The
railway
industrial
relations
crisis
deepened
last
night,
when
the
drivers’
union
ASLEF
announced
that
its
members
at
12
operators
had
voted
‘overwhelmingly’
to
continue
striking
over
pay
during
the
next
six
months.
The
RMT
also
appears
to
have
hardened
its
stance,
when
it
emerged
on
Sunday
night
that
widespread
extensions
of
driver
only
operation
were
part
of
the
latest
offer
from
the
Rail
Delivery
Group.
The
new
ASLEF
ballot
was
a
legal
requirement.
The
union’s
general
secretary
Mick
Whelan
said:
‘This
shows
just
how
angry,
and
determined,
our
members
are.
The
turnouts
were
huge
and
the
mandates
are
overwhelming.
‘The
resolve
of
our
members
is
rock
steady.
A
93
per
cent
“Yes”
vote,
up
on
the
very
high
figure
last
time,
on
an
average
turnout
of
85
per
cent
shows
that
our
members
are
in
this
for
the
long
haul.
‘Now
we
don’t
want
to
go
on
strike.
We
don’t
want
to
inconvenience
passengers,
our
friends
and
families
use
the
railway
too,
and
we
believe
in
investing
in
rail
for
the
future
of
our
country,
and
drivers
don’t
want
to
lose
a
day’s
pay.
Strikes
are
always
a
last
resort.
‘But
the
intransigent
attitude
of
the
train
companies,
with
the
government
acting,
with
malice,
in
the
shadows,
has
forced
our
hand.
‘These
drivers,
who
were,
don’t
forget,
the
people
who
moved
key
workers
and
goods
around
the
country
during
the
pandemic,
have
not
had
a
pay
rise
for
nearly
four
years
since
April
2019.
With
inflation
running
in
excess
of
14
per
cent
the
companies
and
the
government
are
saying
that
they
want
us
to
take
a
real
terms
pay
cut.
‘That’s
why
we
are
calling
on
the
companies
to
come
to
the
table
with
a
proper
proposal
to
help
our
members,
their
drivers,
buy
this
year
what
they
could
buy
last
year.
That
is
the
way
to
prevent
another
strike
and
all
the
disruption
that
causes.
The
ball
is
now
firmly
in
the
train
companies’
court.
And
we
are
calling
on
the
government
to
help,
not
hinder,
the
negotiating
process.’
The
situation
also
worsened
when
the
RMT
said
last
night
that
it
‘just
heard
from
the
Rail
Delivery
Group
and
there
will
be
no
revised
offer
from
them
on
the
TOC-side
of
the
dispute
and
they
have
been
instructed
by
the
government
instead
to
take
on
the
strike
action
set
out,
rather
than
trying
to
resolve
the
dispute
through
negotiations’.
The
union
has
refused
an
offer
which
would
have
meant
4
per
cent
pay
increases
in
2022
and
2023.
It
continued:
‘It
is
now
absolutely
clear
that
the
RDG’s
attempts
to
resolve
the
dispute
by
making
a
revised
and
improved
offer
have
been
blocked
by
the
government.
‘The
companies
know
that
RMT
cannot,
and
never
will,
accept
the
implementation
of
Driver
Only
Operation
as
a
national
principle
for
operating
the
railways.
‘It
is
also
clear
that
it
is
the
government
itself,
and
not
the
RDG,
that
insisted
that
DOO
was
inserted
in
to
the
proposals
on
Sunday
evening
as
a
pre-condition,
and
the
responsibility
for
the
failure
to
progress
proposals
towards
a
resolution
lies
solely
with
the
government,
who
have
torpedoed
the
dispute
resolution
process.
‘The
planned
Industrial
action
for
RMT
Train
Operating
Company
members
goes
ahead
as
scheduled
as
there
is
no
resolution
to
the
dispute
and
in
fact
a
resolution
to
the
dispute
is
now
further
away
due
to
the
government’s
late
intervention
in
the
negotiating
process.’
Major
48-hour
walkouts
affecting
most
train
operators
and
Network
Rail
are
set
to
go
ahead
on
13-14
and
16-17
December,
and
the
RMT
has
announced
a
further
stoppage,
from
18.00
on
Christmas
Eve
to
05.59
on
27
December,
which
will
affect
travellers
during
the
late
afternoon
and
evening
of
Christmas
Eve.
There
are
no
National
Rail
trains
on
Christmas
Day
and
very
few
on
Boxing
Day,
but
projects
at
more
than
300
worksites
over
the
holiday
period
are
set
to
be
disrupted.
Unless
there
is
a
breakthrough
in
the
talks,
there
will
be
two
more
48-hour
RMT
strikes
on
3-4
and
6-7
January.
Operators
have
warned
passengers
not
to
travel
during
the
strikes
unless
their
journeys
are
‘absolutely
necessary’.
Rail
Delivery
Group
chair
Steve
Montgomery
said:
‘Regrettably,
the
RMT
leadership’s
refusal
to
put
our
proposed
8
per
cent
pay
offer
to
its
membership
means
we
are
unable
to
reach
a
resolution
at
this
stage,
although
we
remain
open
to
talks.
With
the
deadline
having
passed
where
disruption
could
be
avoided
even
if
strikes
were
called
off,
our
focus
is
on
giving
passengers
the
maximum
possible
certainty
so
they
can
make
their
festive
plans.
‘No
one
wanted
to
see
these
strikes
go
ahead,
and
we
can
only
apologise
to
passengers
and
to
the
many
businesses
who
will
be
hit
by
this
unnecessary
and
damaging
disruption.
‘We
continue
to
urge
RMT
leaders
to
put
our
proposals
to
their
members
rather
than
condemning
them
to
weeks
of
lost
pay
either
side
of
Christmas
during
a
cost-of-living
crisis.’
Meanwhile,
cleaners
who
work
on
railway
contracts
on
behalf
of
third-party
companies
demonstrated
outside
the
Department
for
Transport
offices
in
London
yesterday
afternoon.
Their
union
the
RMT
is
calling
on
Mark
Harper
to
‘give
a
mandate
to
train
operators
to
end
the
scandal
of
outsourcing’.
The
RMT
is
calling
for
cleaners
to
receive
£15
an
hour,
sick
pay
and
‘decent’
pensions.
The
cleaners,
who
the
RMT
said
are
employed
by
contractors
such
as
Churchill,
Atalian
Servest,
Mitie
and
Bidvest
Noonan,
will
be
striking
on
22,
23
and
31
December.
