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A new Labour strike row threatens to overshadow the party’s conference as rail workers plan a 24-hour walkout at the same time.
Members of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) at nine train operating companies as well as Network Rail (NR) will walk out from midday on Monday, September 26.
This coincides with Labour’s annual conference which runs from Sunday, September 25 to Wednesday, September 28 in Liverpool, creating yet another headache for Sir Keir Starmer, the party’s leader.
In a direct challenge to Sir Keir, Manuel Cortes, the TSSA general secretary, said he will be “standing on our picket line in Liverpool” where he will be “encouraging fellow delegates and Labour MPs to do likewise”.
He said Labour MPs and conference delegates should “rightly show they stand shoulder to shoulder with those fighting the Tories' cost-of-living crisis”.
The TSSA, which is affiliated with Labour, is locked in a dispute with Network Rail over pay, jobs and conditions.
is the latest headache for Sir Keir and comes after Andy Burnham criticised his position on strikes by declaring that he would join Mick Lynch, the RMT union boss, on a picket line.
The Greater Manchester mayor, who is seen as a future candidate for Labour leader, said he saw nothing “controversial” about workers fighting for better wages.
Sir Keir has banned payroll Labour MPs from appearing on picket lines, arguing that it is not the job of MPs to engage in industrial disputes but to attempt to resolve them at a political level.
Sam Tarry, who is the boyfriend of Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, was fired from his role as shadow transport minister last month, after publicly backing the rail strikes and giving a round of media interviews without permission.
He now faces deselection by his local constituency and has hired Carter-Ruck, a top law firm, in an attempt to halt proceedings.
Sir Keir said he would not be joining striking workers on picket lines but insisted he supported unions.
He told Channel 5’s Jeremy Vine: “When it comes to industrial action, I completely understand why people are voting to go on strike, I understand how much they’re struggling - wages have been stagnant for the best part of 10 years, we’ve now got a cost-of-living crisis, so prices are going up.”