RAILWAY maintenance workers will stage a 48-hour strike tomorrow (Wednesday, February 26).

Members of the RMT union who are maintenance depot drivers at the Heaton depot in Newcastle and a depot on Leeds are taking the action in a row over re-grading.

The union says that operator Northern Rail “has failed to recognise the complex and demanding role of this key group of staff and which has ignored the skills and hard work that they bring to the company. “ The walk-out will be followed by an overtime ban starting on Friday (February 28).

“This dispute has been forced on us by the management’s refusal to take the real nature of these jobs into account through the re-grading process and it is now down to them to rectify the situation. RMT remains available for talks.”