Union chiefs behind next week’s disruptive rail strikes have today revealed they are pushing for pay rises of at least 7 per cent for workers – and says rail bosses must put forward an acceptable offer within 48 hours if they want to prevent the walk-out.
Mick Lynch, the general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union (RMT), today insisted any pay deal should be linked to the Retail Price Index (RPI) – the rate of inflation on goods and services.
The inflation measure was at 11.1 per cent in April. But Mr Lynch today suggested union chiefs were pushing for a pay deal linked to talks in December, when it was at 7.1 per cent. He said the union had rejected a Network Rail offer of a 2 per cent rise with a further 1 per cent increase linked to job cuts.
Eleventh-hour talks to resolve the dispute last night broke down. And today ministers described the union’s decision to strike as a ‘huge act of self harm’ on the future of UK rail industry – which has suffered a dramatic drop in customers since the Covid pandemic. They also accused militant union barons of ‘gunning’ for the ‘disastrous’ industrial action.
But setting out the unions demands to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge, Mr Lynch said: ‘At the time of the Network Rail pay deal, which should have been done in December, it was 7.1 per cent, the Retail Price Index.
‘That’s what the cost of living would have been at the time these deals should have been struck, so we’re going to negotiate to see if we can get a deal that reflects that cost of living.
There a number of ways in which you can put value into a package, it’s not all about straightforward pay. So we’ll talk to them constructively, but they’re making offers that are nowhere near that.
‘And for half the people in this dispute, there’s no offer at all and for many of them it’s the third year where there’s no offer and no proposal.’
He also claimed railways bosses were attempting to extend the 35-hour weeks for new workers – resulting in lower pay deals – and that his union wanted assurance that there would be no compulsory redundancies amid future job cuts.
It comes as RMT workers are set to go on strike next week, sparking rail misery for millions of Britons. The action will take place across 13 train operators and Network Rail on Tuesday, Thursday and next Saturday. There will also be a London Underground strike on Tuesday.
Rail passengers have been urged not to travel by train during next week’s strike action – with some operators even warning commuters of serious disruption to schedules on non-strike days next week due to a knock-on effect. A number of events have also been cancelled as a result of the strikes.
Last night it was announced that discussions between unions and Network Rail, train operators and London Underground had failed, ending hope of an 11th hour-deal to call off the strikes. Mr Lynch said rail operators had now gone ‘radio silent’ with unions, but he said talks with Network Rail remained ongoing.
Today Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the strike was ‘disastrous’ for passengers and that would ‘inconvenience millions of people’. He also lashed out at union barons, who he said were ‘gunning for a strike’ and claimed the RMT were ‘jeopardising the future of the railway itself’ by pushing back against the railways being ‘modernised’.
But Mr Lynch did not appear to back down during a round of TV interviews this morning. He said workers were being ‘robbed of wages’ due to soaring inflation rates.
And in a move that will further concern ministers he did not rule rail strikes beyond this month’s planned action. He also warned other sectors could follow in his union’s footsteps by calling their own industrial action.
Mr Lynch told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme: ‘I think there are going to be many unions balloting across the country, because people can’t take it anymore.
‘We have got people who doing full time jobs who are having to take state benefits and use food banks. That is a national disgrace.’
However Mr Lynch insisted the RMT did not ‘want to be the cause of disruption in people’s lives’. He said: ‘We want a settlement to this dispute. But we’re facing a crisis for our members. We’re faced with thousands of job cuts – despite what Grant Shapps says – there’s no guarantee these redundancies won’t be compulsory.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps says strikes are a ‘huge act of self-harm’ which could jeopardise the future of the UK rail industry
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has warned the country’s biggest rail union that this week’s strikes will be a ‘huge act of self-harm’ which could jeopardise the future of the industry.
Mr Shapps dismissed a call from the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union for the Government to intervene as a ‘stunt’, saying the union had been ‘gunning’ for industrial action for weeks.
However, Labour said ministers needed to step in to prevent the network ‘grinding to a halt’ in a dispute over pay, conditions and job losses.
