A UNION member has blamed "loss of faith in employers" as the underlying reason behind approaching railway strikes.

Commuters have been warned that national rail strikes will be taking place this month, which the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers has said will "shut down the country's rail network" for three days.

Worcestershire commuters who use Great Western Railway and West Midlands Trains will be affected.

The RMT rep in Worcester, Steve Mather said: "The government is making massive cuts to the railways that have reflected in discussions between railway companies and the unions.

"Ideas discussed in talks and mentioned in discussions documents have led to a real loss of faith and trust by railway workers in our employers.

"We have real concerns about our jobs, terms and conditions and pay in the cost of living crisis that we all face. So we voted on strike action proposed by the union, and an overwhelming percentage of us voted for it.

"We don't want to strike under normal circumstances, we lose pay when we do. But most of us feel like we have no choice.

"I just hope that passengers will understand why we are doing this."

The strikes are set to happen on June 21, 23 and 25 and are in objection to pay freezes amid the current cost of living crisis. 

Worcester News: West Midlands Railway.West Midlands Railway.

READ MORE: Train strikes to "shut down" rail transport this month

A West Midlands Railway statement on the website said: "If this action goes ahead it will have a considerable impact on the number of trains we can run. We are likely to be operating significantly reduced timetables on these dates.

"We are currently assessing what services we can run on these dates and will update this web page with further information when available."

If you have purchased a ticket and your train is cancelled or delayed you can return the unused ticket for a full refund, or you can use your ticket the day before or after at no additional cost.

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You will be eligible to claim Delay Repay if your journey is delayed by 15 minutes or more against the revised timetable in operation on a strike day if you keep hold of your ticket and submit your claim within 28 days of travel.