Thursday 25th September 2014

Chesterfield train commuters may face a week of disruption to services as East Midlands Trains' engineering and maintenance staff will strike, from Sunday 28th September to the following Saturday (4th October), unless an agreement can be reached at last ditch talks on Friday (26th September) in a long running dispute over pay.

Unite, the UK's biggest union, announced yesterday that more than 80 engineering and maintenance staff at East Midlands Trains will strike from 06:00 on Sunday 28th September, ending at 05:59 on Saturday 4th October after the company withdrew its 2.75 per cent pay offer following strike action by members in July.

A continuous overtime ban has been place since Sunday 27th July 2014.  

The union says its members are unhappy that their hard work and efforts to meet the company's many demands and changes have been rewarded with the pay offer being taken off the table. 

Talks are set to take place on Friday 26th September between the union and East Midlands Trains. Unite is calling on the company to come prepared for constructive negotiations to avoid any disruption to passengers.

Kevin Hepworth, Unite regional officer said: "Our members have a right to have their legitimate grievances recognised and we hope that the company will come to the table ready to agree a fair pay deal for its loyal workforce. 

"Unite will enter Friday's talks with the aim of settling this long running dispute in the best interests of our members. Many working people can relate to feeling undervalued at work, these members have collectively agreed to take a stand and their union fully supports them.  

"We welcome Friday's talks with management and will work hard to secure a fair and equitable pay deal for our members."

As a result of this possible industrial action being taken, East Midlands Trains says there will be some changes to their timetable from Sunday 28th September 0600 until Saturday 04 October 0559.

• The majority of services will continue to run as normal to/from London although a number of services may operate with fewer carriages than usual.
  
  
• The majority of train services will run as normal between Derby, Uttoxeter, Stoke on Trent and Crewe.
  
  
• Trains between Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester and Nottingham will run as normal. Customers travelling to and from Grantham, Peterborough, Ely and stations to Norwich may need to change trains at Nottingham (a revised train/rail replacement bus service will run between Nottingham and Norwich).

Timetable information will be available from Friday 26th September when National Rail Enquiries and other online journey planners will be updated with the amended timetable information.

Trains on the following routes will be amended and on some routes buses may replace trains.
• Nottingham - Mansfield / Worksop
• Nottingham - Derby - Matlock
• Doncaster - Peterborough via Lincoln
• Newark North Gate - Cleethorpes via Lincoln.
• Leicester - Nottingham - Lincoln
• Nottingham - Skegness

Please check the website www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk for the latest information, or alternatively follow EMT on Twitter @EMTrains for the latest up to date information. #EMTUpdate

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