As a 5 percent pay raise for rail workers earning more than £60,000 was about to be rejected as being too low, union barons today warned that a nationwide strike that will paralyze Britain is “coming” and that employees who ignore it will be stigmatized as “scabs.”
The leaders of the RMT and Aslef unions have urged employees “across the economy”—including those in the NHS, the postal service, and the education sector—to “stand together” with the train workers they represent during this summer’s unrest.
According to Aslef, nine out of 10 members want to strike over salary.
However, Britain’s unions are moving toward coordinated strikes to create the first nationwide strike since 1926.
Aslef is scheduled to convene tomorrow to declare additional strikes.
To prevent summertime strikes, rail executives have proposed double-digit salary increases.
Threats of strike action are looming as train drivers, civil officials, teachers, Heathrow employees, barristers, and NHS employees demand pay increases ranging from 7% to a staggering 30% over the next five years.
One of Mick Lynch’s generals and RMT leader Eddie Dempsey warned members of the Transport Select Committee that workers from all sectors of the business and country were going to unite and declare, “We deserve a salary increase.
“And that will happen. The majority of people in this nation don’t seem to be aware that something bigger is going on.
“People are no longer willing to accept that they must be kept in poverty so that those at the top can continue to reap the benefits.
“That has passed, and things will alter in the near future.
Following the Commons’ approval of the plans for allowing agency employees to take the place of strikes, ministers have been accused of introducing a “scab charter.”
After their proposals to permit agency employees to take the place of strikers were accepted in the Commons, Aslef’s general secretary, Mick Whelen, informed MPs that they had proposed a “scab charter.”
“The scab charter you have passed,” he remarked. It will be like that. People that scabbed in 1955 and 1982 are still unspoken to in our industry.
Scab management is the only employer of scab labor.
The future labor relations in this sector will be ruined as a result.
“Anyone that uses scab labor, and it’s risky, we won’t be working with them,” the statement read.
And after that, everyone who used scab labor will be viewed very differently going forward.
He defined a scab as “anyone who breaks the strike and crosses the picket line” when asked what he meant by the term.
As a result of a threatening letter received to a worker who refused to go on strike, RMT union leaders have also been charged with “bullying” members into going on strike.
In an effort to avoid a summer of strikes, unions are anticipated to reject a salary increase offer for the lowest-paid workers today.
This year, Network Rail gave militant RMT union members earning under $24,000 the equivalent of a 13% pay increase.
It would be retroactive to January and have “no strings attached.”
If the RMT consents to the modernization of specific working methods, the increase would likewise be matched the following year. It is higher than the current RPI inflation rate of 11.7%.
The incentive would be worth little over 5% for higher-paid employees with wages over £60,000 this year and next.
This year and the following, all employees will receive a cash bonus of about £650, with lower-paid employees receiving an additional £250.
They would also receive a promise that no compulsory layoffs would occur, which is a fundamental demand of the RMT, as well as a 75% discount on rail fares, including for their families and children.
In the event that the two-year salary offer is rejected, Network Rail executives plan to bypass the union barons and try to negotiate a settlement directly with the workforce.
They believe the two-year compensation offer is generous.
According to sources, this would take the form of an internal referendum because they are confident that employees will accept the offer.
The TSSA train union, whose members have also chosen to go on strike, has also received a salary offer.
The offer was a slightly lower 4% increase for this year and a 3% increase for 2023 if certain modernization of working procedures is agreed because it represented better-paid personnel in managerial jobs. In addition, they would get £650 in bonuses and 75% off rail tickets.
The national executive committee (NEC) of the union, according to RMT boss Mick Lynch, has already stated that it would be rejected.
Additionally, he threatened to work with the TSSA and Aslef, the union representing train drivers, whose members have also chosen to strike.
At the end of this month or in the first few days of August, workers from all three unions, which collectively represent over 90,000 rail workers, may go on a nationwide strike.
Our NEC will need to decide on this offer tomorrow, according to Mr. Lynch.
