UNION bosses have been urged to call off their Christmas rail strike by Merseyrail and Metro Mayor, Steve Rotheram.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) confirmed last week that staff from Merseyrail will take a further 24 hours of strike action on Friday, December 22.

Strike action from Arriva bus workers was also scheduled for the same day, however, this dispute has been resolved and all further strike action was cancelled.

The dispute between RMT and Merseyrail relates to a new fleet of driver-only trains that will replace the current 40-year-old rolling stock in 2020 which RMT say will threaten the security of guards jobs on trains.

Merseyrail bosses say they want to make clear to its customers and public that this strike is another attempt to cause maximum disruption to customers and the City Region.

The RMT say that members on Merseyrail are angry that senior Labour figures have chosen to ignore party policy on driver only operation to side with the private company rather than safety-critical guards.

Previous walk-outs by the RMT have been staged on Grand National Day, the Open and Lime Street station closure.

Merseyrail managing director Andy Heath said: “I agree with the Metro Mayor’s call for the strike to be called off and instead enter conciliation.

"Once again the RMT has deliberately looked to cause maximum impact to our passengers and target the economy of the city region through their dispute over the future of the new Merseyrail trains.

“The new trains when introduced in 2021 will bring to the city region one of most modern, state of the art fleet of trains in the UK.

"Driver Only Operation is a proven safe method of operating trains throughout the UK and is the right solution for the Merseyrail network with its short distances between fully staffed stations from start to end of service as well as a large number of support staff on duty throughout the day.”

“I want our passengers to know that when asked we responded positively to the Metro Mayor’s recommendation to enter into independent conciliation but unfortunately the RMT did not.”

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “Our members on Merseyrail are angry that senior Labour figures have chosen to ignore party policy on Driver Only Operation to side with the private company rather than our safety-critical guards.

"If those politicians had taken a positive and pro-active stance, like their colleagues in Wales and Scotland, we could move towards a solution to this dispute which puts safety first.

“The fact that we have been unable to make any progress whatsoever with the company means we have no option but to put this action on and the blame lies with Merseyrail and their political supporters.

“The City and Regional Labour leaders need to step back immediately from the terms of the resolution to remove all the guards, that they voted for a year ago this week, which lit the fuse in this dispute.

“Those senior Labour politicians have chosen the wrong side.

"They need to stand with the many – the passengers, the workers and the people of Merseyside, and not the few – Tory ministers and bosses of the private operator Merseyrail.‎"