The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) have voted to strike for three days during Royal Birkdale’s hosting of the Open Championship.
While RMT says it will continue to seek a “negotiated settlement”, industrial action is now planned to take place between 18-20 July.
RMT members also held industrial action during Royal Birkdale’s last hosting of the Open in 2017.
An RMT spokesperson said: “Our members have voted for strike action in a row over pay and we continue to seek a negotiated settlement.”
James Smith, HR director at Merseyrail, said: “We are very disappointed that RMT members have called industrial action over The Open Golf Championship. We’d made a no-strings 4% pay offer at the start of the year, which is above inflation and significantly higher than those made by many other rail operators.
“Over the last three years, Merseyrail has paid almost 4% more than other Department for Transport train operators and we continue to make some of the strongest pay offers in the industry.
“Members of both ASLEF and the TSSA have already accepted this year’s offer.
“RMT is once again threatening industrial action during The Open, one of the Liverpool City Region’s biggest events. The union took a similar approach during The Open in 2017 and is again attempting to use a major international event as leverage in a pay dispute.
“We had agreed to meet with the RMT again next week and are disappointed that industrial action has been called while productive talks continue.
“We remain committed to sensibly resolving this dispute.”