Bolton: Rail supporters take to picket lines during strikes

Councillors from Bolton’s Labour Party, Manchester Victoria’s RMT branch, and the GMB union came out in support of workers’ rights.

It comes as train services across the UK came to a halt as thousands of railway workers staged their second strike of the week - with another planned tomorrow.

Cllr Martin Donaghy said: “I think it’s important to support this group of workers.

“When you realise that over 80 per cent voted to come out and strike, it’s not something that’s taken lightly.

“There are major issues in the industry and it’s about staffing and conditions.”

Train strike at Bolton station

Chairman of Bolton’s Labour party Cath Ride said: “We will be looking at a motion supporting the rail strikes at our meeting next week.

“We feel very strongly about this.

“They have worked all through Covid like many other workers, and their reward is so called negotiations, by getting rid of guards on trains, and it’s not fair.

“I am the parent of a wheelchair user, and we need the guards to help on the train.

“There are a whole number of issues that are happening.

“It’s not just pay.”

Many of those on the picket lines called on the Government to ensure that wages of workers match the inflation.

Secretary and President of Bolton Unison Andrea Egan said that workers everywhere are ‘being pushed too far’ and that as cuts have continued to be made, wages and the level work has remained the same.

She added: “If we don’t fight today, then it will be far worse than the 70s for the next generation.

“We want to show our solidarity to our comrades from the RTM.

“It’s a difficult decision to take strike action, but we are being pushed too far.

“Some workers are having to think about whether they can put food on the table and going to food banks.

“The feeling of workers is that they have had enough.”

Kev Allsop from Bolton Trade Council organised the gathering ‘to show solidarity for workers’.

Train strike

He said: “We are here today to show solidarity for our workers, during a historical moment both for the Conservatives and Trade Union.

“Workers will see it as something that will help the rise of the trade union movement, but there is a lot of opposition and that has never been clearer.”

Kev also pointed to the salaries that rail bosses are currently on, explaining that for the average worker to earn £72k it would take them over two years.

Secretary for RMT, Grant Murray, said: “This week, what the Government have done is spread useless and irrelevant information about our wages.

“But none of us are on that here.

“But they failed in their main aim, which is to break us this week.

“We are still going to be out here the rest of today, Saturday, and going forward, unless we get that pay rise, and that protection of our jobs terms and conditions.”

Retired member and activist from GMB’s Bolton Branch, Florence Hill, said: “I think for everybody, the time we are in now is historical, and from pensioners down to the students, we have got to do what we can.

“People are struggling, especially in Bolton and the North West.”

Unionists have encouraged workers from all sectors to join a union to have that protection, ‘confidence and voice’.