September rail strikes Manchester 2022: TSSA announce 24 hour strike - here’s everything we know so far

The latest round of railway strikes have been announced, this time by the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA), and the action is set to impact Manchester.

The announcement comes following what has been a long summer of strike action, with the RTM and USLAF also taking their members out on strike.

Staff from nine train companies will walk out at the end of the month over pay, job security and conditions.

TSSA union leader Manuel Cortes said: “The dead hand of Grant Shapps is sadly stopping DfT train operating companies from making a revised, meaningful offer.

“Frankly, he either sits across the negotiating table with our union or gets out of the way to allow railway bosses to freely negotiate with us, as they have done in the past.

“The reason for the current impasse lies squarely at Shapps’ door and passengers are paying a high price for his incompetence and intransigence.

"I welcome the fact that negotiations are ongoing with Network Rail and the gap towards a resolution is narrowing. Time will tell whether a deal can be done to avert our next strike.”

The strike action will coincide with the Labour Party Conference, being held in Liverpool. As a Labour affiliated union TSSA will be looking for support from Conference delegates and MPs to join them on the picket line to show solidarity in fighting the Conservative’s cost of living crisis.

"I will be standing on our picket line in Liverpool and will be encouraging fellow delegates and Labour MPs to do likewise, so they can rightly show they stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those fighting the Tories’ cost of living crisis."

When is the strike?

The 24 hour strike action is set to take place from midday on 26 September to midday on 27 September.

Cortes called for the government to allow TOCs to return to the negotiating table with a revised deal which improves on the 2 percent offer which was rejected earlier in the summer, an offer which was described by the union boss as “insulting”.

Which train companies are out on strike?

The train companies likely to be involved in the strike, if it goes ahead as planned are Avanti West Coast, c2c, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway, LNER and Southeastern.

Hundreds of TSSA members at TransPennine Express and West Midlands Trains have voted overwhelmingly for strike action.

TSSA is not naming dates for any industrial action today but will now consider next steps with workplace reps.

Manuel Cortes said: “Well done to all our members who took part in these ballots. These are great results for our union and again demonstrate that our members are utterly determined to fight for their pay, jobs and conditions.”

How will Manchester be affected?

Although no strike timetables have been announced as of yet, several of the companies striking run services in and out of stations in Manchester.

CrossCountry operates services to Birmingham New Street and London Euston, and Avanti West Coast trains go from Manchester to London via stations such as Northampton and Milton Keynes Central.