Strike action in April

We haven’t heard from Mr Harper, Mr Merriman, the RDG, or the TOCs since those new mandates were announced four weeks ago. In fact, Mr Harper hasn’t deigned to talk to us since December 2022; Mr Merriman hasn’t talked to us since January 2023; and the RDG has not seen fit to join us in the room since April last year. We have given the government every opportunity to come to the table but it is now clear they do not want to resolve this dispute.

Many members have now not had a single penny increase in pay for half a decade, during which time inflation has soared and, with it, the cost of living. We didn’t ask for an increase during the pandemic, when we worked through lockdown, as key workers, risking our lives, to move goods around the country and enable NHS and other workers to get to work.

LNER has used managers – paid £500 a shift – to drive trains on strike days and, after the expiry of the last non-contractual overtime agreement, on most days of the week now. There is no agreement in place for management to drive services on main line infrastructure. It results in branch line services – such as Lincoln, Skipton, and Harrogate – being cancelled because of a lack of route knowledge and means virtually no driver training is being done.

The dispute at Northern centres around management failing to adhere to procedures and agreements on a variety of subjects including bullying, intimidation, and gaslighting of union reps and the subsequent cover-ups of investigations into this. Drivers are fed up with the draconian approach being taken by the company.

"We have given the government every opportunity to come to the table but it has now been a year since we had any contact from the Department for Transport. It's clear they do not want to resolve this dispute.

"The government has now tried their old trick of changing the rules when they can't win and brought in Minimum Service Levels legislation. But this new law, as we told officials during the consultation period, won't ease industrial strife. It will likely just make it worse.

Mick Whelan, Aslef's general secretary, said the union was "in this for the long haul". "Our members - who have not had a pay rise for nearly five years now - are determined that the train companies - and the Tory government that stands behind them - do the right thing," he added.

The day after Transport Secretary Mark Harper disingenuously told the Transport Select Committee [on Wednesday 15 November] that ASLEF should put the RDG’s April offer – which Mr Harper forgot to mention has already been rejected so is not ‘on the table’ – to members ASLEF has announced a rolling programme of one-day strikes and a nine-day overtime ban to ratchet up the pressure on the 16 train companies – and the Tory government that stands behind them – to give train drivers who have not had an increase in salary for four-and-a-half years the pay rise they deserve.

Train drivers at more than a dozen companies will strike on Friday, 1 September and refuse to work overtime on Saturday, 2 September, their union Aslef has said.

• After a week of negotiations at ACAS, the ASLEF Executive Committee have agreed to suspend planned industrial action on the London Underground.
• ASLEF's organiser on the Underground, Finn Brennan, stated that they have made progress in protecting members' working conditions and pensions from government cuts.
• There will be no changes to pension benefits before the next general election.
• Any future changes to working conditions and agreements will only be made through negotiation.
• According to Brennan, this is a significant step forward.

ASLEF members at these train companies have been in dispute for almost a year over the failure of management to offer a fair deal on pay. Most of the drivers have not had a pay increase at all since 2019 and with inflation still well over 10% and the cost of living spiralling, this is not acceptable.

Drivers won't accept modernisation forced upon them with no compensation, and they won't accept a return to draconian Victorian conditions or being expected to work harder, for longer, for less. All workers deserve better than that.

Tube train drivers voted by 99%, on a turnout of 77%, in favor of a walk out, the union said.

Mr Brennan, the union's organiser on London Underground, said its members were not prepared to put up with "threats" to working conditions and pensions.

"We understand that TfL faces financial challenges, post-pandemic, but our members are simply not prepared to pay the price for the government's failure to properly fund London's public transport system," he said.

