After more than 35,000 train workers in Britain voted in favor of strikes, which could start as early as mid-June, a militant rail union boss was today accused of having his “hands around the windpipe of the country.”
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union at Network Rail and 13 train operators have voted to launch a massive strike campaign, and the union’s officials will now determine when to go on strike.
The move last night paves the way for a ‘summer of discontent’ and the biggest walkout in modern history if a deal is not struck with Network Rail and more than a dozen train operators covering most of the country. Rail union leaders want staff pay rises in line with the Retail Prices Index rate of inflation – currently 11.1 per cent.
It comes as civil servants are considering a strike over public sector pay that would cause chaos at airports, courts and tax offices – but Ministers say restraint is needed on taxpayer-funded salaries to avoid ‘spiralling inflation’.
UK employers are offering annual pay settlements worth an average increase of 2.8 per cent to staff, according to Chartered Management Institute data. Its survey last month also found pay settlements in the private sector averaged 3.2 per cent, compared with 2.4 per cent in the public sector – despite inflation now hitting 9 per cent.
And amid mounting concerns that a rail strike would cripple services – causing power blackouts, petrol shortages and empty shelves – ITV’s Good Morning Britain presenter Richard Madeley told RMT chief Mick Lynch today: ‘You know what you stand accused of, and it’s an abuse of power. You have tremendous power. I mean, you really do have your hands around the windpipe of the country in terms of rail travel, and it’s an abuse of that power.’
But Mr Lynch replied to Mr Madeley: ‘It’s not an abuse of power, it’s a right to take industrial action. We have to jump through a lot of hoops. We’ve got the most stringent anti-trade union laws of any Western democracy.
‘We’ve met and smashed all the thresholds. Our members are ordinary men and women right across this country. They want to secure their jobs. This is also about compulsory redundancies, the lowering of safety standards on our railway, and the ripping up of our terms and conditions.’
Over the last decade, the median earnings for train drivers have risen 39 per cent, far above the national average of 23 per cent, or 15 per cent for nurses. Train drivers on average earn £59,000, compared with £31,000 for nurses and £41,000 for police officers. Rail workers can also retire at 62, earlier than civil servants, nurses and teachers.
But Eddie Dempsey, the lead officer on Network Rail negotations for RMT, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We don’t think it’s unreasonable. What we’re asking for is a pay rise. Some of our members are in the third year of a pay freeze this year. We’re asking for a no compulsory redundancy guarantee. We’re not saying that there’s going to be no jobs lost in the industry, we just want that managed in a way that protects people, gives people security.’
Presenter Nick Robinson claimed that the median average pay of RMT members is £46,000, but Mr Dempsey replied: ‘Plenty of our members are on far lower than that, most of our membership is on around £23,000.’
A walkout by Network Rail signallers will have a significant impact on services across Britain – and it is possible that trains will only run for part of the day, such as from 7am to 7pm and only on main lines.
Services could also be reduced to around a fifth of the normal weekday timetable. If strikes go ahead, they would cost the rail industry around £30 million each day, according to sources.
RMT workers have voted in favour of strike action at 13 train companies, which were Chiltern Railways; CrossCountry; Greater Anglia; LNER; East Midlands Railway; c2c; Great Western Railway; Northern; Southeastern; South Western Railway; TransPennine Express; Avanti West Coast; and West Midlands Trains.
Govia Thameslink Railway, which operates Thameslink, Southern, Great Northern and Gatwick Express services, voted only for action short of a strike, while the Island Line on the Isle of Wight voted against either.
The militant RMT union said that of more than 40,000 members balloted, 89 per cent voted in favour of strikes and 11 per cent against. The turnout was 71 per cent, and it has been balloting members since last month.
Meanwhile civil servants are set to be balloted for industrial action in September, with delegates at the Public and Commercial Services union’s conference agreeing to hold a vote after being offered a 2 per cent pay rise.
And there could also be woe for holidaymakers travelling through London Heathrow this summer who will have to prepare for delays and slower service, because the GMB union is balloting for strikes to take place at the airport. Mr Lynch said: ‘Today’s overwhelming endorsement by railway workers is a vindication of the union’s approach and sends a clear message that members want a decent pay rise, job security and no compulsory redundancies.
Our NEC (National Executive Committee) will now meet to discuss a timetable for strike action from mid-June, but we sincerely hope ministers will encourage the employers to return to the negotiating table and hammer out a reasonable settlement with the RMT.’
Mr Lynch has previously threatened the ‘biggest strike in modern history’ and warned it could even last until next year.
Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association, which is also threatening industrial action in the same dispute, said: ‘TSSA stands ready to ballot our members.’
The RMT said it was the biggest endorsement for industrial action by railway workers since privatisation in the 1990s – and at least four in five rail services could be cancelled with huge parts of the network brought to a standstill.
The RMT will now be demanding urgent talks with Network Rail and the train operating companies.
The RMT dispute is regarding pay and claims that Network Rail, which operates Britain’s railway infrastructure, intends to cut at least 2,500 maintenance jobs as part of a £2billion reduction in spending on the network.
It also claims that staff at train companies have been subject to pay freezes, threats to jobs and attacks on their terms and conditions.
Network Rail denies it plans to make compulsory redundancies and says it will not have to if the union agrees to staff working more flexibly.
Andrew Haines, Network Rail’s chief executive, said: ‘The RMT has jumped the gun here as everyone loses if there’s a strike. We know our people are concerned about job security and pay.
‘As a public body we have been working on offering a pay increase that taxpayers can afford, and we continue to discuss this with our trade unions.
‘We urge the RMT to sit down with us and continue to talk, not walk, so that we can find a compromise and avoid damaging industrial action.
‘We are at a key point in the railway’s recovery from the pandemic. The taxpayer has provided the industry with £16billion worth of additional life support over the last two years and that cannot continue.
Any industrial action now would be disastrous for our industry’s recovery and would hugely impact vital supply and freight chains. It would also serve to undermine our collective ability to afford the pay increases we want to make.’