NET offers Nottingham Goose Fair hope with 'contingency plan' to mitigate tram strikes

A snapshot of Goose Fair 2023
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Nottingham tram operator NET has announced it is working on 'contingency travel plans' in case proposed strike action goes ahead. Members of the GMB union, which make up at least 90 percent of the tram workforce, will strike between Friday, September 27, and Sunday, October 6, if a satisfactory pay deal is not reached, GMB says

The planned industrial action is due to take place between Friday, September 27, and Sunday, October 6, which is the same time frame as when Goose Fair returns to the city. It is understood that GMB members make up at least 90 percent of the tram workforce.

In an update on Monday, September 23, NET officials said they were working on 'contingency travel plans'. "Following the news of the proposed planned strike action, which is set to take place between 27 September and 6 October, NET remains in ongoing talks and negotiations with GMB in the hopes of coming to a resolution," read an NET statement published on X, formerly Twitter.

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"In the meantime, we're busy working on contingency travel plans to cover the potential strike period, should it go ahead. We will continue to update you across all our channels, so do check back closer to the time for further information, and get in touch with our team if you have any concerns."

It is suspected that the contingency plans could include a reduced service. A spokesperson for NET has previously said: "Goose Fair is expected to attract large volumes of passengers, and should the strike action go ahead we would not have enough staff capacity to carry such numbers safely.

"The safety of our passengers and staff is always our utmost priority, so we’d be running an extremely reduced service which would mean we’d be unlikely to run to the Goose Fair area during the dates of the event.

“In the meantime, we’re working on contingency plans for a reduced service that would continue during the proposed strike action time period, and we will share these details as soon as possible. However, if strike action does go ahead, then we simply will not have the capacity to service Goose Fair, which would be extremely sad for the city."

The strike action period overlaps with Goose Fair, which is visited by around 500,000 people. The further calls come as the tram operator has "refused to budge" on the 3.5 per cent pay offer. If no agreement is reached, around 300 workers are expected to join strike action across the network’s drivers, ticket office staff, customer services and maintenance teams.

GMB threatened similar strike action for similar dates in 2023, but called it off at the 11th hour after an agreement was made.