National Highways strike: how England’s motorists face a tougher trip this Christmas

theguardian.com:

Strikes by control room staff and traffic officers could herald major delays on England’s motorways and A-roads, with long traffic jams as millions of people travel to see friends and family over the festive period.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) who work at National Highways are scheduled to take part in 12 days of industrial action in a dispute over pay and conditions.

Here is everything you need to know:

Control centre staff who have a multitude of roles, including programming the electronic signs that alter road speeds, display warnings for drivers or close lanes, are taking action.

They work with the emergency services to deal with crashes and monitor the road network’s extensive CCTV network.

Traffic officers will also strike and they coordinate emergency service responses to crashes, clear debris from roads and liaise with control centre staff.

The first strikes are on 16 and 17 December in the north-west, Yorkshire, Humber and the north-east regions.

These dates coincide with RMT rail strikes as about 40,000 members across Network Rail and the 14 train operating companies take industrial action.

London and the south-east will be affected by strikes on 22, 23, 24 and 25 December.

The next industrial action will take place in the West Midlands and the south-west on 30 and 31 December, before all National Highways workplaces take industrial action on 3 and 4 January next year.

The final strikes are scheduled for the east Midlands and eastern England on 6 and 7 January next year.

The PCS said action “risks bringing the road network to a standstill”, particularly on the days when trains are not running due to rail strikes, as millions of travellers take to the roads in the traditional festive getaway.

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