Thousands of rail workers will strike for three days in July as part of a long-running dispute about pay and conditions. Strikes at 14 rail firms have been called on 20, 22, and 29 July, the RMT union said. It said negotiations with rail firms and the government had stalled. But train operators said the action was “totally unnecessary” and urged the union to put the latest pay offer to its members. Previous strikes in the dispute have caused widespread disruption. Unions are pushing for more pay as the cost of living rises rapidly, but rail firms have said they will not pay more without concessions on conditions.
The RMT said 20,000 of its members, including guards, train managers, and station staff, would walk out after train operators did not make a new offer. Its general secretary, Mick Lynch, said that train operators and the government had not “made any attempt whatsoever to arrange any meetings or put forward a decent offer that can help us reach a negotiated solution”. “The government continues to shackle the companies and will not allow them to put forward a package that can settle this dispute,” he added. The latest strike dates coincide with sporting events including the fourth and fifth Ashes Tests and The Open golf championship.
Pay push
Unions say any pay offer should reflect the rising cost of living. Inflation – the pace of general price rises – is at 8.7%. The latest pay offer from the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, was a backdated pay rise of 5% for 2022. Unions would then have to agree to reforms before members could get a second year’s pay rise of 4%, negotiated with individual operators. The BBC understands that rail operators are willing to negotiate with the RMT, but want the union to put the latest pay offer to its members before taking further action.
The RDG said more strikes were “totally unnecessary”, and that all the RMT had achieved was losing its members more money than they would have got from pay offers. “We have now made three offers that the RMT executive have blocked without a convincing explanation,” a spokesperson said. A senior rail source said union members had lost £2,000 of pay through strike action so far. “Negotiation has got us nothing. We have compromised on pay, job protections and issues like driver only trains,” the source said. “Nothing is ever enough, every one of our offers have been rejected – not even by our staff who have not cast a single vote. No more ransom demands, the industry must change to survive,” the source added.
The Department for Transport said the strikes were “targeting two iconic international sporting events” and would disrupt families at the start of the school summer holidays. “After a year of industrial action, passengers and rail workers alike are growing tired of union bosses playing politics with their lives,” a spokesperson said. The government has helped train operators put forward “fair and reasonable pay offers that would see generous increases for rail workers,” the spokesperson said. “Union leaders should do the right thing and give their members a chance to vote on these pay offers.”
The strikes announcement comes on the day that Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said wage rises “cannot continue” at the rate they have been if inflation is to come down, reiterating Bank calls for restraint from workers. The union’s industrial action began a year ago, and last month, members voted for another six months of action. Industry group UK Hospitality said the rail strikes were a “hammer blow” for firms including pubs, bars and restaurants. “Strike disruption over the past year has already cost the hospitality sector £3.25bn in lost sales and there is no doubt that figure will increase as a result of these strike days,” said the group’s chief executive Kate Nicholls.
