UK train drivers to hold more strikes to clash with Conservative conference

British train drivers will stage two more says of strikes, their trade union said on Friday, the latest walkouts in a long-running industrial dispute and which will coincide with the governing Conservative Party’s annual conference.

Passengers in Britain have faced severe disruption to their travel since last year as transport workers seek better pay to get through a cost-of-living crisis due to high inflation.

ASLEF said drivers would strike on Sept. 30 and Oct. 4, and there would also be an overtime ban across the network between Sept. 29 and Oct. 6.

The Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents Britain’s train operators, said the union had rejected a “fair and affordable offer” without putting it to the members.

“We ask the ASLEF leadership and executive to recognise the very real financial challenge the industry is facing,” the RDG said in a statement.

The new industrial action will clash with the annual conference held by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives in Manchester, northern England, from Oct. 1-4.