• Drivers had been offered a 4% pay rise for two years in a row earlier this month in a bid to end a long-running dispute over pay and conditions.
• The pay deal hinged on several changes to working practices.
• Aslef said the proposal was "not and could not ever be acceptable", but its general secretary Mick Whelan said the union was open to further talks.
• The two new strike dates will affect 15 train companies. Aslef members have staged action on six previous occasions, causing huge disruption to services, with some operators unable to run any trains.
• The RMT union, which also represents a few hundred train drivers, confirmed its members at 14 companies would also strike on the same dates in February, although it will only make a marginal difference to the level of disruption.
• The RMT strike will affect many of the same train companies hit by the Aslef walkout, but also include c2c and Island Line.
• RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said negotiations would continue with the rail operators "to create a package on jobs, conditions and pay that can be offered to our members".
• The offer, the first in the dispute to be made by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents train companies, would have seen drivers get a backdated pay rise of 4% for 2022 and a 4% increase this year.
• The RDG had said the deal would have seen the average salary for a driver increase from £60,000 per year to £65,000 by the end of 2023. Ten years ago it was £44,985.
• The Department for Transport called Aslef's rejection "incredibly disappointing", and said passengers had "borne the brunt of these damaging strikes for far too long".

"There is a huge disparity in pay, terms and conditions, despite the fact that they are carrying out vital work at the same railway company. "Our members need a pay rise and will continue their industrial campaign until they achieve a negotiated settlement "Contracting out is hugely exploitative and ultimately these workers must be brought back in house and directly employed by Eurostar."

RMT represents all grades in the company and has had this confirmed many times in writing. Despite this, Cross Country has proceeded to hold discussions with other trade unions regarding pay, policy matters, deliberately excluding the RMT from these crucial negotiations. RMT has voiced his deep concern over CrossCountry's disregard for established agreements and the rights of RMT members.

Staff working on London Overground will take strike action over pay after a below inflation offer. More than 300 workers will take action which includes strikes and action short of strike.

Planned action from Monday to Thursday will no longer go ahead after RMT made progress in discussions with TfL today.

RMT has made it clear that the latest pay offer of 5% from London Underground is unacceptable when Transport for London (TfL) has created a bonus pot of £13 million for senior managers and the commissioner took an 11 per cent pay rise in 2023 taking his salary up to £395,000.

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.

“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.

Following further negotiations between RDG and RMT, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the current dispute has been developed which sets out a process for a mutually agreed way forward, including a backdated 2022 pay rise for staff and job security guarantees. This will now be put to RMT members in each of the Train Operating Companies in a referendum vote.

If accepted, this MOU will terminate the national dispute mandate, creating a pause and respite from industrial action over the Christmas period and into Spring next year, while allowing for these important negotiations on proposed reforms to take place at local train operating company level through the established collective bargaining structures.

Members have already been carrying out an overtime and rest day working ban in pursuit of an improved pay offer. KADs contract with TfL, for operating the DLR, provides for RPI indexed increases in its funding yet KAD’s staff have been offered a pay rise that is less than half the rate of increase in the RPI.

Around 20,000 members were balloted across 14 rail companies with all of them individually achieving over a 50 percent turnout and overwhelming 'yes' votes for further strike action. Overall 89.9% of members voted 'yes' for more strike action on a 63.6% turnout.

"The government who controls this dispute through a contractual mandate over the train operating companies, must now allow the Rail Delivery Group to put forward a revised offer so we can work towards reaching a settlement.

"However, if no new offer is forthcoming, we will once again take strike action in defence of our members livelihoods."

Following talks at ACAS, RMT has managed to save key jobs, prevent detrimental changes to rosters and secure protection of earnings around grading changes. The significant progress means that key elements have been settled although there remains wider negotiations to be had in the job, pensions and working agreements dispute.

The union has been locked in a long running dispute over 600 station staff cuts and detrimental working conditions since last year. Safety concerns have also been raised regarding fewer staff facing higher workloads, more lone working and increased fatigue. The job losses planned will affect every aspect of the tube including stations and maintenance, leading to the likelihood of more unstaffed stations and a lowering of safety standards.

