UNION leaders are to set up a “negotiating table” outside the offices of a rail company during a strike over guards’ contracts.

Members of rail union RMT working on East Midlands Railway will walk out for 24 hours from Sunday, the latest in a series of strikes.

The union will set up a negotiating table and invite the company to enter discussions outside its offices in Nottingham.

The RMT said that senior conductors will strike every Sunday throughout the summer as part of the long-running dispute.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “We are set for a long, hot summer of Sunday strikes unless East Midlands Railway gets round the negotiating table to resolve the issue of inferior contracts being issued to some train guards and Sunday working arrangements.

“To make things easier for the company to make genuine proposals to end this dispute we will be bringing the negotiating table to them this Sunday.

“Already subject to an imposed two-year pay freeze where workers are being asked to pay the price for the money the government has handed to shareholders, this attack on contracts and conditions is a matter of principle — this is why RMT members are striking.

“The union remains available for talks aimed at ending this dispute at any time.”

An East Midlands Railway spokesman said: “We are extremely disappointed the RMT has taken the decision to extend its strikes throughout the summer.

“At a time when the railway continues to benefit from taxpayer support and no-one has been furloughed or lost their job, this action damages our ability to attract people back to the railway and support public transport as a whole.”