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Aslef
Women tarring a street
May Day 2026 / 1 May 2026
1 May 2026

Aslef general secretary DAVE CALFE looks at how rail workers and miners stood together against wage cuts 100 years ago – and why the legacy of collective action endures today

Train drivers from the Aslef union on the picket line at Euston station in London, April 5, 2024
Features / 21 February 2026
21 February 2026

The newly elected general secretary of the Aslef train drivers’ union speaks to Ben Chacko about union wins, a welcome shift in approach to the rail sector and what still needs to be done

A Hull Trains passenger train at Kings Cross Station in London, September 25, 2025
Workers' Rights / 7 December 2025
7 December 2025
Dave Calfe (left) with Mick Whelan for Aslef
Workers' Rights / 6 November 2025
6 November 2025
A ScotRail train at Edinburgh Waverley Station
Workers' Rights / 5 November 2025
5 November 2025
Train drivers from the Aslef union on the picket line at Euston station in London, as they are launching a wave of fresh walkouts in a long-running dispute over pay. Train drivers at 16 rail companies are holding a rolling programme of one-day walkouts between April 5 and 8, coupled with a six-day ban on overtime. Picture date: Friday April 5, 2024
TUC Congress 2025 / 8 September 2025
8 September 2025

On the eve of the 157th Trades Union Congress, MICK WHELAN, general secretary of Aslef, the train drivers’ union, celebrates victory in his campaign to get dignity for drivers at work

Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan on the picket line at Euston train station in London, as members of train drivers union are launching a wave of fresh walkouts in a long-running dispute over pay, April 5, 2024
Trade Unions / 13 August 2025
13 August 2025
Pic: Neil Terry
Britain / 25 July 2025
25 July 2025

 Birmingham’s striking bin workers and supporters bring waste sites to a standstill

Train drivers from the Aslef union on the picket line at Euston station in London, April 5, 2024
Features / 19 July 2025
19 July 2025

As the labour movement meets to remember the Tolpuddle Martyrs, MICK WHELAN, general secretary of train drivers’ union Aslef, says it’s an appropriate moment to remind the Labour government to listen to the trade unions a little more

Train drivers from the Aslef union on the picket line at Euston station in London, April 5, 2024
Workers' Rights / 1 June 2025
1 June 2025
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander (right) speaks to SWR train drivers ahead of boarding the first operational renationalised train service at Waterloo train station in central London, May 25, 2025
Railway / 25 May 2025
25 May 2025

But unions warn renationalisation must not be fudged

mich whelan
Your paper / 21 May 2025
21 May 2025
A piper walks the platform alongside the Avanti West Coast Class 390 EMU train as it arrives at Glasgow Central Station from London Euston, failing to break the 36-year-old record for the fastest train journey between London and Glasgow, June 17, 2021
Railways / 8 May 2025
8 May 2025

Our groundbreaking report reveals how private rail companies are bleeding millions from public coffers through exploitative leasing practices — but we have the solutions, writes Aslef Scottish organiser KEVIN LINDSAY  

People board a bus in the rain in Glasgow, December 12, 2023
Public Transport / 28 April 2025
28 April 2025
Members of the Aslef union on a picket line near to Leeds tr
Transport / 18 April 2025
18 April 2025

