On Thursday, the United Kingdom’s (UK) largest transport union RMT declared that its members have agreed to a pay offer, which will put a pause on their railway strikes while negotiations continue.
The offer consists of a backdated pay increase of 5 percent for the 2022-23 financial year, while discussions about further agreements will be postponed until next year.
Mick Lynch, general secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), stated, “Our members have spoken in huge numbers to accept this unconditional pay offer and no compulsory redundancies.”
Lynch also added, “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.”
A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, expressed satisfaction with the decision, noting that “agreements have now been reached with three out of the four unions involved in the recent industrial dispute.”
However, despite the RMT agreement, it is expected that passengers will still experience travel disruptions in early December, as the UK’s train drivers’ union ASLEF has opted for further walkouts.
The start of widespread strikes in the summer of 2022 was due to disputes over pay and working conditions. According to official figures, up to 2.472 million working days were estimated to have been lost between June and December 2022, with over three-quarters coming from workers in transport, storage, information, and communication.
