Workers at rail engineering company Alstom in Chester, who maintain and service the Class 175 stock on the Arriva Trains Wales franchise, went on strike today for 24 hours in a fight over pay and conditions.

Additionally, from 7am tomorrow (Friday, December 11), until further notice, members will not work any overtime a

nd will not work any rest days.

A statement from the RMT union, which estimated more than 40 members went on strike, said: “Throughout a sequence of meetings with the company ,rail union RMT has sought to negotiate an acceptable solution to the the pay and conditions claim for 2015 but despite strenuous efforts by the union’s negotiators, Alstom has dug its heels in and refused to make any kind of serious progress.”

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “Despite the best efforts of RMT’s negotiating team to resolve this dispute Alstom have refused to listen and as a result of that the action goes ahead this week.

“Our members are rightly angry that they are still working two hours a week more than colleagues doing the same job on West Coast and are still being underpaid for the important work that they undertake.

“RMT expects rock solid support from our members for this action and the union remains available for talks.”

An Arriva Trains Wales spokesperson said: “We have been advised by our contractors that a contingency plan is in place and our services should not be affected.”