Will there by train strikes in July 2023? What we know about if there are more rail strike dates after June

Rail passengers have had to contend with days of disruption during the half-term holidays as unions have staged a succession of strikes.

And union leaders have warned there could be more planned further down the track as the almost year-long dispute over pay and conditions rumbles on.

Here’s what we know about future strikes.

When are the next rail strikes?

During a busy time for holiday travel, members of both the RMT and Aslef unions staged walkouts bringing parts of the rail network to a standstill.

Around 60 per cent of the country’s rail services were disrupted on Saturday by striking train drivers from Aslef, the same day as the FA Cup final at Wembley, the Epsom Derby and a Beyonce concert at Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium.

This followed on from action by members of the RMT on Friday 2 June, when 20,000 workers in catering, train managers and station staff went on strike and an earlier strike by Aslef members on Wednesday 31 May.

No more dates in June and July have so far been announced by either union for industrial action.

But both have a mandate from members to continue with strikes to pile pressure on the train operating firms and the Government to reach a settlement.

RMT members votes in favour of further walkouts at the start of May, a mandate which lasts for up to six months.

Aslef balloted members in February over further industrial action.

The unions must give 14 days’ notice of any further strike action, meaning further strikes could come from mid-June onwards.

What have the unions said about plans for more strikes?

Union leaders from both the RMT and Aslef have emphasised their and their members’ resolve to continue the campaigns for better pay and conditions.

Mick Whelan, Aslef’s General Secretary, has said the union is “determined to get a resolution” and there is “no waning in enthusiasm” from the union’s 12,000 drivers for further industrial action.

He told Sky News: “We would like a resolution tomorrow, we do not want to be on strike.

“But we are in this if it takes us four years, five years, whatever it is, to get a resolution to this, we will do what it takes to get to that resolution.”

Speaking from a picket line at London’s Euston station on Friday, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said the strikes would be called off as soon as there was a “fair” deal from the train companies.

“What we haven’t got is a pay deal, we haven’t got any guarantees on our members’ futures, but we have stopped them doing the worst aspects of their proposals and their ideas”, he said.

However, positions on both sides of the negotiating table appear entrenched with no sign of resolution yet.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “These strikes have been coordinated by union leaders to disrupt passengers in a week which will see major events such as the first-ever all-Manchester FA Cup final, the Epsom Derby and a number of concerts and festivals across the UK.

“The Government has facilitated a fair and reasonable pay offer, now union leaders must do the right thing and put this to their members.”