RAILWAY technical and managerial staff will stage a series of 24-hour Christmas strikes next week at three train operators in their continuing struggle to protect pay and jobs.

Strikes by members of union TSSA will affect services at CrossCountry, Great Western and West Midlands Trains between December 26 and 29.

TSSA members will also take action short of a strike at Avanti, GWR, Greater Anglia, GTR, LNER, Northern, Southeastern, South Western Railway, TransPennine Express and West Midlands Trains.

The strikes coincide with action by RMT members on Network Rail on December 26 and 27.

Nadine Rae, TSSA organising director, said: “No-one wants to be on strike, especially over Christmas, but the government has left rail workers with no other choice as a result of their anti-worker agenda blocking talks.

“Our members at CrossCountry, GWR and WMT are fed up with being taken for granted. 

“The cost-of-living crisis is crippling household finances on top of years of pay freezes. 

“We hope that the government makes a New Year’s resolution to give employers a free hand to negotiate a deal which meets our aspirations and resolves this dispute.”

Talks with train operators’ organisation the Rail Delivery Group broke down after TSSA rejected a deal which it said excluded some staff and had “unacceptable strings” including ticket office closures and job losses.

The union said: “The offer was significantly less than the deal struck between TSSA and Network Rail earlier in December. 

“The government has refused to allow the RDG to negotiate more freely or with an improved mandate.”