Southern Rail drivers reject £75,000 pay deal and trigger overtime ban

TRAIN drivers have rejected a pay offer of £75,000 a year in a long-running dispute that has caused misery for commuters, Southern rail bosses said.

The offer was made last week, as passengers faced disruption from the end of the month as a result of a ban on drivers doing overtime by the union Aslef.

Aslef and the RMT are embroiled in long-running disputes with Southern over staffing and driver-only trains, which has caused chaos for 300,000 passengers with repeated strikes over the past 15 months. Southern Railway’s parent company, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), said it had offered employees a “very generous” four-year pay deal worth 23.8 per cent.

It would take a driver’s base salary from £49,001 to £60,683 for the existing 35-hour, four-day week. Most drivers work a fifth day as overtime, which tops up their pay by 25 per cent, taking the potential total pay to over £75,000.

However, the rail operator said talks aimed at resolving the dispute had ended without agreement, and Aslef had ordered the overtime ban to go ahead from Thursday next week. A spokesman told the London Evening Standard: “We take that to mean rejection of our [pay] offer.” One train driver said they were satisfied with the pay but there were still concerns over safety. RMT leaders will meet this week to decide their next move in the rows at Southern, Merseyrail and Northern about driver-only trains.