RMT rail strike – Don’t punish the children!

The Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (‘RMT’) have announced a rail strike for 21^st, 23^rd and 25^th June.

This is set to cause wide ranging cancellations. RMT have said that on 21^st June they expect 50,000 workers to walk out and 40,000 on the other two days. Southeastern are advising that that only a few inner-city lines will run and that no services will run from Tonbridge. Southern have said no services will run between Tonbridge and Redhill.

TLC’s advice to members is to avoid travelling if you can. The key part of our message is the if you can part.

Whilst we accept that the unions have the right to take lawful industrial action and that causing the most amount of disruption is what makes it effective, it is our view that a responsible union will also take into account collateral damage to groups that are blameless in this dispute.

One obvious group in this category is school children, particularly those taking exams at this stage. Having no services, will have a huge impact in our area, especially on the Tonbridge to Redhill line, which has significant school traffic. Some will no doubt be able to get a lift but not everyone has that option.

Exams are stressful enough and this year, the pressure is even greater. The children sitting these exams will have had a disrupted couple of years through a pandemic and home-schooling.

The irony is that the GCSE exams set for these days include Maths, Statistics & Mechanics, Triple Physics, all of which would contain vital skills for future railway operators!

We have contacted Southern (GTR) to ask them to prioritise school services, which they have said they will do in principle but they make the valid point that it is largely out of their hands. They have to operate a safe railway and if staff are not there, trains cannot run.

TLC call on the RMT and the rail industry to either postpone the strikes until after exams have completed or agree a minimal school special train service in areas where alternative public transport is just not an option. This would include:

Tonbridge to Redhill – many of the stations are rural and no public transport alternative exists.
Sevenoaks to Tonbridge to Tunbridge Wells – there are many schools along this route and the buses are already overloaded.

Do you agree with us or do you think school children are fair game in an industrial dispute? Let us know in the comments below.

Useful Link: National Rail Enquiries – Industrial Action on National Rail