Firstgroup Share News (FGP)

(Sharecast News) - Train drivers' union Aslef announced a new round of strikes on Monday, in its ongoing pay dispute with 16 train operators.

The strikes were scheduled to take place between 30 January and 5 February, with drivers at different operators walking out on different days.

Train drivers would also refuse to work overtime from 29 January to 6 February, BBC News reported.

The fresh round of strike action takes Aslef's dispute into its third calendar year, having started in July 2022.

According to Aslef, the dispute was based on its demand for higher wages and changes to working conditions.

In April 2023, Aslef rejected a 4% pay increase for two consecutive years, conditioned on industry-wide changes to driver training and work patterns negotiation at individual operators.

Since then, there had been no formal talks.

The RMT union, representing other workers on the railway, accepted a deal in November to end its national strikes and provide a backdated 5% pay rise for 2022-2023

The affected train companies on each day of the planned strikes are:

39 January: Southeastern, Southern, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Thameslink, South Western Railway, and SWR Island Line

31 January: Northern Trains, Transpennine Express

2 February: Greater Anglia, C2C, LNER

3 February: West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway

5 February: Great Western, CrossCountry, Chiltern

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.