Workers at Northern Rail, which runs trains in Yorkshire, are to strike on December 27 and 28 in a row over Bank Holiday pay, it has been announced.

The Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union said about 1,000 of its members at the company would take industrial action after voting in favour of strikes over a “perfectly reasonable” demand for extra pay for working during the festive public holidays.

The union said while the company was demanding that the workforce accepted flat-rate payments over Christmas, Northern Rail operating profits on normal activities had shot up by 87.5 per cent between 2007 and 2010, to a total for the four years of £85.9 million.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: “No matter how many phoney arguments Northern Rail throw up, they cannot escape the fact that this is a company that has made over £85 million in profits off the backs of their workforce in the past four years.

“The boardroom is awash with cash and it is outrageous that staff are being told to work these additional Christmas public holidays at flat rate while the Northern Rail shareholders are relaxing in front of the telly with the warm feeling that £80 million in dividend payments brings.”

The company said it would run a revised timetable from about 9am to 6pm on both strike days.

Managing director Ian Bevan said: “We are very disappointed that the RMT is going ahead with strike action when only 361 of 976 conductors voted for a strike. We have said all along that we will honour the existing agreements that we have with the trade union, and we are always willing to hold further talks.”

Northern said passengers could find detailed timetable information on northernrail.org, staffed stations or by contacting Northern’s customer relations team by phoning 0845 00 00 125 or National Rail Enquiries on 08457 484950.