Network Rail Christmas strike to go on as workers reject pay offer
The strikes planned on Network Rail over the Christmas period are set to go on as members of the union RMT have rejected the company’s latest pay offer.
Thousands of rail workers will walk out between 6pm on Christmas Eve and 6am on 27 December, disrupting planned engineering works.
This will be in addition to the industrial action carried at Network Rail as well as at 14 other train companies this week and in early January.
“This is a huge rejection of Network Rail’s substandard offer and shows that our members are determined to take further strike action in pursuit of a negotiated settlement,” RMT’s general secretary Mick Lynch said.
Over 63 per cent of workers voted in favour of striking on an 83 per cent turnout.
“We will resist that and our members, along with the entire trade union movement will continue their campaign for a square deal for workers, decent pay increases and good working conditions,” he added.
The proposal included a nine per cent pay increase over two years and no compulsory job losses until early 2025.
Network Rail’s chief executive Andrew Haines called on the RMT to “stop playing politics and work with us to bring this dispute to an end.”
While a DfTs spokesperson said the situation was frustrating as 36.7 per cent of workers voted in favour of accepting the deal.
“The government has played its part in trying to resolve this dispute and it’s time for unions to play theirs,” they said.
“That’s not only what passengers and the public want, but clearly what a lot of rail workers want as well.”
The news comes as the government this week will hold two Cobra meetings to try and minimise the impact of this month’s strikes.