South Western Railway workers are striking for three weeks in December and it’s going to be chaotic

South Western Railway (SWR) workers have announced 27 days of rail strikes will take place across December as well as New Year's Day.

The strike arises after a long-running dispute over the future role of South Western's train guards.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union said the staff at SWR have been left with "no choice" but to take industrial action.

Today the union told its members not book shifts from Monday 2 December to Wednesday 11 December, from Friday 13 December until Tuesday 24 December and from 27 December to the 1 January.

The strike is expected to cause disruption from travellers over the Christmas and New Year periods.

SWR has said they are "extremely disappointed" by the planned strikes.

A spokesperson from the company stating: "The deliberate targeting of services up to, and during the Christmas period is typic of the lack of concern the RMT continue to have for our customers".

The general secretary of the RMT union, Mick Cash, said: "As long as the company continues to refuse to give assurances on the future operation role of the guard, we will remain in dispute."

SWR has promised to "do everything we [they] can to keep customers moving during strike action".

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