Railway strikes are due to continue over the festive period after network rail workers today rejected a wage offer.
The litigation will continue Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union will now continue two 48-hour strikes at Network Rail β and 14 rail companies β from Tuesday to Friday.
The RMT said 63.6% voted to reject Network Rail’s paid offer with a participation rate of 83%.
General Secretary Mick Lynch said: “This is a huge rejection of Network Rail’s substandard offer and it shows our members are determined to continue the strike in pursuit of a negotiated settlement. .
βThe government refuses to lift a finger to prevent these strikes and it is clear they want to outlaw effective strikes in Britain.
“We will stand up to this and our members, along with the entire labor movement, will continue their campaign for a square deal for workers, decent pay rises and good working conditions.”
December rail strikes
Trains will run from 7.30am to 6.30pm on strike days this week, although many parts of the country will have no service, including most of Scotland and Wales.
π¨π¨π¨ | NO TO THE RAIL NETWORK OFFER@RMTunion members working for Network Rail flatly reject the company’s offer
63.6% voted to reject @networkrail offer on a participation rate of 83%.β RMT (@RMTunion) December 12, 2022
A strike by Unite members at Network Rail will not take place after voting to accept the offer.
Network Rail had offered a 5% pay rise for this year – retroactive to January – with a further 4% at the start of 2023 and a mandatory no-job-loss guarantee until January 2025.
The RMT executive recommended rejecting the offer, saying it was linked to “significant” changes in working practices.
Network Rail RMT workers will also strike from 6pm on Christmas Eve until 6am on December 27.
Passengers planning to travel on Christmas Eve will likely be asked to complete their journey before the industrial action begins.
The RMT said the wage offer was linked to thousands of job losses, a 50% reduction in scheduled maintenance tasks and a 30% increase in non-social hours.
Network Rail said it would try to impose these “damaging” changes from December 15, the union said.
Comments are closed.