Rail strike ballot called after RMT rejects ‘cynical’ 0.1% pay offer

Up to 5,000 railway signal workers and operational staff are to be balloted on strike action after the Rail Maritime and Transport Union (RMT), rejected a “cynical” pay offer of an additional 0.1% on the first year of a two-year deal.

RMT members had already rejected the company’s original offer of 4.8% this year and the rate of inflation plus 0.5% next year, which National Rail increased by 0.1%.

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RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: “The cynical offer of an extra tenth of 1% in year one on condition that we do not ballot our members simply fails to address our members’ concerns over the second year of the offer.

“Our members’ verdict on the original offer was quite clear and we warned Network Rail that should it fail to table an acceptable offer on the second year of the deal we would ballot for industrial action,” he said.