Train strikes: RMT members reject latest Network Rail pay offer

Train strikes are set to go ahead this week after members of the UK's largest rail union rejected a pay offer.

Rail workers will walk out on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday in the latest action of the long-running dispute over pay and working practices.

Network Rail, which owns and maintains the railways, had offered a 5% pay rise this year and a 4% rise in 2023.

But RMT union boss Mick Lynch described the deal as "substandard", as 63.6% of members who voted rejected the deal.

Andrew Haines, chief executive of Network Rail, urged passengers to "only travel if absolutely necessary", saying further strikes would cause "further misery" for the rail industry.

The RMT is involved in two negotiating battles, one with Network Rail, where it represents around 20,000 signallers and maintenance workers, and the other with the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), where it represents about 20,000 workers at 14 train companies.

RMT members at both groups will stage walkouts across Britain this week, and then again on 3-4 January and 6-7 January.

In addition, RMT members at Network Rail will go on strike from 18:30 on Christmas Eve until 06:00 on 27 December.

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The industrial action is part of a long-running dispute between the RMT, and the train operators and Network Rail over pay, jobs and conditions.

Along with the pay rises, Network Rail offered its staff other benefits including discounted rail travel for family and friends.

But the deal also depended on big changes to working practices in its maintenance teams, which would involve 1,900 job losses, though Network Rail has insisted this could be achieved by voluntary means.

The company has said there would be a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies until the end of January 2025.

The RMT leadership had recommended its members reject the latest pay offer, which Network Rail had described as its "best and final".

General secretary of the union Mick Lynch said the vote, which saw an 83% turnout, represented a "huge rejection" of Network Rail's offer.

"The government is refusing to lift a finger to prevent these strikes and it is clear they want to make effective strike action illegal in Britain," he said.

"We will resist that and our members, along with the entire trade union movement will continue their campaign for a square deal for workers, decent pay increases and good working conditions."

But Network Rail boss Mr Haines said the result of the vote showed there was "clearly a significant number of Network Rail colleagues who want this deal, but are caught up by these needless strikes and collective bargaining".

The Department for Transport said it had helped facilitate a "fair and improved offer", with a pay increase above those seen in the private sector and no compulsory redundancies.

Rail Minister Huw Merriman said the continuing strikes were "very damaging across the industry and the government's resolve is clear: we want these strikes taken down, and we want a better and more resilient railway for the future."

He called on Mr Lynch to "come back to the table" and "do the right thing".

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Other unions with smaller rail worker memberships are also involved in the dispute. Unite, which represents just over 50 electrical control room operators, accepted Network Rail's pay offer and called off its planned industrial action in December and January.

The TSSA has suspended its strike action at Network Rail while its members vote on the deal.

Network Rail's Mr Haines said: "The RMT are the outliers here, they need to stop playing politics and work with us to bring this dispute to an end."

In its dispute with the train companies, the union has rejected an offer from the Rail Delivery Group, which included a 4% pay rise both this year and next.

Workers are calling for better conditions and pay rises to match the pace of inflation, with the cost of living rising at its fastest rate for more than 40 years.

On Saturday Mr Lynch called on the prime minister to meet him to attempt to resolve the dispute.

But on Monday Rishi Sunak's official spokesman said: "We are not seeking to impose government over and above either the independent pay review process or ongoing discussions between employers and the unions.

"We won't be changing the process."