Hull KR Wembley travel: Train disruption warning issued ahead of Challenge Cup final against Warrington Wolves

Members of Aslef on Hull Trains have gone on strike as part of a long-running dispute over the sacking of a colleague.

Industrial action has been going on for months in protest at what they have claimed was the unfair dismissal of a driver for raising a safety issue, which the company denies.

The union has warned fans travelling to the game by train they will face disruption to services on the East Coast main line because of a 24-hour walkout on Saturday (June 7). The final is due to get underway at 3pm.

Aslef’s warning

Nigel Roebuck, Aslef’s organiser in the north east of England, said: “Aslef members don’t take strike action lightly, and we fully understand the anger of passengers wishing to travel to the Challenge Cup final on Saturday at Wembley.

“But angry fans should understand that this is a dispute entirely engineered by the company, not by us. Hull Trains unlawfully sacked a driver who had done nothing wrong, but the company refuses to give him back his job.

“Our dispute with Hull Trains has rumbled on since January and throughout this process Aslef has been willing to meet to find a solution.

“We have had little contact with the company since a meeting in late January when we offered a solution that was ignored and a further meeting in early March when, again, they simply ignored all the salient points.

“Since then, all we have had are just emails, usually late at night, or on Friday afternoons, when they know we have no time to respond. Nothing serious is ever forthcoming.”

General secretary’s statement

Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary, said: “The company seems to think that we’re going to give up and go away. That’s not what we will do, because the company is clearly in the wrong.

“It sacked a driver, over what it claimed was a safety issue, who has a clean safety record. The driver did nothing wrong.

“The company has behaved not just badly, but vindictively, in persecuting a driver for doing nothing more than raising a safety concern.”

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