, for the time being we have now to ask prepare operators to get volunteers to work on a Sunday. Nicely, you and I wish to use the prepare on a Sunday, we won’t work like that.
‘So, we wish to modernise however actually simply flip it into the kind of retail alternative that most individuals would recognise by way of shopping for a service or truly working inside it.
‘It’s a nice, well-paid job. We wish to enhance the variety of jobs however the unhappy actuality is that these industrial actions price the financial system cash, and the railway cash, and it makes it more durable for me to have the ability to enhance the timetable when we have now to cope with strikes.’
It comes as rail passengers face recent journey disruption over the following few days due to strikes by prepare drivers and different staff in long-running disputes over pay.
In an earlier assertion, Mr Whelan mentioned: ‘We don’t wish to go on strike – we don’t wish to inconvenience passengers, we have now households and mates who use the railway too, and we consider in investing in rail for the way forward for this nation.
‘However the blame for this motion lies, pretty and squarely, on the toes of the employers who’ve compelled our hand over this by their intransigence.
‘It’s now as much as them to give you a extra smart, and life like, supply and we ask the Authorities to not hinder this course of.
‘We now have been negotiating with employers – the prepare working firms – for a lot of months on pay. On a number of firms we have now managed to return to an settlement, and on a number of others, multi-year offers have been honoured.
‘Sadly quite a lot of firms nonetheless have their fingers tied by the Division for Transport and are not in a position to negotiate an inexpensive cope with Aslef members.
‘We’re nonetheless ready to barter in good religion however, sadly, as we have now been unable to return to an settlement, we have now needed to contemplate industrial motion.’
Aslef mentioned a 4 per cent pay supply was ‘risible and clearly unacceptable’.
Picket strains will likely be mounted outdoors railway stations because the unions proceed their long-running marketing campaign for a much bigger pay rise than has been supplied.
Steve Montgomery, who chairs the Rail Supply Group, mentioned: ‘The upcoming rail strikes referred to as by the Aslef and RMT management won’t solely have an effect on our passengers’ every day commute however may also impression these travelling from outdoors Liverpool and London to return to Eurovision and the FA Cup ultimate, inflicting disappointment and frustration for many who have deliberate to attend.
‘It would additionally additional burden our individuals who have already misplaced 1000’s of kilos at a time of monetary pressure.
‘We perceive the impression of those strikes on people and companies alike, and we will solely apologise for this pointless and damaging disruption.
‘Whereas we’re doing all we will to maintain trains working, sadly there will likely be lowered prepare providers throughout the community between Friday Might 12 and Saturday June 3, so our recommendation is to examine earlier than you journey. Passengers with Advance tickets will be refunded fee-free if the prepare that the ticket is booked for is cancelled, delayed or rescheduled.’
Anthony Smith, chief govt of watchdog Transport Focus, mentioned: ‘For these planning to move to Liverpool, strikes might actually show a party-pooper.
‘Many individuals will likely be rare or first-time prepare customers so could not have realised how extensive the disruption will likely be.
‘Our message to all these travelling, for Eurovision or different causes, is examine earlier than you go, and maintain checking. Additionally, remember trains which can be working could also be extra crowded than you anticipate.’
The Rail Supply Group mentioned that after many weeks of negotiations with the Aslef management it had made a ‘revised and truthful supply’ together with a pay rise of 8 per cent over two years.
‘It might have launched overdue, commonsense enhancements already in place in components of the community, which might will see extra trains working on time for passengers.
‘Sadly, this has been rejected,’ mentioned a spokesman.
