Eurostar managers urged to strike

Unions have urged Eurostar to withdraw the new timetables

Nearly 100 Eurostar managers are being balloted over possible industrial action in a row over shift patterns.

The Rail Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) and Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) claim new shifts have been imposed by the company.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow accused the company of undermining its members' ability to balance work and home life.

Eurostar said "reasonable" changes had been made to share the workload between the UK, France and Belgium.

A spokesman added: "Eurostar always consults with its train managers whenever new timetables are planned that require new roster patterns.

"It did so on this occasion and reasonable adjustments were made."

Christmas period

He added: "Eurostar is disappointed that RMT and TSSA have seen fit to ballot its UK train managers over potential strike action.

"Eurostar is committed to resolving this dispute and to avoiding further disruption to its travellers in the run up to the busy Christmas period."

The unions have urged Eurostar to withdraw the new timetables.

Leader of the TSSA, Gerry Doherty, said: "We are very disappointed that managers on this side of the Channel are being treated so unfairly given all the co-operation and flexibility they showed in getting services back on track after the recent tunnel fire.

"No-one wants to see services disrupted in the run-up to Christmas and the way to avoid this is to share equally weekend working among train managers on both sides of the Channel."