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Empty platforms at King's Cross railway station in London. Rail services have been severely disrupted as members of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) and the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union strike in a continuing row over pay, jobs and conditions. Photo: Morning Star.
Thousands of rail workers in the United Kingdom went on strike over pay and job security on Saturday, August 20, as the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite.
Members of the RMT and TSSA trade unions staged their latest walkout in a dispute affecting Network Rail and several train-operating companies across the country.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “I think that the British public are fed up of being ripped off by this government and by corporate Britain, which have seen companies like BP and British Gas making massive profits while people are struggling to make a living.”
Both unions have accused Transport Secretary Grant Shapps of blocking negotiations with employers.
Rail industry leaders have now joined unions in calling on Shapps to break the deadlock in talks and insisted that their workers deserve more pay and job security.
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Southeastern managing director Steve White said: “Our people deserve a pay rise and job security. Our industry exists to serve our customers and our communities. More talks are needed, then some more and then some more.”
Hovever, Shapps accused unions of blocking members from agreeing a deal and sent a letter to the RMT demanding that the union put a Network Rail offer of 8 per cent over two years to its members.
He wrote: “It is only right that you now put that offer to your members and call off the strikes whilst you do so.”
Lynch said in response: “Our members are not going to be bribed. The offer is puny and they’re not ready to accept it.”
He insisted that an online meeting of 14,000 members on Wednesday had made it clear that the below-inflation offer would be rejected.
TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes said: “It’s clearer than ever that Grant Shapps is the block to resolving this dispute.
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“Industry leaders like Steve White are absolutely right—rail staff do deserve a pay rise and talks are needed to break the impasse.
“Grant Shapps has a cheek saying that unions are blocking a deal when he knows very well it’s him and his own department preventing train operators from negotiating.
“The insulting 2% offer to rail staff came with conditions and with no job security… No one is going to sign up to that, especially in the teeth of a cost-of-living crisis,” he added.
The rail unions will now consider the next steps in their campaign of industrial action.
