Key Points
- RMT members employed by CAF Rail on the Transport for Wales contract will strike on Sunday 12 July and Monday 13 July evening shifts.
- The action will run from 17:59 to 05:30 on both strike periods, affecting maintenance work tied to the contract.
- The dispute centres on pay, with the union saying CAF Rail has refused to improve its offer.
- RMT says the company escalated the row by banning members from overtime after they took lawful industrial action.
- General Secretary Eddie Dempsey says workers are seeking a fair pay settlement after years of declining living standards.
- The union is calling on CAF Rail to return to negotiations and make a better offer.
Wales (Wales Times) July 10, 2026 – RMT members employed by CAF Rail are due to walk out in response to what the union describes as an inadequate pay offer and retaliatory action by the company. The strike is scheduled to begin on Sunday 12 July at 17:59 and continue until 05:30 on Monday 13 July, before a second stoppage runs from 17:59 on Monday 13 July to 05:30 on Tuesday 14 July. The action is linked to maintenance work carried out under the Transport for Wales contract, making it a further flashpoint in an already live industrial dispute.
CAF Rail strike to hit Transport for Wales maintenance as pay dispute escalates, according to the RMT, will bring fresh industrial action by workers on the Transport for Wales contract after talks failed to produce an improved pay offer. The union said the stoppages will take place on Sunday and Monday evening, with members withdrawing labour from 17:59 to 05:30, as the dispute over pay intensifies.
As reported by Eddie Dempsey of the RMT, CAF Rail has “chosen to escalate this dispute by retaliating against our members who are simply standing up for a fair pay settlement after years of declining living standards.” The union says the company’s decision to bar members from overtime followed their lawful decision to withdraw labour, which it regards as unacceptable. It also argues that workers should not be punished for taking protected industrial action.
Why are workers striking now?
The union says the central issue is pay, with members rejecting what they see as a poor offer from CAF Rail. According to the RMT, the company has refused to improve its proposal despite the continuing dispute and the wider pressure of rising costs on household budgets. The strike action is therefore being presented as part of a longer campaign rather than a one-off protest.
The overtime ban has become an additional source of tension. RMT says this move came after members exercised their legal right to industrial action, and the union views it as pressure on workers rather than a route to settlement. That position has sharpened the stand-off between the two sides and made a quick resolution less likely.
What did the RMT say?
Eddie Dempsey, the RMT general secretary, said workers had shown “tremendous resolve throughout this campaign” while continuing to press for a settlement they consider fair. He said the company had responded not by improving its offer but by trying to punish its own workforce. The union chief argued that CAF Rail bosses should stop trying to intimidate staff, return to meaningful talks and table a pay offer that reflects the “skill, commitment and professionalism” of members.
Those remarks place the dispute in a familiar industrial framework: a union seeking a better offer, a company resisting further concessions, and an escalation through targeted strike action. In that sense, the language used by the RMT suggests the union wants both to harden its members’ resolve and to increase pressure on management before the work stoppages begin. The emphasis on professionalism also signals that the union is framing the dispute as one about recognition as much as wages.
How will the strike affect operations?
The immediate effect is likely to be disruption to maintenance activity on the Transport for Wales contract during the strike windows. Because the stoppages are timed for evening into early morning hours, the impact may fall on planned works, overnight servicing and any tasks that rely on staff availability during those shifts. Even where services do not stop entirely, maintenance delays can create knock-on effects for reliability and scheduling.
For Transport for Wales passengers, the main concern will be whether reduced maintenance capacity affects train performance or causes short-term operational pressure. The precise scale of the disruption will depend on how CAF Rail manages cover, whether contingency arrangements are in place and how quickly the dispute moves. At this stage, the announcement points to direct strain on contract maintenance rather than a full network shutdown.
What is the wider context?
This dispute sits within a broader pattern of industrial tension across rail and public transport supply chains, where pay talks have often become tied to staffing, overtime and working conditions. CAF Rail’s relationship with its workforce on the Transport for Wales contract now appears to have deteriorated to the point where both sides are using leverage rather than compromise. The dispute also shows how quickly a pay disagreement can expand once overtime restrictions and strike ballots enter the picture.
The union’s reference to “years of declining living standards” reflects the wider cost-of-living pressure that has shaped many recent disputes. Workers have increasingly argued that pay settlements should restore purchasing power rather than merely tick over at low levels. Employers, meanwhile, have often been cautious about setting precedents that could raise costs across contracts or trigger similar demands elsewhere.
Background of the development
CAF Rail is facing strike action because its workforce on the Transport for Wales contract has rejected what the RMT sees as an insufficient pay response. The immediate trigger is the company’s refusal to improve its offer, combined with a ban on overtime after lawful industrial action was taken. The present round of action follows a longer dispute in which negotiations have not yet produced a settlement both sides can accept.
The timing matters because the strike is confined to evening and overnight shifts, when maintenance work is often carried out to avoid disrupting passenger services. That means the action is designed to maximise pressure without necessarily stopping daytime operations directly. It also shows how rail unions often use targeted stoppages to affect the parts of the operation that are most difficult to replace quickly.
Prediction: what happens next for passengers and workers?
For passengers, the most likely short-term effect is indirect disruption if maintenance backlogs build up or if planned overnight work is delayed. That could lead to patchier reliability, slower recovery from faults and more operational pressure on the Transport for Wales contract in the days after the strike. If talks do not improve, further industrial action could deepen those effects.
For workers, the dispute is likely to harden attitudes on both sides unless CAF Rail returns with a better offer or a new negotiating approach. The union will probably keep pressing the pay issue while using industrial action to maintain leverage, and management may continue to resist concessions if it believes the current offer is defensible. That makes the next round of talks the key moment for whether the dispute narrows into settlement or broadens into more stoppages.