However, Network Rail and the train operating companies need to be aware that RMT has agreements with both London Underground and, most recently, Merseyrail that go much beyond what is being given to our members here [pay increases of 8.4% and 7.1%, respectively].
“If the rail sector will not seek a negotiated settlement with us,” the union said, “we will not hesitate to initiate future strike action and seek to coordinate with Aslef and TSSA.”
‘These current offers don’t come close to what our Network Rail members anticipate,’ TSSA boss Manuel Cortes said, making it seem as though his union will reject the agreement.
These most recent plans will merely bake in real-term pay reductions after years of salary freezes.
“However, we observe that this is back on the table after Network Rail executives made a vow to avoid forced layoffs for more than ten years.
Sincerely, the corporation just used the prospect of forced layoffs to try to intimidate our members into agreeing to a poor compensation arrangement.
Even if the RMT and TSSA accept the offers, there will still be open disagreements between the three unions and the train operators who serve the majority of the nation.
However, it might mitigate the effects of strikes and open the door to a breakthrough in negotiations regarding the outstanding issues.
It follows Aslef’s acceptance of an agreement with ScotRail this week that includes a baseline wage increase of 5%.
To generate millions of pounds in savings, Network Rail, which oversees track maintenance and signaling, aims to modernize operating procedures.
A Network Rail spokesman responded to the most recent proposal by saying: “While money is extremely tight due to the financial difficulties the railroads are experiencing as a result of the epidemic, we can afford to make this offer provided our workforce accept change and compromise, which will fund it.”
Yesterday, as thousands more workers chose to walk out of work, union bosses threatened the largest railworker strikes in nearly a century.
A “summer of discontent” was approved by train drivers for eight operators, including those on well-traveled corridors like the East Coast Main Line.
Additionally, TSSA union members who work for Network Rail and operator Southeastern decided to participate in walkouts.
Members of TSSA for five operators and members of Aslef for three further operators have previously voted in favor of walkouts on trains.
The largest of the three rail unions, the militant RMT, is about to announce yet another wave of walkouts at Network Rail, the London Underground, and 14 mainline train companies.
Although the exact dates of the walkout have not yet been set, union leaders have promised to coordinate them in an effort to spark the largest walkout since the general strike of 1926.
The earliest they could all go simultaneously would be on July 26 because they must give at least two weeks’ notice.
The Commonwealth Games, which are being held in Birmingham from July 28 through August 8th, could be the target of an attack during that week or the first week of August.
With millions of families planning international vacations when the majority of schools break up on July 22, it would also cause mayhem for those traveling domestically for holidays and those attempting to get to airports.
According to rumors, the three unions are holding off on declaring dates so they can plan their action.
We’re likely on the verge of the biggest rail strike wave since 1926, TSSA chief Manuel Cortes warned the Daily Mail.
In everything we do, we strive to have the greatest possible impact.
“We might reach an agreement before we have to take any action,” the employer said, “if the Government removes its dead hand from the negotiations and gives employers a free hand.”
Many of our members, who were the people who transported important employees and supplies throughout the nation during the epidemic, according to Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan, have not received a pay raise since 2019.
Despite the fact that train drivers already make an average income of £54,000, compared to about £31,000 for nurses and £41,000 for police officers, he claimed that the requests were not “unreasonable.”
“We congratulate our comrades in Aslef for their fantastic vote result and the enormous mandate they have for strike action on the railways,” RMT president Mick Lynch said.
“Railway unions and others are an irresistible force in the workplace and wider society when they come together.”
Rail executives acknowledge that very few trains could run if all three unions strike simultaneously.
Only RMT employees participated in the most recent series of three 24-hour walkouts, during which they were able to maintain about one in five services.
About 90,000 train workers are covered by the three unions combined.
They demand a promise of no forced layoffs and wage hikes of at least 7%.
Yesterday, negotiations between the RMT, Network Rail, and train operators resumed in an effort to reach an agreement.
‘We want to see rail unions engage with train operators over the reforms needed to secure a bright long-term future for the industry, including working with Aslef to deliver the more punctual, reliable services we know passengers care about,’ a spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, said.