Christmas strike by Avanti West Coast train managers CANCELLED

UPDATE 13th Dec – Strike suspended pending a decision on a revised pay offer from Avanti.

The RMT union has announced that Avanti West Coast train managers will take strike action after rejecting the company’s proposals on rest day working arrangements. The train managers are the onboard staff who handle safety, revenue, and customer service—they are not the train drivers.

Unless cancelled, the strike action is scheduled for Sunday 22nd December, Monday 23rd December and Sunday 29th December 2024.

Avanti West Coast says that on strike days, customers should expect timetables and operating hours to be reduced significantly. It also notes that services that do run are expected to be busy. To reduce the impact of the strike, Avanti has also suspended ticket sales for services on the strike days, so if you don’t have a ticket yet, you won’t be able to travel anyway.

The Avanti West Coast strike information page is here.

With likely cancellations on the morning of 24th December as well, the impact will affect people travelling home for Christmas.

RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said: “Avanti West Coast’s proposals have been decisively rejected by our Train Managers, sending a clear message to management that the current arrangements are unacceptable.

“Train Managers are being treated unfairly compared to senior managers, who receive significant payments for covering these roles.

“Our members have had enough, and this strike action demonstrates their determination to win a fair deal.”