Easter weekend strikes at ScotRail   

Members of rail union TSSA will hold strike action at ScotRail over the Easter weekend in a long running dispute over on call working arrangements.    

The walkouts take place on Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st of March by Operations Team Manager (OTM) grades in the latest stage of a dispute going back to late 2021. Similar action took place last December. 

 Since discussions were last held with ScotRail, including in person talks with TSSA General Secretary, Maryam Eslamdoust, the company has offered no solution or means to end the dispute which is already having an impact on the network 

As part of the dispute TSSA members have withdrawn from the ‘out of hours’ on call period - generally between 23:00 and 07:00 hrs. During this period ScotRail have no first line on call coverage. 

Earlier this month the safety implications of this situation were highlighted when the driver of an Aberdeen to Inverness train passed a red signal – and therefore had to immediately be relieved of duties while appropriate checks were carried out.   

With TSSA’s Driver Team Managers staff in dispute, passengers had to remain in the stationary vehicle for three hours until the driver was relieved. The union has now met Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Fiona Hyslop, to urgently highlight concerns, stressing that ScotRail must act to stop this happening again.  

 Commenting, TSSA General Secretary, Maryam Eslamdoust said: “Our members are vital to the safe running of the Scotland’s railways day in day out and deserve to be treated with respect by their employers over their legitimate grievances.  

“Since our last walkout we have only grown in strength among these grades. We would prefer to have meaningful talks with ScotRail to move our dispute forward – however we go into these strikes united and determined.”   

*The dispute includes Conductor Team Managers, Driver Team Managers, On Train Team Managers and Station Team Managers, Operations Development Managers and Senior Operations Development Managers working at stations across Scotland.