The RMT is to hold a strike ballot at Eurostar in a dispute over safety and and working conditions

The union claims that staff ‘face worsening working conditions with unreliable trains, poor service recovery and operational safety concerns, piling pressure on the workforce’.

Eurostar revenues were £1.7 billion last year, but the RMT said staff were highlighting ‘a lack of investment in fleet reliability and ensuring safe and secure conditions at stations’.

RMT members at Eurostar voted in May to accept a 3.8 per cent pay rise, along with a 3.8 per cent increase in home-to-work travel allowances and improvements to ‘family-friendly’ policies.

The union’s general secretary Eddie Dempsey said: ‘Eurostar is making billions in revenue, but frontline staff are being left to deal with unsafe conditions and the consequences of poor management decisions. Eurostar is prioritising the bottom line ahead of our members’ concerns around investment in safety and good conditions at work.

‘If Eurostar does not change course, strike action cannot be ruled out.’

Eurostar said: ‘The safety of our team members and customers is our absolute priority, and we continue to discuss the matter with RMT to resolve their concerns. No strike action is confirmed at this stage.’

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