Passengers who plan to travel via train under the English Channel Tunnel should expect disruptions in the transportation schedule due to a seven-day strike in August.
The reason for the interrupted schedule is a strike initiated by Eurostar's UK union of rail workers, who claim that their work schedule negatively impacts their work-life balance.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) workers' union from the UK noted that the action will happen in two weekends during the most popular month for holidays. The first part of the strike will take place from Aug. 12 to 15 and the second one from Aug. 27 to 29.
The union explains that Eurostar made a promise back in 2008 to ensure that train managers will be assigned working hours that allow them to have a positive work-life balance.
"Our train manager members at Eurostar have a heavy commitment to shift work and unsocial hours," says Mick Cash, RMT general secretary.
Cash further notes that the train managers have reached their limit and will no longer tolerate the company's policy of breaking previous agreements. According to Cash, members of Eurostar's union are determined to sit at the negotiation table until the company guarantees them a harmonious work-life cycle.
Eurostar, the company that operates the trains traveling below the English Channel, declared that it is looking into the matter and is seeking a mutually advantageous solution. To make sure that passengers will be on their way during the strike days, the company made some small changes to the train schedule. The company notes that passengers who will be affected by the union's plans will be notified beforehand.
Chris Grayling, UK's Transport Minister, underlines that the repeated strikes are uncalled for and that their only result will be disenfranchising railway travelers of their mobility.
"I think the RMT frankly are being utterly thoughtless about their passengers and their customers," Grayling says.
Grayling points out the subtle irony of the situation, as the union called for additional strike action on the same day the government announced a railway investment program.
The UK government recently announced that a nine-year franchise was awarded to Abellio, which should operate trains in the East Anglia region of England. What is more, investments of £1.4 billion ($1.8 billion) are scheduled to be injected into the local services. A big part of the investment is said to go into the manufacturing of 660 train carriages from Bombardier Inc., securing 1,000 jobs in the United Kingdom.
Eurostar is in charge of the passenger trains that connect London with Paris and Brussels via the Channel Tunnel, and its numbers show that 10 million people used its services in 2015.
Until Elon Musk's Hyperloop becomes a viable alternative to passenger trains, we hope that Eurostar's troubles come to a halt.
