“Our members have spoken in huge numbers to accept this unconditional pay offer and no compulsory redundancies until the end of 2024.” That is the message from RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch on the news members have voted to accept the Rail Delivery Group’s (RDG) pay offer.
He adds: “I want to congratulate them on their steadfastness in this long industrial campaign.
“We will be negotiating further with the train operators over reforms they want to see. And we will never shy away from vigorously defending our members terms and conditions, now or in the future.
“This campaign shows that sustained strike action and unity gets results and our members should be proud of the role they have played in securing this deal.”
An RDG spokesperson said: “This welcome vote from RMT members will unlock a pay-rise for our people, and means that fair agreements have now been reached with three out of the four unions involved in the recent industrial dispute.
“Unfortunately, the ASLEF leadership’s decision to call further industrial action means passengers still face disruption between 1-9 December, despite an offer remaining on the table which would see basic driver salaries increase from £60k to £65k for a four-day week.
“We want to reach a fair agreement which will get more trains running on time and put the railway on a sustainable footing, at a time when taxpayers are contributing an extra £54m a week to keep services running post covid. Instead of staging more damaging industrial action, we call on ASLEF to work with us to resolve this dispute for the long-term good of everyone who works in rail and the millions of businesses and passengers who rely on it every day.”
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: “This is welcome news for passengers and a significant step towards resolving industrial disputes on the railway, giving workers a pay rise before Christmas and a pathway to delivering long overdue reforms.
“It remains the case that the train drivers’ union ASLEF continue to block their members from having a say on the offer that would take train drivers’ median salaries from £60,000 to £65,000 for a 35-hour, 4-day week – ASLEF should follow the RMT’s lead and give their members a say.”
ASLEF says the offer accepted by the RMT has already been rejected. From today (Friday, December 1), train drivers at 16 train operating companies begin a week of industrial action on Friday in a long-running dispute over pay.
Members will walk out at EMR and LNER on Saturday 2 December; at Avanti West Coast, Chiltern, Great Northern Thameslink, and WMT on Sunday 3 December; at C2C and Greater Anglia on Tuesday 5 December; at Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express, SWR main line, SWR depot drivers, and Island Line on Wednesday 6 December; at CrossCountry and GWR on Thursday 7 December; and at Northern and TPT on Friday 8 December.
All members are also refusing to work any overtime from Friday 1 to Saturday 9 December.
Mick Whelan, ASLEF’s general secretary, said: “We are going on strike again not to inconvenience passengers, but to express our disgust at the intransigence of this government, and the bad faith shown by the private companies which employ us.
“It is clear that the Tory government does not want to resolve this dispute. We haven’t had a meeting with Mark Harper, the Transport Secretary, since December 2022. We haven’t had a meeting with Huw Merriman, the Rail Minister, since January this year. And we haven’t heard from the employers, the private sector train operating companies for whom we work, since April.
“We are prepared to come to the table and negotiate but the TOCs – and the Tories that stand behind them in what is turning into a political, rather than an industrial, dispute. They simply can’t be bothered. They are happy to see this dispute rumble on, for passengers and businesses to suffer, and to drive Britain’s railways – once the envy of the world – into a managed decline.”
ASLEF says pay deals have been struck with 14 companies in the last 12 months, including freight companies, open access operators, Eurostar and passenger companies in Scotland and Wales where transport is devolved.
Photo credit: Rail Delivery Group
