The
long
series
of
strikes
involving
the
RMT
is
over,
after
18
months
of
walkouts.

A
new
ballot
of
members
has
shown
that
a
majority
are
in
favour
of
accepting
the
latest
pay
offer
from
the
operators.

The
union’s
general
secretary
Mick
Lynch
said:
‘Our
members
have
spoken
in
huge
numbers
to
accept
this
unconditional
pay
offer
and
no
compulsory
redundancies
until
the
end
of
2024.

‘I
want
to
congratulate
them
on
their
steadfastness
in
this
long
industrial
campaign.

‘We
will
be
negotiating
further
with
the
train
operators
over
reforms
they
want
to
see.
And
we
will
never
shy
away
from
vigorously
defending
our
members’
terms
and
conditions,
now
or
in
the
future.

‘This
campaign
shows
that
sustained
strike
action
and
unity
gets
results
and
our
members
should
be
proud
of
the
role
they
have
played
in
securing
this
deal.’

The
first
response
came
from
transport
secretary
Mark
Harper,
who
said:
‘This
is
welcome
news
for
passengers
and
a
significant
step
towards
resolving
industrial
disputes
on
the
railway,
giving
workers
a
pay
rise
before
Christmas
and
a
pathway
to
delivering
long
overdue
reforms.’

The
Rail
Delivery
Group
said:
‘This
welcome
vote
from
RMT
members
will
unlock
a
pay
rise
for
our
people,
and
means
that
fair
agreements
have
now
been
reached
with
three
out
of
the
four
unions
involved
in
the
recent
industrial
dispute.

‘Unfortunately,
the
ASLEF
leadership’s
decision
to
call
further
industrial
action
means
passengers
still
face
disruption
between
1-9
December,
despite
an
offer
remaining
on
the
table
which
would
see
basic
driver
salaries
increase
from
£60k
to
£65k
for
a
four-day
week.

‘We
want
to
reach
a
fair
agreement
which
will
get
more
trains
running
on
time
and
put
the
railway
on
a
sustainable
footing,
at
a
time
when
taxpayers
are
contributing
an
extra
£54
million
a
week
to
keep
services
running
post-Covid.
Instead
of
staging
more
damaging
industrial
action,
we
call
on
ASLEF
to
work
with
us
to
resolve
this
dispute
for
the
long-term
good
of
everyone
who
works
in
rail
and
the
millions
of
businesses
and
passengers
who
rely
on
it
every
day.’

The
results
of
the
ballot,
as
published
by
the
RMT,
show
that
there
was
a
majority
in
favour
of
a
settlement
of
almost
90
per
cent,
with
13,454
at
14
train
operators
in
England
voting
‘yes’
and
1570
’no’. 

This
story
is
breaking:
more
follows