Train strikes: RMT members reject latest Network Rail pay offer

Members of the UK's largest obstruction national person rejected a wage connection from Network Rail, dashing hopes of minimising onslaught action.

Network Rail, which owns and maintains the railways, offered workers a 5% wage emergence this twelvemonth and a 4% emergence successful 2023.

But connected Monday RMT national members followed its telephone to cull the deal, with 63.6% voting against it.

Strikes volition resume connected Tuesday and passengers person been advised to question lone if it is perfectly necessary.

Union members who enactment for Network Rail arsenic good arsenic for 14 bid companies volition signifier walkouts this week, firstly connected Tuesday and Wednesday and past connected Friday 16 December and Saturday 17 December.

It was besides announced past week that RMT members astatine Network Rail volition instrumentality further concern enactment from 18:30 connected Christmas Eve until 06:00 connected 27 December.

Workers astatine the bid companies volition past spell connected onslaught betwixt 3-4 January and 6-7 January.

The concern enactment is portion of a long-running quality betwixt the RMT, which represents astir 40,000 obstruction workers, and the bid operators and Network Rail implicit pay, jobs and conditions.

Both RMT members employed by Network Rail and those moving for bid companies volition signifier walkouts this week, with enactment besides being taken connected Wednesday 14 December, and connected Friday 16 and Saturday 17 December.

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

"The authorities is refusing to assistance a digit to forestall these strikes and it is wide they privation to marque effectual onslaught enactment amerciable successful Britain," helium said.

"We volition defy that and our members, on with the full commercialized national question volition proceed their run for a quadrate woody for workers, decent wage increases and bully moving conditions."

Other unions are besides progressive successful the quality and Unite, which represents conscionable implicit 50 electrical power country operators, accepted Network Rail's wage offer.

"Industrial enactment by our members scheduled to instrumentality spot implicit December and January volition present not instrumentality place," said Unite nationalist serviceman Harish Patel.

Workers are calling for amended conditions and wage rises to lucifer the gait of inflation, with the outgo of surviving rising astatine its fastest complaint for much than 40 years.

On Saturday Mr Lynch called connected the premier curate to conscionable him to effort to resoluteness the dispute.

But connected Monday Rishi Sunak's authoritative spokesperson said: "We are not seeking to enforce authorities implicit and supra either the autarkic wage reappraisal process oregon ongoing discussions betwixt employers and the unions.

"We won't beryllium changing the process."