LONDON — Train services across northern England were disrupted Saturday as conductors held a one-day strike in a long-running pay dispute, reported the Associated Press.
Several hundred conductors at Arriva Trains Northern have staged more than 20 days of walkouts this year in their bid for higher pay.
The company says it has offered a pay deal that would raise salaries by 1,000 pounds (dlrs 1,500) a year. But the Rail Maritime and Transport Union has rejected this as inadequate. Talks with mediators have failed to close the gap.
Arriva Trains Northern runs services throughout the north of England. The company said it hoped to run 80 percent of its services on Saturday.
Over the last year, Britain’s privatized rail system has been hit by a series of short, localized strikes over pay and safety.
The RMT union has called five more one-day strikes against Arriva, beginning just before Christmas.