On Saturday, the RMT confirmed that strikes at Network Rail and 13 train operators will go ahead on Tuesday, Thursday and next Saturday, and on London Underground on Tuesday.
General secretary Mick Lynch said the union had no choice but to act after the train operators had still not made a pay offer when talks adjourned on Thursday.
‘What else are we to do? Are we to plead? Are we to beg? We want to bargain for our futures. We want to negotiate,’ he told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme.
Mr Shapps, however, said the union had been ‘gunning’ for industrial action for weeks and accused it of ‘punishing’ millions of ‘innocent people’ who will be affected by the strikes.
‘Of course, it is a reality that if we can’t get these railways modernised, if we can’t get the kind of efficiency that will mean that they can work on behalf of the travelling public, then of course it is jeopardising the future of the railway itself,’ he told the Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme.
‘I think it is a huge act of self-harm to go on strike at the moment. I don’t believe the workers are anywhere near as militant as their unions who are leading them up the garden path. They are gunning for this strike. It is completely unnecessary.
‘There is a sensible pay deal, there is a sensible modernisation of the railway which would enable much more flexibility, but the unions need to understand the world has changed and people don’t necessarily need to travel in the way they did in the past.’
‘We’ve seen four or five thousands jobs already go from the railway. They’ve told our maintenance staff on Network Rail that three thousand jobs will go.
‘They’re going to cut back on the safety regime, they’ve told us that every single booking office in Britain will close.
‘They’ve told us that they’re going to extend the working week from 35 hours to 40, or possibly 44.
‘And for new entrants that will mean lower wages. So they’re actually proposing pay cuts, not a pay rise, and an increase in working time on the railway.’
The RMT general secretary insisted his union was ‘not asking for special treatment’.
‘We’ve had pay cuts – most of our members have not had a pay rise for two to three years. I’m talking about actual pay cuts, the reduction of salaries, as well as the losses against the rate of inflation.’
He later told LBC that workers must be offered an acceptable settlement within the next 48 hours.
He said: ‘We’ve got a threat to jobs, we want a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies. We’ve got the threat to working conditions, which is a really important part of this dispute. Terms and conditions and working practices are threatened with being shredded.
‘We’ve got the pay issue which is ongoing now, most of our members haven’t had a pay rise for two or three years and that includes Network Rail and all other train companies.’
Asked if the strike could be called off still, he said: ‘There is a way it can be called off. We’ve got 48 hours, we can get round the table. Deals have been done in that time.’
It comes as Mr Shapps today warned next week’s strike would be ‘disastrous’ for the rail industry.
He told Sky News: ‘It is a huge mistake. The unions have been gunning for this strike throughout. This strike is completely unnecessary.
‘It is going to inconvenience millions of people – students doing their GCSEs and A-levels, people trying to get to hospitals to try get operations that have been postponed, perhaps, during coronavirus.
‘It is disastrous. It is no way to behave on the railway. There is no advantage to this. I know Mick Lynch says he is ‘nostalgic for union power’ but this is no way to behave.’
‘This is a stunt at the 11th hour by the union, suddenly coming forward and saying ‘We need to negotiate with the Government now’ even though this last month they told me they wouldn’t be seen dead negotiating with the Government.’
In a warning about the impact of industrial action on the future of Britain’s rail network, Mr Shapps added: ‘Of course, it is a reality that if we can’t get these railways modernised, if we can’t get the kind of efficiency that will mean that they can work on behalf of the travelling public, then of course it is jeopardising the future of the railway itself.
‘I think it is a huge act of self-harm to go on strike at the moment. I don’t believe the workers are anywhere as militant as their unions who are leading them up the garden path. They are gunning for this strike. It is completely unnecessary.’
It comes as Mr Lynch yesterday revealed nationwide travel chaos could drag on well into 2023 – as he compared himself to Thatcher’s foil Arthur Scargill and said he’s ‘nostalgic’ for the era of the Miners’ Strike.
source www.dailymail.co.uk
