On the Great Western Railway, the Transport and Salaried Staff Association (TSSA) is balloting members for possible strike action in a dispute over pensions, pay and workload.

The main aspect of the dispute is the “flexibility allowances” for shift work, which TSSA argues should come under basic pay. Such a change would protect salary and improve pension rights.

At present, maternity and sick leave rates are based on basic pay. Therefore workers on night shifts lose out. In addition, TSSA also points out that night shift workers suffer poorer health and lower life expectancy as a result of their working patterns. TSSA’s clerical members in the soon to be nationalised company are also being balloted over regrading.

General secretary Maryam Eslamdoust said: “It’s in no way reasonable for our members to suffer any financial hardship for doing shift work which in itself runs the increased risk of physical and mental impairment. Likewise, for clerical grades, it’s simply not acceptable that they see their workloads increase without that reflecting both grading and pay.”

Meanwhile the Scottish branch of the mighty drivers’ union, ASLEF, has warned that its members will walk out if the SNP government awards the contract for new trains to the Spanish Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) company, which is involved in the Jerusalem light rail network that runs through stolen Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.

The SNP, despite their pro-Palestinian rhetoric, have refused to rule out CAF as a possible supplier. ASLEF Scotland organiser Kevin Lindsay told the Sunday Mail that “we have a long-standing commitment to standing up for Palestine. We have supported the Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) movement for many years. The genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the West Bank have made our support even stronger… we are so disappointed with the Scottish Government They say they support the Palestinians yet offer empty words and no action. They could and should remove CAF from this bidding process.”