CrossCountry train guards (train managers/senior conductors) in the RMT rail union are currently being balloted for strike action and action short of strike, due to managers working trains with hugely inflated payments for doing so.

Over the last two years, CrossCountry recruited large numbers of ‘contingency guards’ to work trains when a guard is not available. A problem caused by not recruiting enough guards to cover the service needed in the first place! A few of these contingency guards have been guards before becoming managers. Others are office-based, with little experience of working trains.

They are being offered payments of up to £650 to work a shift at weekends with lesser, but still inflated, amounts during the week. This is in addition to their normal pay.

This is many times more than guards are offered to work overtime. Rather than negotiate reasonable enhancements for overtime work with experienced guards, the company wants to take this course of action.

Guards currently only get paid normal time for any overtime and the company’s approach is therefore causing much anger and making guards feel completely undervalued.

The ballot closes on 12 September and we need to push for a large ‘yes’ vote. The company cannot get away with treating its staff this way!

The first possible date for any strike is 26 September.