Walkout follows long-running dispute over sacking

Commuters walking past a ScotRail train at Edinburgh's Waver
Britain / 11 April 2025
11 April 2025
Sign for the London Underground seen through the closed shut
Britain / 11 April 2025
11 April 2025
Forest and Lime + Uber e-bikes on the pavement in Parliament
Britain / 13 March 2025
13 March 2025
Stand Up to Racism Sabby Dhalu co-convenor speaks at a side
Stand Up / 2 March 2025
2 March 2025
Farage's far-right party seek to scapegoat migrants to weaken workers' rights, Stand Up to Racism conference warns
Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan (centre) on the picket l
Features / 22 February 2025
22 February 2025
Aslef general secretary MICK WHELAN speaks to Ben Chacko about rail renationalisation, the Employment Rights Bill and why we shouldn’t write off this Labour government
Trains at Elizabeth Line depot at Old Oak Common, in west Lo
Britain / 13 February 2025
13 February 2025
Aslef General Secretary Mick Whelan (centre) at a picket lin
Britain / 10 December 2024
10 December 2024
Members of the Aslef union on a picket line near to Leeds tr
Features / 21 November 2024
21 November 2024
NEIL FINDLAY slams the shocking lack of facilities and breaks forcing drivers to risk health and endure degrading conditions following a new report from train drivers’ union Aslef
Britain / 19 November 2024
19 November 2024
Amazon staff members on a GMB union picket line outside the
Britain / 10 October 2024
10 October 2024
Unite's Sharon Graham says the Bill fails to end zero-hours contracts and fire-and-rehire
A picket against peak fares
Britain / 1 October 2024
1 October 2024
Commuters and travellers at Edinburgh's Waverley Station
Britain / 30 September 2024
30 September 2024
Members of the Aslef union on a picket line near to Leeds tr
Britain / 25 September 2024
25 September 2024
Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan (centre) on the picket l
Britain / 18 September 2024
18 September 2024
TUC 2024 / 9 September 2024
9 September 2024
Aslef general secretary MICK WHELAN writes for the Morning Star on the eve of the TUC in Brighton, about the pay offer from the DfT, relations with the Labour government, and the union’s motion at Congress calling for the renationalisation of rail freight
Members of the Aslef union on a picket line near to Leeds tr
Britain / 16 August 2024
16 August 2024
Deputy Labour Party leader Angela Rayner speaking at the TUC
Britain / 4 August 2024
4 August 2024
Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan outside the Palace of We
Britain / 29 July 2024
29 July 2024
Mick Whelan joins MPs outside Parliament ahead of the second reading of Labour’s railway nationalisation Bill
Pipe bands and banners parade through Durham during the Durh
Durham Miners' Gala / 13 July 2024
13 July 2024
MICK WHELAN, general secretary of Aslef, the train drivers’ trade union, writes for the Morning Star as union activists prepare to march through Durham today in a display of working-class solidarity at the 138th Durham Miners’ Gala
Mick Whelan with Labour candidate Matt Bishop, and a life si
Features / 4 July 2024
4 July 2024
MICK WHELAN, general secretary of train drivers’ trade union Aslef, writes for the Morning Star as voters prepare to go to the polls in the general election today
CLASS FIGHTER: Tosh McDonald is seeking Doncaster Central’
Features / 29 June 2024
29 June 2024
Former president of Aslef, the train drivers’ union, TOSH McDONALD is the Workers Party candidate for Doncaster Central constituency on July 4. He talks to Morning Star northern reporter Peter Lazenby
Mick Whelan (left) with EC president Dave Calfe
Features / 20 May 2024
20 May 2024
MICK WHELAN, general secretary of Aslef, the train drivers’ union, writes for the Morning Star on the eve of his union’s annual conference in Manchester from Monday 20 to Friday May 24
Bill Ronksley (centre, in suit) with Tosh McDonald (centre,
Tribute / 7 May 2024
7 May 2024
Former Aslef president TOSH McDONALD pays tribute to his political mentor and to the lifetime he spent serving the left and labour movement
CLARITY AND RESOLVE: Railworkers on a picket line at Euston
Workers' Memorial Day 2024 / 27 April 2024
27 April 2024
Aslef general secretary MICK WHELAN warns that any attempt to run trains with a skeleton crew due to the outrageous stipulations of the Tories’ anti-strike Bill could easily lead to a disastrous loss of life
Diane Abbott addressing the People's Assembly Britain is Bro
Britain / 24 April 2024
24 April 2024
Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan on the picket line at Eu
Britain / 22 April 2024
22 April 2024
Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan (centre) on the picket l
Britain / 7 April 2024
7 April 2024
Protesters during the Protect The Right To Strike march in L
Northern TUC Conference 2024 / 24 March 2024
24 March 2024
A London Underground roundel at Oxford Circus station, in Lo
Britain / 26 February 2024
26 February 2024
ASLEF picket line in Newcastle where LNER drivers are taking
Britain / 2 February 2024
2 February 2024
A member of staff assists a person at the ticket machines in
Britain / 22 December 2023
22 December 2023
Passengers in Paddington station in London, during a strike
Britain / 8 December 2023
8 December 2023
Members of the Aslef union on a picket line at Euston statio
Britain / 5 December 2023
5 December 2023
Members of the Aslef union on a picket line at Euston statio
Britain / 1 December 2023
1 December 2023
Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan on a picket line at Eust
Britain / 30 November 2023
30 November 2023
ALWAYS RESOLUTE: Aslef picket line at Euston station in Lond
Features / 29 November 2023
29 November 2023
As train drivers prepare for their next round of industrial action, the Aslef general secretary talks to Morning Star reporter PETER LAZENBY
Britain / 24 October 2023
24 October 2023
Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan
Interview / 30 September 2023
30 September 2023
With rail services in England at a standstill again today, general secretary of drivers’ union Aslef MICK WHELAN talks to Morning Star reporter Peter Lazenby about why members are taking strike action
Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef, joins union members
Britain / 29 September 2023
29 September 2023
