Pay offers by train operating companies and Network Rail have been accepted by members of the RMT union, averting further industrial action.
The agreement with train operators means train crew and ticket office staff will gain a 4.75% backdated increase on last year’s pay with a 4.5% rise for the current financial year. Union members at Network Rail, mainly maintenance staff and signallers will get a 4.5% increase this year.
Large majorities voted in favour of the deals: 99% of train crew and ticket office and 89% of maintenance staff and signals operators.
Industrial action
Junior doctors accept 22% pay settlement
The RMT announced that the ballot result would see the end of the long-running national dispute and was the result of unions’ efforts to defend jobs and pay conditions from the attacks of private contractors and the previous Conservative government.
More than 30 days of industrial action have been held since June 2022 in the dispute with Network Rail and rail operators. The strikes from 2022 to 2023 are considered the largest the rail sector has seen since 1989 and involved tens of thousands of workers across the UK.
Industrial action was suspended last year after talks with the Rail Delivery Group but only voted on now.
In a statement, the RMT said its members’ resolve had been “essential in navigating the challenges posed during negotiations and in particular the previous Tory government’s refusal to negotiate in good faith, alongside relentless attacks by sections of the media and the employers.”
Transport secretary Louise Haigh, said: “This is a necessary step towards fixing our railways and getting the country moving. It will ensure a more reliable service by helping to protect passengers from national strikes, and crucially, it clears the way for vital reform and modernising working practices to ensure a better-performing railway for everyone.”
The ballot started last Wednesday, the same day that members of Aslef, the train drivers’ union, accepted their pay offer. Drivers voted overwhelmingly to accept a 15% pay deal, ending a bitter two-year dispute. They will receive a 5% rise for 2022-23, 4.75% for 2023-24 and 4.5% for the present financial year. All payments will be backdated and pensionable for the drivers, who previously earned an average of £64,000.
The long-running dispute at publicly owned ScotRail has also come to an end after train drivers accepted a pay offer. Drivers’ union Aslef said 75% of members voted for the deal, which will provide staff with a 4.5% rise backdated to April.
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
Latest HR job opportunities on Personnel Today
Browse more human resources jobs
