Rail strikes spell travel trouble for Glastonbury – and small events fear ‘catastrophe’ | Industrial action

A nationwide strike throughout Britain’s railways could have a catastrophic impact on the stay music and occasions trade if it goes forward later this summer time, commerce our bodies have warned.

Greater than 50,000 employees at Community Rail and 13 prepare firms, represented by the RMT union, are set to walk out on 21 June in a dispute over job cuts and pay freezes, with additional strikes deliberate for 23 June and 25 June.

About 10,000 London Underground employees are additionally set to strike on 21 June in a separate dispute over pensions and job losses. The strikes are anticipated to trigger extreme disruption and are available on the peak of pageant season, with Glastonbury going down in Somerset from 22 June for the primary time because the pandemic.

GWR, the prepare firm serving Fort Cary, the station closest to Glastonbury, has stated it hopes to take care of timetabled trains from London Paddington all through the pageant. But it surely stated different elements of its community had been prone to be “extra affected” by the strike motion and that prospects “may have to contemplate alternative routes to journey to a station serving Fort Cary”.

Nationwide Specific, which is offering coaches from 70 places, stated it had seen a “vital enhance” in bookings for journey on the dates of the deliberate rail strikes and was “working onerous to extend availability the place potential”.

Different occasions, together with a live performance collection with artists together with Elton John at Hyde Park and the UK Athletics Championships in Manchester, are additionally scheduled for that week.

Michael Kill, from the Night time Time Industries Affiliation, which represents nightclubs, occasion venues and pageant organisers stated the proposed industrial motion might have a “catastrophic” impression on the sector, which he stated was “very fragile” following the pandemic and amid the price of residing disaster. “It simply looks like at each nook there’s one other barrier,” he stated.

Jon Collins, chief govt of Dwell, an umbrella physique for commerce associations within the stay music and leisure enterprise, stated the motion may very well be devastating for occasion operators already struggling to recuperate from the pandemic, with smaller companies prone to be hardest hit.

“Whereas our members are understanding of the RMT’s issues, there’s a frustration that this has come at a time after we’re making an attempt to rebuild the stay music trade after nearly two years of closure,” he stated.

“It’s not simply the Glastonburys of this world. It’s the smaller festivals and gigs, the place folks have paid £8 or £15 for a ticket, the place prospects might imagine, ‘I’m going to must not go.’ Which means the occasion could go forward however you could not make the revenue you had been hoping for, which may very well be business-critical on this yr of all years.”

Asserting the strike on 7 June, the RMT stated railway employees had been handled “appallingly” and that regardless of its “greatest efforts” in negotiations, “the rail trade, with the help of the federal government, has did not take their issues severely”.

Basic secretary Mick Lynch stated: “Rail firms are making not less than £500m a yr in income, whereas fats cat rail bosses have been paid hundreds of thousands in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic. This unfairness is fuelling our members’ anger and their dedication to win a good settlement.

“RMT is open to significant negotiations with rail bosses and ministers, however they might want to give you new proposals to forestall months of disruption on our railways.”