The RMT guards will strike for 24 hours tomorrow, the 12th day of strike action since the company reneged on a deal to reduce working hours with no loss of pay and refused the union's offer of talks without preconditions at conciliation service Acas. The guards will also strike again on Sunday for the 12th successive weekend.

"Virgin have trumpeted their decision to sell Fairtrade drinks on their trains, but when it comes to their own staff they renege on deals and refuse to enter talks without unacceptable strings. That is called hypocrisy, " RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"The Virgin board have shown contempt for their passengers as well as their workforce by vetoing the deal we had already hammered out, and choosing confrontation instead of talks.

"They have thrown huge sums of money at a simple dispute that would cost them just £6 per Sunday shift to settle.

 "We warned the company that if they turned down our offer of unconditional talks an escalation of the dispute was inevitable.

"Our members entered into a 35-hour week agreement with the company in good faith and they have made it clear that the company's attempts to undermine their action have served only to galvanise their determination to win a just settlement.

"We remain ready for talks, with or without the assistance of Acas, and Virgin know they can avoid further strike action by joining us at the talks table to hammer out a sensible deal," Bob Crow said.

ends

Early Day Motion 1574, tabled by Jeremy Corbyn MP and signed to date by 25 others

"That this House is deeply concerned at the ongoing dispute between Virgin Cross Country and the Rail Maritime and Transport Union (RMT); is further concerned at reports that Virgin may be compromising the safety of passengers by the use of untrained and medically restricted personnel on strike days; regrets that Virgin has refused to return to the negotiating table; and therefore calls on Richard Branson to urge his company immediately to re-open negotiations with the RMT."