In the letter, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch writes: "I believe that both parties are of the view that we need to navigate a way through the dispute and from the RMT’s position that would mean the following suggested stages:

• A 1-year pay proposal for all companies covering the year 2022-2023, with an underpin, backdated to the relevant anniversary dates in 2022.
• A guarantee of no compulsory redundancies.
• An undertaking that discussions with RMT within the companies, including formal consultations and negotiations, will be deferred until the outcome and determination from the ticket office closures consultation has been provided by the Government and, in any case, that these discussions will not commence before 1st December 2023.
• A commitment that in the interim, ahead of 1stDecember 2023, each Train Operating Company will provide to the RMT in writing, their full agenda, and details of “Workforce Reform” proposals for all functions and grades that they are seeking to apply within their organisations.
• A commitment that the existing collective bargaining structures and processes in each company will be respected and adhered to in full including consultation and negotiation as appropriate to the matters in scope and, if necessary, use of Avoidance of Dispute processes.
• A commitment that pay negotiations for the year 2023–2024 will commence from 1st December 2023.

• Management proposals for staff in Edinburgh would see members becoming poorer, after CrossCountry withdrew an earlier financial offer.
• There is also no commitment to ensure that members currently with flexible working arrangements will continue to keep their existing agreements in their entirety.
• CrossCountry informed the RMT that all despatch duties will cease, and that the despatch element of our members current role 'does not meet their business model'.
• RMT believes this is the thin end of the wedge.
• Attempts to resolve the issue through dialogue have so far failed and the union has been appalled at the attitude displayed by management who have focused on circulating propaganda to staff attempting to divide the workforce rather than come to a settlement.

• RMT has suspended all strike action planned for next week on London Underground after making progress in the pensions and jobs dispute.
• The tube union has been locked in ACAS talks with TfL, trying to find a resolution to the longstanding pensions jobs and working conditions dispute.
• After pressure from union negotiators and the threat to bring the capital to a standstill for a week, significant concessions were made by TfL where their original plans for jobs cuts and pension changes will not be carried out.
• There are now longer guarantees on protection of earnings, no pension changes for at least 3 years and so-called productivity proposals which would have damaged the terms and conditions of RMT members have been halted.
• RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “There has been significant progress made by our negotiating team in ACAS talks with TfL.
• “However this is not the end of the dispute nor is it a victory for the union as yet.
• "RMT's strike mandate remains live until October and we are prepared to use it if necessary.
• ”We will continue to negotiate in good faith as we always have done with TfL and it was only the steadfast commitment of our members in being prepared to take sustained strike action that has forced the employer to make significant concessions.

• RMT will launch a week of action on London Underground from July 23 in a row over pensions, job cuts and attacks on working conditions.
• Different grades and sections of the tube will take strike action from Sunday 23 July until Friday 28 July.
• The union has been in a long running dispute with TfL over jobs, cuts, and attacks on pensions and working conditions.
• 600 jobs are scheduled to be axed, and London Underground staff stand to be poorer in retirement if TfL's proposed changes go through.
• The job losses planned will affect every aspect of the tube including stations and maintenance, leading to the likelihood of more unstaffed stations and a lowering of safety standards.
• There are also planned attacks on tube drivers working agreements and jobs.

• 20,000 railway workers in catering, train managers and station staff are set to go on strike on June 2 in a dispute with the Rail Delivery Group - the government is not allowing the RDG to make an improved offer which the RMT can consider, resulting in the strike.
• The RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: "The government is once again not allowing the Rail Delivery Group to make an improved offer that we can consider. Ministers cannot just wish this dispute away."

RAIL union RMT announced the results of a re-ballot of members working for 14 train operating companies today which massively re-affirmed a mandate for further strike action.

All the ballots passed the 50 per cent participation threshold imposed by the government’s anti-trade union laws and included massive votes for further strike action.

Union members will vote on a strike on May 4. If they vote in favor, they will have a six-month strike mandate.

