Union leaders demand extra pay – for train drivers on £100,000 a year

RAIL unions were yesterday condemned for pressing ahead with strikes as it emerged that ‘dozens’ of train drivers earn £100,000 or more.

Downing Street led a chorus of outrage at the action, which will hit Ukrainian refugees with tickets to tonight’s Eurovision Song Contest final in Liverpool.

It also emerged that the militant RMT union is losing hundreds of members amid complaints they cannot afford to keep striking.

Today around 20,000 RMT members are due to walk out, hitting Eurovision concert-goers. Ministers had arranged for displaced Ukrainians to receive subsidised tickets.

Many train drivers earn six figures when overtime working, allowances and pension contributions are included, industry sources have revealed. A senior source said: ‘There are definitely dozens... on £100,000 or more, that’s what makes this walkout even more outrageous.’

The Aslef rail union will also strike on May 31 and June 3 – when Manchester United and Manchester City meet at Wembley in the FA Cup Final. Yesterday rail minister Huw Merriman accused Aslef of being ‘unreasonable’ for snubbing an 8 per cent pay rise offer which would take the typical train drivers’ salary from £60,000 to £65,000 for a fourday week.

Yesterday, Aslef boss Mick Whelan claimed it was ‘coincidental’ that his union was striking on the same days as major events.

Industry figures obtained by the Mail show that RMT membership has fallen by 3.5 per cent across 14 train operators since November. RMT members have complained on social media over the union’s persistence in calling walkouts because they lose a day’s pay for every strike.

Tory MP Greg Smith, who sits on the Commons transport committee, said: ‘The public will literally have no sympathy for drivers that, with perks and overtime, are earning six figures.’