RMT accepts offer from Southern Rail for talks on Wednesday
Fresh talks will go ahead tomorrow in an attempt to break the deadlock between Southern Rail and the Rail and Maritime Transport (RMT) union.
Charles Horton, the beleaguered boss of Southern Rail, today offered to meet with the RMT to try and halt ongoing industrial action.
Read more: Southern Rail commuters had very British responses to today's train chaos
Horton wrote to RMT general secretary Mick Cash, saying that he was prepared to clear his diary from tomorrow morning and “to meet and to show your serious intent, I would like the RMT to call off the rest of the strike action planned for this week”.
In response, the RMT confirmed that it would meet with Southern but wasn't prepared to relent on current industrial action.
"The union is preparing for face to face talks with Southern tomorrow. The strike action remains on," said RMT general secretary Mick Cash.
Read more: London travel chaos: Lines blocked by broken down train as strikes kick off
Today's letter from Horton to Cash indicated that Southern was only prepared to put back on the table its previous offer.
“Our proposals remain unchanged from 8 August when we set out our full, fair and comprehensive 8-point offer. These were supplemented by the offer of a lump sum payment on the 3 October, which the RMT rejected last week. Let’s hope sense prevails and we can shake hands on a deal,” Horton wrote.
Last minute talks aimed at avoiding any disruption to service collapsed last week, despite Southern Rail launching a legal challenge against the RMT in order to prevent the strike.