Train strikes: Firms make first offer in bid to stop Christmas strikes

The radical representing bid companies successful the obstruction quality has made its archetypal connection to the RMT national successful a bid to halt strikes successful the run-up to Christmas.

The latest circular of strikes by RMT members astatine Network Rail and 14 bid companies is owed to statesman successful 9 days.

The Rail Delivery Group said its connection includes a wage summation for unit of up to 8% implicit 2 years.

It urged the RMT to enactment the connection to its members to "remove the threat" of concern enactment implicit Christmas.

In the ongoing enactment implicit pay, moving conditions and occupation information for obstruction workers, concern enactment is presently owed to instrumentality spot crossed 4 48-hour periods connected 13-14 and 16-17 December, and 3-4 and 6-7 January.

The RDG described the connection it made connected Sunday is an "outline model agreement", which includes a bundle of projected changes to existent moving practices similar repurposing oregon closing summons offices, with unit having caller multiskilled roles, and Sunday moving wherever it is not successful spot already.

These would assistance to money a wage emergence for unit of 4% this year, backdated to the opening of the fiscal year, followed by different 4% adjacent year.

It besides includes a warrant of nary compulsory redundancies until April 2024.

The radical called connected the national to debar "upsetting the question plans of millions and origin existent hardship for businesses which beryllium connected Christmas custom".

A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group said: "This is simply a just and affordable connection successful challenging times, providing a important uplift successful wage for staff.

"If approved by the RMT, implementation could beryllium fast-tracked to guarantee unit spell into Christmas unafraid successful the cognition that they volition person this enhanced wage grant aboriginal successful the New Year alongside a warrant of occupation information until April 2024."

If the RMT national accepts this outline offer, it would past spell to idiosyncratic bid companies and section representatives to determine whether oregon not to judge it.

Other proposals by the Rail Delivery Group see a determination to driver-only trains wherever possible.

The radical said determination would beryllium opportunities for redeployment and voluntary redundancy programmes for those obstruction workers who wished to leave.

But this is abstracted to negotiations with Network Rail, which employs astir fractional of the workers successful the dispute.

Network Rail, which maintains the railways passim Britain, archetypal made an connection backmost successful the summertime and is inactive successful negotiations to effort to hold immoderate areas of alteration which mightiness let its existent wage connection to increase.

Those talks person been continuing implicit the weekend.

But it says that if strikes are to beryllium called off, it volition request to hap by the extremity of Monday to debar disruption for passengers.