The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) has issued a new offer to the rail union RMT in the pay, conditions, and job security dispute, which the union has rejected. The offer would see first-year payments for train drivers increased to 5%, and stage 2 discussions which are part of the offer made by the employer would then have to begin without the union having any industrial leverage at the negotiating table.

• Contractors cleaning trains will go on strike on Friday and Saturday.
• RMT is demanding £15 an hour, company sick pay, decent holidays and good pensions from contractors.
• Cleaners working on the Network Rail high speed contract will also be taking part in the stoppage.

Union members are frustrated with the lack of progress in negotiations between their employer and the RDG, and they are also angry with the government for not giving the RDG the mandate to produce a new document. The RDG have agreed to write to the union in due course, but no new document has been produced as of yet.

Following further talks between RMT and the Rail Delivery Group today, a proposal was tabled by the RDG which could lead to a resolution to resolve the current national rail dispute through a new offer.

The NEC has therefore suspended strike action scheduled for March 30 and April 1.RMT will have further talks with the RDG with a view to securing a new offer on pay, job security and working conditions.

The RMT announced today that its 20,000 members have voted to accept a new and improved offer covering pay, jobs and conditions by a margin of three to one. The new offer which was also improved with the new money was made following the most recent strike action in January and the threat of more action. Key features of the offer include: an uplift on salaries of between 14.4 percent for the lowest paid grades to 9.2 percent for the highest paid grades; a total uplift on basic earnings between 15.2 percent for the lowest paid grades to 10.3 percent for the highest paid grades; increased backpay; renewing of the no compulsory redundancy agreement until January 2025; Network Rail withdrawing their previous insistence the offer was conditional on RMT accepting the company’s ‘modernising maintenance’ agenda, which the union will continue to scrutinize and challenge including on safety; discounted rail travel benefits.

Tube union, RMT will take strike action on march 15, over pensions, job losses, and contractual agreements. london underground, which ultimately are responsible for its subsidiary lul, has had its funding cut by government. but instead of standing up to ministers, they have tried to implement cuts to make our members pay for their funding crisis. the deadline for the government and tfl to agree the details of the pension reform has been pushed back  until march 17. rmt general secretary mick lynch said: "our members will never accept job losses, attacks on their pensions or changes to working conditions in order to pay for a funding cut which is the government's political decision." tube workers provide an essential service to the capital, making sure the city can keep moving and work long hours in demanding roles. in return they deserve decent pensions, job security and good working conditions and rmt will fight and tooth nail to make sure that's what they get.

Unconditional offers from rail operators were made to RMT on February 15th, however the union has said these are not good enough and the strike action will commence.

"The government can settle this dispute easily by unshackling the rail companies. However, its stubborn refusal to do so will now mean more strike action across the railway network and a very disruptive overtime ban."

The new offer involves extra money and is not conditional on accepting Network Rail’s modernising maintenance agenda which RMT does not endorse.

The offer also has a total uplift on basic earnings between 15.2% for the lowest paid grades to 10.3% for the highest paid grades.

RMT members in Network Rail will now decide whether to accept the offer in a referendum starting on March 9th and concluding on March 20th at midday. In the meantime, industrial action on Network Rail is suspended.

• The train strikes have cost the UK more than £1bn.
• The strikes have been taking place due to pay disputes between workers in different sectors, including teachers, nurses, and train drivers.
• The government has intervened just before Christmas to torpedo the talks between the unions and train firms, but Mr Merriman denies this.
• Train operators are heavily subsidized by the government, which has contributed to the £1bn cost of the strikes. The company that is most affected by the strikes is Transpennine Express, which is experiencing cancellations due to high sickness rates and a backlog of driver training. The company's contract is under review.

• Train driver RMT members at 14 rail operators will take strike action on February 1 and 3
• Strike is over jobs pay and conditions
• Decision to strike on February 1 coincides with a TUC day of action where several unions are coordinating their strikes during the cost-of-living crisis
• RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: "Our negotiations will continue with the rail operators to create a package on jobs, conditions and pay that can be offered to our members."