‘Any government that indentures its own citizens should understand the ire they have caused,’ Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan says
A worker at HS2's Curzon Street site in Birmingham, May 10,
Britain / 29 September 2023
29 September 2023
THE GOOD FIGHT: Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan (second
Features / 16 September 2023
16 September 2023
Aslef leader MICK WHELAN talks to Ben Chacko about how the government is preventing resolution of the rail dispute and how other countries put Britain to shame when it comes to transport planning and green travel
Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union general secretary M
Britain / 31 August 2023
31 August 2023
Unions and campaigners to unite for latest major protest against ticket office closures
Members of the Aslef union on a picket line near to Leeds tr
Britain / 17 July 2023
17 July 2023
Members of the Aslef union on a picket line near to Leeds tr
Britain / 16 June 2023
16 June 2023
Aslef members to strike on July 1st and 2nd
Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef, joins union members
Britain / 31 May 2023
31 May 2023
Rail union slams demands for productivity to increase ‘by thousands of per cent’ while slashing wages
Members of the drivers' union Aslef on the picket line at Ne
Britain / 30 May 2023
30 May 2023
‘We’re in this for the long haul,’ Aslef's Mick Whelan says as pat dispute rumbles on
General Secretary of the Trade Union Congress Paul Nowak
Britain / 24 May 2023
24 May 2023
Rail companies profit while public bears the cost, says TUC chief at rail union Aslef's annual conference
Southeastern trains in sidings at Ramsgate railway station i
Britain / 12 May 2023
12 May 2023
‘The government seems to think they can starve us back to work, or that we will give up, but that isn’t going to happen,’ Aslef head Mick Whelan says
TransPennine Express will be nationalised after years of poo
Britain / 11 May 2023
11 May 2023
Unions reiterate calls to renationalise railways after TransPennine Express joins London North Eastern Railway, Northern, and Southeastern
We are in no doubt that in the days leading up to the strike
Features / 28 February 2023
28 February 2023
The Tories are starving TfL of funds and now the company is tearing up agreements and coming for our pensions. Our members won’t accept this — in March, we strike, writes MICHAEL CULHANE
Aslef General Secretary Mick Whelan (centre) joins train wor
Britain / 3 February 2023
3 February 2023
Aslef members return to pickets for a series of 24-hour strikes
Protesters outside Downing Street, London, demonstrating aga
Britain / 1 February 2023
1 February 2023
Half a million workers down tools over pay, jobs and working conditions
Mick Lynch, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Tran
Britain / 6 January 2023
6 January 2023
RMT leader Mick Lynch says Tories want to ‘close down the unions and stop us from campaigning against poverty’
(L to R) RMT pickets at Euston station; Inga Bystram
Culture / 4 January 2023
4 January 2023
ALEX GORDON introduces painter Inga Bystram - the picket line phenomenon
Aslef General Secretary Mick Whelan (right) at a picket line
Britain / 4 January 2023
4 January 2023
Passengers wait at the barriers at King's Cross station in L
Editorial / 3 January 2023
3 January 2023
Members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union on
Britain / 28 December 2022
28 December 2022
READY TO ACT: Aslef members on strike in November 2022
Features / 28 December 2022
28 December 2022
With Tube management seeking to force workers to work harder, for longer and for less, is it any wonder that fed-up Aslef members are likely to deliver a Yes vote for industrial action in the new year, asks MICHAEL CULHANE
The front of an Avanti West Coast train showing the new logo
Britain / 14 December 2022
14 December 2022
Aslef General Secretary Mick Whelan (right) at a picket line
Britain / 18 November 2022
18 November 2022
Aslef General Secretary Mick Whelan (centre) at a picket lin
Features / 19 October 2022
19 October 2022
From its crucial part in industry, to its central importance to our social and cultural life, to the role it must play in our commitment to achieving a carbon-neutral nation, Britain has to back rail, writes MICK WHELAN
A ScotRail train at Edinburgh's Waverley Station.
Britain / 20 September 2022
20 September 2022
Members of the Unite union man a picket line at one of the e
Britain / 18 September 2022
18 September 2022
More than 500 Liverpool dockers to be the first in action on Monday night as they strike for two weeks over pay
Aslef General Secretary Mick Whelan (centre) and Labour MPs
Britain / 16 September 2022
16 September 2022
TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady
Britain / 9 September 2022
9 September 2022
Socialists warn ‘cost-of-living crisis hasn’t and will not go away’
Members of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA)
Britain / 31 August 2022
31 August 2022
GOING STRONG: A lively RMT picket in Penzance, west Cornwall
Features / 24 August 2022
24 August 2022
Although the Labour Party has shifted to the right, socialism is thriving down in the south-west. DAWN EVANS reports
Mick Whelan, ASLEF general secretary gives evidence to the T
Features / 30 July 2022
30 July 2022
MICK WHELAN, general secretary of Aslef, the train drivers’ union, explains why its members are on strike today
A view of Southeastern trains in sidings near Ashford railwa
Britain / 29 July 2022
29 July 2022
Kwasi Kwarteng Secretary of State for Business, Energy and I
Britain / 27 July 2022
27 July 2022
ROCK SOLID: Mick Lynch gives a speech to workers at a rally
Features / 16 July 2022
16 July 2022
The government claims that there is no money in the industry, yet international investors are falling over themselves to get in on the act, says RMT leader MICK LYNCH
Aslef General Secretary Mick Whelan
Britain / 14 July 2022
14 July 2022
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps speaks to the media College
Britain / 29 June 2022
29 June 2022
The train drivers union said the Transport Secretary was either ‘inept, exceptionally badly briefed, or a liar’
Britain / 15 May 2022
15 May 2022
Features / 31 March 2022
31 March 2022
Now that Scotland's railways are back in public hands, we must make sure they stay that way — and that the government invests in more services, better stations and lower fares for our passengers, writes KEVIN LINDSAY