RMT members again additional strike motion in row with prepare working corporations

Commuters could possibly be hit by additional disruption after members of the most important rail staff’ union voted for extra strikes.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) stated employees working for 14 prepare corporations overwhelmingly backed a mandate to take extra industrial motion for the subsequent six months as a part of a long-running dispute over pay and circumstances.

RMT basic secretary Mick Lynch stated the end result was a de-facto referendum on the pay supply that has been put to them.

“It is clear from these results that members are not prepared to accept a pay offer based on mass job cuts and major attacks on their terms and conditions,” he stated.

“This sends a transparent message to the employers that the large anger amongst rail staff may be very actual and they should recognise that reality, face actuality and make improved proposals.

“They need to get around the table with RMT and negotiate in good faith for a better deal for rail workers.”

Unions concerned in disputes must re-ballot their members each six months to legally proceed with strikes and different types of motion.

The RMT has already announced a strike against train companies on 13 May, the day of the Eurovision Song Contest ultimate in Liverpool.

The resolution got here after union leaders rejected the latest pay offer from the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents prepare working corporations.

Mr Lynch stated the RDG had “torpedoed” negotiations by reneging on a 9% supply the union had been contemplating for a number of weeks, by making the primary 12 months’s 5% pay deal contingent on withdrawing its mandate for strike motion.

The RMT stated that will take away its “industrial leverage at the negotiating table” and it had no alternative however to strike.

Train drivers from the Aslef union, who’re concerned in a separate dispute with the RDG, have additionally introduced strikes on Friday 12 May, Wednesday 31 May, and Saturday 3 June – the latter on the day of the soccer cup ultimate and the Epsom Derby.

But the RDG have known as the motion “unnecessary” and accused the unions of “senselessly targeting both the final of Eurovision and the FA cup final”.

The firm hit out on the RMT after the most recent announcement, saying whereas outcomes of the poll are “disappointing, sadly it is also unsurprising”.

“The vote that really matters is for the deal on the table developed in conjunction with RMT negotiators but then subsequently rejected out of hand in unflattering terms by their executive committee.

“The RMT membership could be forgiven for questioning why they’re solely ever supplied a vote to increase this dispute and a by no means vote to finish it.”

In February, the RMT’s executive committee rejected what it called a “dreadful” supply for a 5% payrise backdated to January final 12 months and a 4% pay rise for 2023. Mr Lynch stated modifications to working practices that got here alongside the deal would lead to 1000’s of job losses and make the railways much less secure.

But he was criticised by unions and the federal government for not placing the supply to a vote of the RMT membership.