Deal agreed: West Midlands strike off

An indefinite ‘all-out’ strike at West Midlands Metro (WMM), aimed to hit Christmas shopping in Birmingham and due to start on Monday November 28, was cancelled on November 18.

With the first of 53 days of strikes having already taken place from October 15, the original plan was for the strikes to build up to seven continuous days from November 28, and then 12 days from December 22.

The decision to drop this plan and instead move to an indefinite strike was taken because “despite extensive negotiations” at conciliation service ACAS, West Midlands Metro offered a “derisory one-off payment of £300 to be paid in April 2023 to resolve the dispute”, according to Unite.

During the first strikes, WMM ran a weekday 15-minute interval service between 0730-1800 between Wolverhampton and Birmingham Bull Street only.

Unite, which has 170 members at WMM, was seeking a 23% pay increase for tram drivers/ customer representatives, increasing their salary to £27,000 (RAIL 968).

On November 18, WMM said: “We are pleased to confirm that union members have accepted an enhanced pay offer and called off any further industrial action.”

Details of the offer have not been disclosed.