The
first
of
two
days
of
strikes
by
Unite
members
will
disrupt
services
on
East
Midlands
Railway
today.

EMR,
which
is
owned
by
Abellio,
has
warned
that
it
will
be
providing
‘a
significantly
reduced
level
of
service’
today
and
tomorrow
as
a
result
of
the
walkouts.

No
EMR
trains
will
run
east
of
Nottingham,
affecting
services
to
east
Nottinghamshire
and
Lincolnshire.
All
other
trains
will
run
no
later
than
18.30,
while
only
one
train
an
hour
will
run
on
the
Midland
Main
Line
to
London
from
Nottingham
and
Sheffield,
although
daytime
services
between
Corby
and
London
will
run
normally.

EMR
managing
director
Will
Rogers
said
the
strikes
will
affect
the
company’s
depots,
which
‘reduces
our
ability
to
run
our
normal
timetable’.

The
walkouts
will
involve
more
than
140 
cleaners,
technicians,
shunters,
engineers,
inspectors,
lathe
operators,
team
leaders
and
supervisors.

The
union
says
a
pay
offer
of
four
per
cent
is
not
acceptable.
it
had
already
staged
one
48-hour
strike
on
6
and
7
October.

Unite
general
secretary
Sharon
Graham
said:
‘Abellio
is
an
extremely
wealthy
company
making
millions
in
profit.
Clearly,
it
can
easily
afford
to
make
our
members
a
fair
pay
offer
and
it
should
do
so
without
delay.
It
should
not
be
passing
the
buck
on
its
duty
to
pay
our
members
properly.’

There
is
more
trouble
to
come
at
EMR’s
Etches
Park
depot
in
Derby,
where
70
staff
employed
by
Alstom
will
strike
over
pay
on
27
and
29
October.
They
will
start
a
work
to
rule
and
overtime
ban
on
19
October,
again
over
a
four
per
cent
pay
offer.

Unite
warned
that
unless
the
dispute
is
resolved
more
strikes
will
follow.