Network Rail strike rescheduled as RMT union refuses pay offer
THE RAIL strike is back on. Londoners may have avoided travel disruptions earlier this week when the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union called off a two-day strike over pay disputes, but yesterday the union said that more industrial action could be expected as soon as next week.
RMT said that it would hold a 24-hour strike from 5pm on 4 June, and a second, 48-hour strike beginning at the same time on 9 June. The union’s general secretary Mick Cash said his group had been left with “no option” but to walk off the job after receiving a new pay offer from Network Rail. Cash called the offer “unacceptable.”
Mark Carne, chief executive of Network Rail, said his organisation was ready to continue talks with the unions and disappointed by their decision to strike.
“It is clearly unacceptable for the RMT to massively disrupt the travelling public with strike action when we are ready to continue talks,” Carne said. Meanwhile, transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin condemned the strike plans, calling them “totally unreasonable”.
“Over the past four years Network Rail staff have enjoyed pay rises eight times higher than other public sector workers,” McLoughlin said, adding: “By any measure RMT members already get a fair deal.”
According to the transport department, the average electrical control operator now earns £59,145 per year.