Members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) have voted to accept the pay deal at 15 train operating companies negotiated by the union and the Rail Delivery Group.
Rolling strike action organised by train drivers’ union Aslef at 16 railway companies is, however, still scheduled to go ahead, beginning on Saturday 2 December.
The RMT vote brings to an end a pay dispute that began in May 2022 when RMT members voted in favour of strike action at 15 train operating companies. The RMT’s dispute with Network Rail which began at the same time was resolved in March 2023.
The union announced an overwhelming vote in favour in an electronic ballot of a 5% pay deal for 2022-23, allowing talks to continue on a further deal for 2023-24 without the threat of strikes or redundancies.
RMT accepts pay offer
RMT and train operators agree potential deal to end strikes
An average of 89.6% of RMT members voted in favour, ranging from 80.9% at Avanti West Coast to 95.4% at Greater Anglia. The aggregated turnout across the 15 rail companies was 79%.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “Our members have spoken in huge numbers to accept this unconditional pay offer and no compulsory redundancies until the end of 2024.
“I want to congratulate them on their steadfastness in this long industrial campaign. We will be negotiating further with the train operators over reforms they want to see. And we will never shy away from vigorously defending our members’ terms and conditions, now or in the future.”
“This campaign shows that sustained strike action and unity gets results and our members should be proud of the role they have played in securing this deal.”
While the threat of strike action has come to an end, train driver members of the Aslef union begin a national nine-day overtime ban tomorrow (1 December) and rolling strikes at 15 train operating companies (TOCs) from 2-8 December.
A Rail Delivery Group spokesperson said: “This welcome vote from RMT members will unlock a pay rise for our people, and means that fair agreements have now been reached with three out of the four unions involved in the recent industrial dispute.
“Unfortunately, the Aslef leadership’s decision to call further industrial action means passengers still face disruption between 1-9 December, despite an offer remaining on the table which would see basic driver salaries increase from £60k to £65k for a four-day week.
“We want to reach a fair agreement which will get more trains running on time and put the railway on a sustainable footing, at a time when taxpayers are contributing an extra £54m a week to keep services running post-Covid. Instead of staging more damaging industrial action, we call on Aslef to work with us to resolve this dispute for the long-term good of everyone who works in rail and the millions of businesses and passengers who rely on it every day.”
Mick Whelan, Aslef general secretary, said: “We are going on strike again not to inconvenience passengers, but to express our disgust at the intransigence of this government, and the bad faith shown by the private companies which employ us.
“It is clear that the Tory government does not want to resolve this dispute. We haven’t had a meeting with Mark Harper, the transport secretary, since December 2022. We haven’t had a meeting with Huw Merriman, the rail minister, since January this year. And we haven’t heard from the employers, the private sector train operating companies for whom we work, since April.
“We are prepared to come to the table and negotiate but the TOCs – and the Tories that stand behind them in what is turning into a political, rather than an industrial, dispute – CBA [can’t be arsed]. They simply can’t be bothered. They are happy to see this dispute rumble on, for passengers and businesses to suffer, and to drive Britain’s railways – once the envy of the world – into a managed decline.”
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