THE threat of industrial action on the railways is spreading as workers at another train firm prepare to vote on strikes in a row over driver-only operation.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union working as guards at ScotRail are to be balloted after talks failed to resolve a dispute.
The union says it is opposed to any plans to extend driver-only operation, maintaining that guards should be in control of operating doors.
A similar dispute has broken out at Southern Rail, where a strike ballot result is due next week.
Govia Thameslink is also embroiled in disputes over the introduction of longer trains on the Gatwick Express and plans to close more than 80 ticket offices across its franchise.
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: "Any extension of driver-only operation is a clear attack on our members' hard-earned terms and conditions.
"RMT members should not have to face the risk of their role and responsibilities being reduced and undermined.
"There is also a very real threat to passengers of watering down and wiping out the safety- critical role of the guard on ScotRail services. That is a lethal gamble with basic rail safety.
"RMT is in no doubt that our members will stand together and demonstrate the strength of feeling across the ScotRail network during this dispute. The union remains available for further talks."
Phil Verster, managing director of the ScotRail Alliance, said: "We have been informed by the RMT that they intend to ballot members for industrial action regarding driver-controlled operation.
"No formal proposals have taken place, and we are still at the stage of considering all options.
"We are keen to continue working with the RMT to find a constructive way forward as soon as possible, and one which will not affect our customers."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article