• RMT leader, Mick Lynch, calls on ministers to end long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions on the railway before Monday's meeting
• Rail unions and industry leaders to meet ministers in an attempt to break the deadlock, on the first day in almost a month that the railways have not been disrupted by industrial action
• Train operators under the umbrella of the Rail Delivery Group made a first written offer to Aslef on Friday evening. The RMT union rejected offers worth about 9% over two years that included significant changes to working conditions.
• The RMT union accuses the government of blocking negotiations and controlling the offers that employers have been able to make
• Lynch says "his government can end this dispute today by taking out the conditions they put in to torpedo a resolution and let the companies make a deal."
• The Department for Transport spokesperson says the "most important thing for passengers, businesses and the future of our rail industry, is for unions to put an end to these disruptive strikes."
• According to Network Rail, more than £400m in revenue has now been lost to the industry because of a total of 21 days of strikes in Great Britain since last summer.

• Rail minister Huw Merriman will meet union leaders including Mick Lynch of the RMT on Monday after three weeks of unseasonal disruption left the two sides apparently as far apart as ever.
• In 2019-20, the last full year before COVID struck, there were 1.74 billion passenger journeys generating £10.4bn in fares. Government subsidy amounted to £6.5bn.
• The following year COVID lockdowns and working from home saw the position flip, with a meagre 388 million passenger journeys producing just £1.8bn in fares, and government support to keep the wheels turning rising to £16.5bn.
• Even in the year to March 2022, with the pandemic in abeyance and recovery under way, there were fewer than a billion journeys, fares revenue was still below £6bn, and the government was putting in £13.3bn, more than double the pre-COVID cost to taxpayers.
• Network Rail says the railways no longer have the revenue to meet inflation-matching wage demands.
• In response to the pandemic the government tore up franchise agreements with privately owned train operators and replaced them with service contracts, removing at a stroke the revenue risk from train operators.
• Fares now go directly to the Department for Transport, which pays the operator to run services.
• Train operators still get paid when workers are on strike, receiving compensation for lost revenue of £20m-£25m a day.
• The RMT claims that adds up to £340m paid by the government to private companies since the dispute began.

Dozens of TSSA members working on London's Elizabeth Line will go on strike in January 2023 over pay and proposed changes to pensions. The strikes, which are expected to bring the Elizabeth Line to a halt, will take place on January 12, 2023. In addition, action short of a strike, including working only contracted hours and not providing contingency cover, will take place from January 12 to February 28, 2023. The action follows a successful ballot in which 90% of members voted in favor of strike action and 95% voted in favor of action short of a strike, on an 80% turnout. TSSA members work in essential roles on the Elizabeth Line, including as traffic managers, service and infrastructure managers, and incident response managers. The union has said that members at Rail for London Infrastructure are being paid significantly less than their counterparts on other parts of the TfL network.

Contracted cleaners working on the UK rail network plan to go on strike on December 31, 2022. The strike will involve over 1,000 cleaners working for contractors such as Atalian Servest, Churchill, and Mitie and will affect rail companies including Avanti West Coast, GWR, LNER, and TransPennine Express. The cleaners are demanding higher pay of £15 per hour, company sick pay, decent holidays, and good pensions from contractors that are making millions in profits. In addition, ISS cleaners on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) will take strike action on December 30 and 31 over pay, imposed rosters, and attacks on working conditions. The strike action is being organized by the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union.

An RMT spokesman said: "The union suspended scheduled strikes this week to allow Mitie security members to take part in a referendum on the latest company offer which will be concluded on 19 December. "Strikes for December 22 and 23 next week remain on at the present time."

Security staff at Eurostar are set to go on strike multiple times this December over pay disputes. The strikes, which will be carried out by around 100 staff members contracted to facilities company Mitie, are expected to severely affect Eurostar services and travel plans for people over the holiday period. The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, which represents the striking workers, has claimed that staff earn only £10.66 an hour and called on Mitie and Eurostar to reach a negotiated settlement.