Southern Rail strike threat as latest talks with union break down

Rail union leaders were meeting in crisis session today to decide whether to order more strikes on Southern Rail.

It follows the breakdown of talks late on Tuesday between the RMT and Southern in the long running dispute over changes to the role of guards.

The union has already warned of further strikes – in addition to the 28 staged over the last 10 months – if the dispute is not settled.

There were growing fears the union would order successive days of strikes.

Each walkout would mean up to 600 trains a day cancelled across the Southern region with delays to trains which do run. Cost to the region’s economy as a result of the dispute has been estimated at more than £300 million.

The two sides are as far apart as ever; after three hours of talks at Acas, the conciliation service, Mick Cash, the RMT leader, accused Southern of a “pig-headed attitude” interested only in “bulldozing through” driver-only operation, DOO - the issue at the heart of the dispute.

Nick Brown, chief operating officer of GTR, Southern’s parent company, accused the RMT of “seeking to hang on to its power to cancel trains.”

The warning came as doubt increased about the deal agreed between Southern and the train drivers’ union Aslef in the same dispute.

More than 900 drivers – who have already brought the Southern network to a halt on six previous occasions – are voting on whether to accept the deal agreed by union leaders.

The result will be declared on Thursday afternoon but many members are opposed to it and was now said to be “too close to call.”

Aslef declined to comment pending the result.