Rail strikes: ‘No doubt’ strikes will continue after six months if workers demands aren’t met says Yorkshire union leader

But rail workers warned that they’re prepared to strike for the “long haul.”

National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (NMT) Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Regional Organiser Gary “Gaz” Jackson said: “We will keep going until we get a satisfactory outcome," at yesterday’s picket line outside Wakefield’s Westgate Train Station.

RMT’s Mr Jackson said workers “totally sympathise” with passengers but those on the picket line are also losing up to three day’s pay.

“We’re not doing this lightly," he said. "We sympathise with people who are losing money but ultimately it’s down to the government to sort this out."

He warned less staff also risks going back to the days of the railtrack disasters of the 1990s.

He added: “We don’t want to see disasters happen. I think modernising the railway is a codeword for deskilling and deskilling is making the railway unsafe. We can't allow that to happen.”

Mr Jackson said members voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action. He said nobody knows how long the strikes will continue although they will have to ballot again in six month time in line with anti-trade union laws and they will strike again if they need to.

“I have no doubt that our members will return a massive yes vote as well," he added. “We will keep going until we get a satisfactory outcome. We’re not asking for the world, we just want to get this settled and move on."

Wakefield, which already faces uncertainty over the by-election, is now braced for another week of Arriva Yorkshire bus strikes and fresh train strikes.

“I am stuck in,” said retired John Upson who relies on train and bus travel to access shops, services and activities outside of his home.

Mr Upson, who is impacted by both the bus and the rail network almost coming to a standstill, said that he however agrees with the strikes.

“I’ll have to limit myself to one outing in a taxi to Asda each week,” he added.

Commuter Richard Armitage, 55, who travels by train across West Yorkshire to get to work at Menzies Distribution in Outwood, Wakefield said: “It’s double trouble. It's going to be quite hard because it's my only means of transport to get to work.”

Mr Armitage said he is attempting to get to work on one of the few operating services as he doesn’t have a bus alternative with them being on strike as well.

He added that he will get a taxi if necessary although there’s hardly any point of going to work because his travel will go from costing £11 for a rail fare to £30 per day in a taxi.

“It's expensive. It's a big jump,” said Mr Armitage who had been waiting for a train at Sandal & Agbrigg train station.

He said it’s going to impact some businesses “badly.”

He said: “Less staff, less production and less money, so all round and actually people who can’t get to work are going to have no wages.”

Throwback Coffee House owner Lucy Howes, 34, said they have already felt the impact of Arriva Yorkshire bus strikes.

“On a weekend there’s less shoppers so we’re expecting the same with the train strikes," she said.

“We’re on a street in Wakefield that is mainly an area where people work, so there’s less people coming into work, less people taking lunch breaks or coming in to have a morning coffee."

Taxi firms look set to be the winners in the strikes when it comes to profit but taxi driver Kevin Hope, 56, from Featherstone Streetcars, said: “I’ll be glad when it’s over, it’s very tiring and I can’t keep up with the work. We’re winners financially but it’s tiring. I really support the strikes though.”

Commuter Darren Toon, who was at Wakefield Kirkgate train station yesterday, said he is already feeling the brunt of escalating taxi fares as he had to catch a taxi instead of a train which will cost him over £40 per day rather than his £3.50 train fare.

“It’s only ‘just’ worth going to work,” he said.

“There’s no chance I am going to be able to get back to work tomorrow so I’ll probably lose four days' pay which amounts to about £350 so most of my bills won’t be getting paid. It is now really affecting me."

“Most of my bills won’t be getting paid. It is now really affecting me.”

Mr Toon, who works at a freezer company in Pontefract, said he had already been helping out friends who are drivers and needed to use food banks but now he may face the same fate.

Yesterday Boris Johnson however told public sector workers they must accept real-terms pay cuts to avoid a 1970s-style wage-price spiral.

Mr Johnson said: “It is right that we reward our hard-working public sector workers with a pay rise, but this needs to be proportionate and balanced. Sustained higher levels of inflation would have a far bigger impact on people’s pay packets in the long run, destroying savings and extending the difficulties we’re facing for longer.”

But a technician at Network Rail in Yorkshire said rail workers have been really “struggling to feed their children.”

Wakefield-based technician Chris Brookes, 36, said: “Inflation is at 11 per cent and the cost of living is at an all time high. Men and women are struggling to feed their children.”

Following the news Network Rail are to make thousands of workers redundant from early next month, Mr Brookes added: “And now with job losses hanging over our heads, we’re wondering how we’re going to feed our families.”

But passenger Tony Sharp, 59, who had been urgently trying to get home from Wakefield to Leeds yesterday (June 21) had little sympathy.

“I know what they’re going on strike for but everyone’s going on strike at the moment, basically we need more transport," he said. "When we have a strike, we need something in place for occasions like this to get back to places, there’s nothing.”