|
 |
 | | | | | ||||||||||||||||||||
| | You are in: UK: England | ||||||||||||||||||||||
 | | Tuesday, 19 March, 2002, 18:09 GMT Metro drivers' Royal 'snub'  The Metro system has been extended to Sunderland Drivers on the Metro rail system have been accused of "snubbing" the Queen after they voted to strike on the day she is due to make an official visit. The drivers' union, Aslef, said its members on the Tyne and Wear system will stage a series of six one-day strikes during April and May in a dispute over pay. The action will end on 7 May - the day the Queen is due to open an extension on the line from Newcastle to Sunderland Councillor Danny Marshall, chairman of the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority, said it was a deliberate move.
"To strike deliberately on the day we are being honoured by the Queen is a snub to our monarch and to the people of Sunderland." Aslef, which has rejected a 3.8% pay offer, complained that a senior executive at the company which runs the Metro had been given a 10% pay rise. An Aslef spokesman said: "It is long overdue that the management makes a sensible offer to end this dispute. "Tyne and Wear Metro drivers are fed up with being among the lowest paid in the country and are angry at the inflated rises paid to management. Nexus, which runs the Metro, said it would be seeking the help of the conciliation service Acas to try to settle the dispute. "A strike is not beneficial to our passengers or our staff and is the last thing we want especially with the forthcoming opening of the Metro extension to Sunderland," said a spokesman. The strikes will be held on 2, 8, 15, 22 April and 3 and 7 May. | |   See also: Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top England stories now:  Links to more England stories are at the foot of the page. | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
Links to more England stories |
 | | ^^ Back to top News Front Page | World | UK | UK Politics | Business | Sci/Tech | Health | Education | Entertainment | Talking Point | In Depth | AudioVideo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To BBC Sport>> | To BBC Weather>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © MMIII|News Sources|Privacy  |
E-mail this story to a friend