Festive strikes fury
Rail union barons target families’ holiday plans, with mass walk-outs planned to start on Christmas Eve
RAIL union leaders were yesterday condemned for targeting passengers travelling home for Christmas by calling new strikes from December 24 to 27.
Mick Lynch, boss of the militant RMT union, announced the action last night after pay talks broke down.
He acknowledged that ‘the travelling public will be really disappointed… and angry’, but claimed the union had ‘no choice’.
More than 40,000 rail workers are due to walk out from 6pm on Christmas Eve until 6am on December 27. It means those travelling to be with friends or loved ones on Christmas Day should travel before noon the day before.
Two 48-hour walkouts set for next week, on December 13-14 and 16-17, will also go ahead along with two more on January 3-4 and 6-7. However, the union cancelled an overtime ban from December 18 to January 2 which could have caused hundreds of last-minute cancellations.
Several operators rely on overtime to run a full service. Mr Lynch said a new pay rise offer of 9 per cent over this year, backdated to January, and next year, will be put to workers in a referendum.
The offer also includes no compulsory redundancies until 2025. But Mr Lynch said the union will encourage members to reject it.
The result will be announced on Monday. Next week’s strikes will go ahead, but the December 24-27 and January action will be called off if members accept it.
However, a separate 8 per cent pay offer from 14 train companies covering most of the country, which are also involved in the dispute, will not be put to members.
Last month ScotRail reached a pay deal with its RMT members. The agreement means the lowestpaid workers will receive an 8.5 per cent pay rise and ends the separate dispute. But the operator will still be affected by strikes as Network
Rail Scotland employees in safetycritical positions would be included in the latest proposed action, and cross-Border services will be hit.
Tim Shoveller, Network Rail’s chief negotiator, said: the RMT is ‘playing fast and loose with people’s Christmas plans’.
Meanwhile, Scotland’s firefighters could strike in the New Year after their union opened a ballot for more than 30,000 members across the UK after rejecting a 5 per cent pay offer.