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Rain union barons today vowed to continue strikes for up to three years as train drivers rejected a pay hike that would have left them on an average of £65,000-a-year – almost double the average UK salary.
Members of Aslef and the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) have walked out again on Friday in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions but those involved claim talks are ‘going backwards’.
Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan spoke as the majority of Britain’s train services were cancelled on Friday due to industrial action – and warned that they are ‘in this for the long haul’.
Warning that members are prepared for years of strikes, he said: ‘If we don’t get a pay rise for four years will it be five, will it be six, will it be seven?
‘Will it be stupid to stop this now then restart it some time in the future, because you’d lose any impetus that you’ve gained?’
A traveler looks up at the departure board at Paddington Station in London on another day of rail strikes
He told LBC that Aslef has made no progress in negotiations with the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) – representing train operators – during six months of strikes.
Asked about the prospect of a deal being struck during further talks on February 7, he said: ‘We want a resolution. My people don’t want to be losing money, they don’t want to be standing out in the cold.’
Rail operators today warned of severe disruption, with trains that do run due to start later and finish much earlier than usual – typically between 7.30am and 6.30pm.
It is likely that Saturday morning services on some lines will be affected because rolling stock will not be in the right depots.
RDG chairman Steve Montgomery said negotiations with Aslef are ‘going backwards’ and ‘the talks have not moved on as quickly as we’d like’.
He told Sky News: ‘We all understand that we want to give our staff a pay increase, (it’s) naturally important, particularly in these economic climates.
‘But drivers’ average wages are £60,000 at this moment. We are offering up to £65,000 over two years. That’s quite a significant increase for people.’
Aslef says the offer would add a ‘significant’ number of contracted hours to drivers.
Mr Montgomery said ‘we feel closer to a deal’ with the RMT.
He went on: ‘RMT are presently consulting their members (on an offer) at this moment in time.
‘What we are seeking from RMT is to put that offer out to a referendum to the members and let them decide whether this offer is acceptable as a best and final (one).
‘I’m hopeful that the offer we’ve made will stop the strikes.’
He apologised to passengers for the ‘very limited service’ on Friday, and said the disruption would last ‘all day’, with some services starting ‘slightly later’ on Saturday.
The rail industry said it was working hard to keep as many trains running and criticised the rejection of an offer which would give drivers an 8 per cent pay rise over two years, taking average salaries up from nearly £60,000 a year, to almost £65,000.
An ASLEF a picket line outside Victoria station which is closed to the public during strike action by the RMT and ASLEF Unions
Traffic queues on the A102M Blackwell Tunnel approach in Greenwich during today’s rail strike action
Simon Weller, assistant general secretary of Aslef, said the dispute was going ‘backwards’ because of the lack of progress in months of talks.
He said: ‘I don’t know whether to point the finger of blame at the ineptitude of the Department for Transport or the Rail Delivery Group.
‘We would struggle to recommend a deal of a 4 per cent pay rise for last year and 4 per cent this year if there were no conditions attached, but we are being asked to give up collective bargaining and effectively agree to a no-strike deal.
‘Obviously it was going to be rejected – it was designed to fail.’
Mr Weller said the attitude among Aslef members was ‘hardening’, but he believed the fault lay squarely with the DfT and train operators.
He claimed the latest offer would add a ‘significant’ number of contracted hours to a train driver.
On the issue of whether Sunday working should be compulsory, he said: ‘We have been willing to include Sundays in the working week, but companies find it cheaper to have drivers working overtime on Sundays.’
A spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group said: ‘Having made an initial offer which would have taken average driver salaries from £60,000 to nearly £65,000, we had hoped the Aslef leadership would engage constructively to move talks forward, rather than staging more unnecessary strikes.
‘We can only apologise for the disruption.
‘To minimise the impact of the Aslef action, we advise passengers to check before they travel, allow extra time and find out when their first and last train will depart.’
It will be the second strike by train drivers this week, after they took part in the huge day of industrial action on Wednesday, which also involved teachers, university staff, civil servants, bus drivers and security guards.
Around 1,900 members of Unite working as bus drivers for Abellio in London will complete a three-day strike on Friday in a separate dispute over pay.
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