The Manchester United Supporters’ Trust has urged the Government to intervene in the rail dispute that threatens to disrupt the first ever all-Manchester FA Cup final in June.
Aslef have announced three days of fresh rail strikes, including Saturday, June 3 when United face Manchester City at Wembley.
Thousands of fans are due to make the journey down to London by train, but Avanti West Coast is one of 16 companies affected by the industrial action. Up to 13,000 train drivers will strike over the three days in May and June, bringing widespread disruption to the rail network.
It’s understood that both United and City are monitoring the situation and will liaise with the FA and fans’ groups. Many supporters could be forced to abandon their plans and travel by road unless a compromise can be found, and MUST issued a statement calling on the Government to step in.
It read: ‘A train strike on Cup Final day will be a huge inconvenience to the tens of thousands of supporters travelling down from Manchester to London on the day. We need all modes of transport available to cope with the level of demand and the railways are a key part of that.
Avanti West Coast services will be affected after train strikes were called for Saturday, June 3
Man United’s Supporters Trust said the strikes would impact fans attending the FA Cup final
‘We call on the Government and the trade union to get round the table and find a way to avert this industrial action.’
The final between United and City has already caused a logistical problem after Mail Sport exclusively revealed that the kick-off had to be brought forward to 3pm from 5.30pm over safety concerns raised by the Metropolitan Police.
The latest disruption to the rail network follows months of industrial action caused by the pay dispute between the Rail Delivery Group and the two main unions, Aslef and the RMT.
While the RMT are believed to be considering the latest offer, Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan dismissed it as ‘risible’.
Whelan said: ‘Our executive committee met this morning and rejected a risible proposal we received from the RDG, a pressure group which represents some of the train companies, and lobbies on their behalf, late on Wednesday afternoon.
United will face rivals Man City at Wembley in the first ever all-Manchester FA Cup final
‘The proposal – of just 4% – was clearly not designed to be accepted as inflation is still running north of 10% and our members at these companies have not had an increase for four years.
‘The RDG, in turn, rejected our proposals to modernise Britain’s railways and help them run more efficiently, for passengers and for businesses, in the 21st century.
‘Consequently, we have today announced three more days of strike action – on Friday 12 May, Wednesday 31 May, and Saturday 3 June – at the companies with which we are in dispute, and which are letting down passengers, and taxpayers, so badly.
‘We are also withdrawing non-contractual overtime from Monday 15 to Saturday 20 May inclusive, as well as on Saturday 13 May and Thursday 1 June.’