Desperate rail chiefs offer drivers £63k not to strike
DRIVERS on Southern Rail have been offered a basic salary of more than £63,000 for a four-day week in a desperate attempt to prevent further strikes.
Rail bosses said they are prepared to hand a bumper pay rise worth 28.5 per cent over five years to settle a bitter dispute that has caused misery for hundreds of thousands of commuters.
Last night an MP described the deal as extraordinary and accused trade unions of holding the public to ransom.
Ballot papers will be sent to members of the union Aslef next Tuesday and the result will be announced on November 8.
Two previous attempts by Aslef leaders to reach an agreement were rejected in ballots. But general secretary Mick Whelan said the new proposal offered a ‘complete resolution’ to the 18 month-long dispute.
If members accept the deal their pay rise will be backdated to October last year. Their basic salary will rise from £49,000 to just over £63,000 in 2021.
Including overtime, it is understood some drivers will be able to earn up to £75,000 a year – almost three times the average salary in the UK of around £27,000. The huge pay rise will be viewed with some envy by millions of workers who have had to put up with pay freezes. Across the UK average earnings are rising at little over 2 per cent a year. The latest offer is an improvement on the 23.8 per cent increase over five years that bosses at Southern’s parent company, Govia Thameslink Railway, had put forward previously.
Tory MP Chris Philp, who has called for tougher anti- strike laws, said: ‘ This is another extraordinarily generous offer.
‘It shows how pointless the strike action over the last year and a half has been. We can’t have trade unions holding the public to ransom. That’s why we need new laws to make sure strikes on critical infrastructure can only go ahead if a basic level of service can be maintained – and when strikes are proportionate and reasonable.’
The latest peace talks revolved around three issues – driver-only trains, terms and conditions and pay. Unions have claimed that the introduction of driver- only trains jeopardises passenger safety because the driver, rather than a guard, has responsibility for opening and closing the doors. This has been dismissed by independent safety watchdogs, with critics pointing out that these trains have been operating on Britain’s railways for decades.
Aslef leaders are recommending their members accept the deal, saying it guarantees a second safety-trained person on every train except in ‘very exceptional’ circumstances.
Southern operates commuter services between London and the Home Counties, but the dispute has spread and Mr Whelan stressed that the deal was specific to Southern.
Mick Cash, general secretary of the RMT union which represents guards and has also held strikes, complained about being ‘excluded’ from the talks and said his union would continue to fight for a safe railway. He added: ‘Our dispute remains on.’
A train company is preparing to offer passengers a financial incentive after years of price rises – in the form of a new 26-30 railcard.
The card is likely to give a third off fares to those too old for a 16-25 young person’s railcard. It is to be tested by Greater Anglia from early December, with 10,000 railcards initially available.
The Rail Delivery Group, which represents train companies, has not said if it plans to extend the card more widely.
‘Holding public to ransom’