RAIL WORKERS have voted to strike over jobs and pay, increasing the threat of a summer of travel disruption on c2c lines serving south Essex.

Hundreds of Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) members at c2c and LNER have backed strikes and action short of a strike.

The dispute with the train operators is over pay, job security and conditions, with the union also balloting members at Network Rail and other train companies across England.

TSSA said it is not yet naming dates for any industrial action but will now consider its next steps with workplace reps at each of the companies involved.

The action will impact c2c trains which run between Shoebury and London Fenchurch Street and LNER services between London King's Cross and Edinburgh via Peterborough and York.

TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes said: “This is a great result for our union and comes hard on the heels of similar votes at Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway and CrossCountry.

“The results demonstrate that our members are utterly determined to fight for their pay, jobs and conditions.

“They are right to do so amid the escalating Tory cost-of-living crisis and with a Government hell-bent on making swingeing cuts to our rail network.

“This is a strong outcome and it would be unwise for any rail company to ignore the feelings of our membership. We will soon speak to our workplace reps to consider next steps in the forthcoming days.

“Ministers should take note – our union is balloting members across a dozen train companies and Network Rail. If they had any sense they would come to the table and sort this out so we have a fair settlement for workers who were hailed as heroes in the pandemic.”

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union staged three strikes last month which crippled train services.

The TSSA and the drivers’ union Aslef will announce more strike ballot results next week.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “It is very disappointing that rather than commit to serious dialogue with the industry, the TSSA are first seeking to cause further misery to passengers by joining others in disrupting the rail network.

“Our railway is in desperate need of modernisation to make it work better for passengers and be financially sustainable for the long term.

“The only thing more strikes will do, however, is wreak further havoc on the very people unions claim to stand up for.

“We urge the TSSA to reconsider and work with its employers, not against them, to agree a new way forward.”