Eurostar passengers have been warned of “severe disruption” if staff belonging to the RMT union walk out in a dispute over safety and conditions at work.
The union announced on Monday that it is to ballot its members for potential strike action amid claims of “unreliable trains”, an increase in workload and pressure to maintain timetables despite problems with rolling stock.
RMT members at St Pancras-based Eurostar work as train managers, in engineering and maintenance, in customer services and at the terminal control centre.
No strikes have been announced but dates could be finalised next month, as long as enough members vote in favour of taking action.
The union has to give two weeks’ notice of any strikes, meaning Eurostar’s pre-Christmas schedules could be affected. A RMT source said any walkout would be likely to cause “severe disruption”. The firm operates between London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.
The RMT said its members at the Brussels control centre had “zero confidence” in the ability of managers to manage “basic operations safely let alone severe disruption”.
The union said that the “daily cycle of cancellations, equipment changes and disruption” was placing a heavy and unsustainable burden on overstretched staff in stations, onboard, in the contact centre and among Eurostar contractors.
In an announcement on Monday, the RMT said Eurostar was not investing in improving fleet reliability or ensuring safe and secure conditions at stations despite generating revenues of £1.7bn in 2024.
Last month The Standard reported on the upgrades at St Pancras station to prepare for the introduction of the EU’s EES (Entry-Exit System) border controls.
RMT General Secretary Eddie Dempsey said: “Eurostar is making billions in revenue, but frontline staff are being left to deal with unsafe conditions and the consequences of poor management decisions.
“Eurostar is prioritising the bottom line ahead of our members concerns around investment in safety and good conditions at work.
“If Eurostar does not change course, strike action cannot be ruled out.”
The Standard has approached Eurostar for comment.
In May, RMT members at Eurostar voted to accept a 3.8 per cent pay rise an 3.8 per cent increase in home-to-work travel allowances and improvements to family-friendly policies.
Eurostar has enjoyed a monopoly on cross-Channel services since 1994, first from Waterloo and latterly from St Pancras.
FS plans to start services between London and Paris in 2029. Eurostar axed Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International from its schedules in 2020 due to the restrictions on travel caused by the pandemic.
The other operators keen to launch international services from London are:
* Virgin Trains, which proposes 20 daily return services between St Pancras and Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam by 2030.
* Gemini Trains, which proposes 10 daily return journeys between Stratford International and Paris, and eight daily return services between Stratford International and Brussels, from 2029.
* Evolyn, which proposes to operate trains between London and Paris.
Other challenges for new operators include purchasing or leasing trains that meet the fire safety requirements for use in the Channel Tunnel, and paying for border controls at Stratford International, Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International.
