SORT OUT RAIL STRIKE... 0R QUIT
Minister under pressure to prevent travel chaos at Cop26
SCOTLAND’S Transport Minister was warned last night that he must quit if he fails to prevent rail strikes bringing chaos to the Cop26 climate summit.
Graeme Dey is under growing pressure to forge a deal which would end the threat of damaging industrial action when the eyes of the world are on Glasgow.
The UN conference kicks off on Sunday with world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, set to attend.
ScotRail workers have said they will strike if their demands are not met, but Mr Dey has admitted he is ‘not optimistic’ of finding a solution.
Lib Dem transport spokesman Jill Reilly said: ‘We are talking about delegates from around the world being unable to attend the most important climate summit of all time.
‘Hotels in Edinburgh and elsewhere are booked out but their guests are unsure if they will even be able to reach the venue.’
Miss Reilly drew a comparison with extransport secretary Stewart Stevenson who resigned in 2010 over his handling of travel chaos caused by extreme winter weather. She added: ‘A rail shutdown would be a failure of equal magnitude. If the trains don’t run smoothly and on time for the duration of Cop26, then Graeme Dey should resign.’
Crisis planning is under way after the RMT union described the latest pay offer as ‘pitiful’, and claimed it came with conditions that could bring job losses.
The Scottish Government has set a deadline of today for the union to accept its offer of a 2.5 per cent increase this year, 2.2 per cent in 2022 and a one-off £300 bonus for staff working during Cop26. Three other unions – Unite, Aslef and the TSSA – have accepted.
But Mr Dey said he was ‘not optimistic’ of finding a resolution by the deadline, set for 5pm.
He told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland yesterday: ‘This is a situation that we have tried extremely hard to avoid. We find ourselves in a perplexing and deeply disappointing situation.’
Rail services in Scotland have been hit by months of strike action, but this is set to intensify, with union leaders admitting they are using Cop26 to help secure their demands.
Mr Dey said: ‘RMT keep moving the goalposts. If there are strikes during Cop26 then we have to prepare for that. We have contingency plans ready. The deadline was simply set to allow everyone to know where we stand so that we can inform the delegates, the travelling public, what will be on offer in the way of services next week.’
RMT Scotland organiser Mick Hogg said: ‘The goalposts were never there to be moved in the first place. We’ve been stonewalled for
the last 18 months... then all of a sudden because of Cop26 there’s a rush to get around the table in order to find a resolution.
‘We remain available morning, noon and night, any time, anywhere, in order to get a settlement.’
ScotRail said ‘contingency plans will be put in place’ if the strikes are confirmed.
Tory transport spokesman Graham Simpson said: ‘This is not a time for opportunism or political games when Glasgow is about to be the focus of the world’s attention.’
WITH only four days to go until the start of Cop26, there’s every possibility that the rail service in Scotland will be in a state of paralysis.
That’s unacceptable – and it’s the responsibility of the minister in charge of transport, Graeme Dey, to make sure the dispute is resolved.
The eyes of the world are on Scotland’s biggest city – but Mr Dey can only offer that he is ‘not optimistic’ about preventing rail staff walk-outs.
It’s not good enough when tens of thousands of delegates are about to arrive in Glasgow or Edinburgh and planning to commute to the conference venues by train.
This isn’t a new problem: industrial action has reduced the frequency of rail services on Sundays for months and, frankly, passengers deserve far better for the price they’re paying.
The Scottish Government has set a deadline of today for the union barons to accept a pay offer which includes a £300 bonus for working during Cop26.
They should accept it – and acknowledge that at a time of fiscal belt-tightening it’s a deal they should recommend to their members.
It’s little wonder that Mr Dey is facing calls for his resignation over his shambolic handling of the row.
No more excuses, minister – sort out this appalling mess now, before Scotland is humiliated on the global stage.