Rail strikes mayhem on way as 11th-hour pay offer is rejected
RAIL union barons snubbed the latest pay offer last night with a Christmas of chaos on the railways almost certain to go ahead.
Talks broke down after train operators made an eleventh-hour bid, offering an 8 per cent pay rise over this year and next (4 per cent each year).
It is around the same in percentage terms as the 4.5 per cent awarded to most nurses for 2022-23 by the Government.
But Mick Lynch, boss of the RMT union, said it will reject the offer because it is conditional on reforms such as the closure of ticket offices.
He said: ‘We have rejected this offer as it does not meet any of our criteria for securing a settlement on long-term job security, a decent pay rise and protecting working conditions.
‘If this plan was implemented, it would not only mean the loss of thousands of jobs but the use of unsafe practices such as driver-only operated [trains] and would leave our railways chronically understaffed.’
However, the union will take more time to consider a new offer from Network Rail, which is also involved in the dispute.
The Government-owned agency last night tabled a new offer of a 9 per cent salary increase for this year and next, up from 8 per cent.
If the Network Rail offer is accepted, it would drastically reduce disruption this winter as it employs critical workers such as signallers. The RMT is due to make a decision today.
The deadline for avoiding chaos when the first round of strikes begins next Tuesday is midnight tonight, as staff across the UK such as drivers have to be rostered a week ahead. It came as UK ministers confirmed they are ready to draft in up to 600 members of the Armed Forces to deal with wider strikes being planned by unions across several sectors.
In Scotland, firefighters have been urged to vote for strike action by the Fire Brigades Union over a 5 per cent pay offer.
And Fife Council says all its high schools will close on Thursday.
It is the fifth council to confirm the move after East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, Midlothian and Scottish Borders.
Teaching unions the SSTA and NASUWT are striking for one day this week in each council area in a dispute over pay.
Nurses are also to be consulted on the Scottish Government’s latest pay offer, their union has announced. The offer would mean a pay rise of 11.3 per cent for the lowest paid and an average rise of 7.5 per cent, the government said when it outlined the proposal last week.
It came as Nadhim Zahawi, the Tory chairman, sparked a backlash by urging public sector workers not to strike because that’s ‘exactly what Putin wants to see’ after ‘weaponising’ energy supplies and sending inflation soaring.
Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokesman Christine Jardine branded the remarks ‘ludicrous and insulting’.
Government officials say providing all public sector workers an equivalent pay award next financial year would cost the taxpayer more than £28billion.
The RMT threw the Christmas plans of millions into chaos this month by calling four 48-hour strikes between December 13 and January 7 for workers on mainline rail services in England.
There will also be an overtime ban between December 18 and January 2, which could lead to hundreds of lastminute cancellations.
While this is separate from the pay dispute being negotiated with ScotRail, the planned strikes on those days will cause disruption to ScotRail services, as Network Rail Scotland signallers and maintenance staff will be on strike.
▪ Councils are facing mass redundancies and cuts to essential services amid a looming £1billion financial black hole.
Shona Morrison, president of council umbrella group Cosla, warned that current Government spending plans could see council services ‘significantly reduced, cut, or stopped altogether’.
But Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: ‘Local authority revenue funding is £2.2billion or 22.9 per cent higher in cash terms than it was in 2013-14.’
‘Would leave railways understaffed’