Train drivers will vote on a new pay deal aimed at ending long-running strike action. It follows talks between representatives of Aslef and the Department for Transport that aimed to resolve the pay dispute between drivers and train companies in England.
The new offer is for a 5% backdated pay rise for 2022/23, a 4.75% rise for 23/24, and 4.5% increase for 24/25.
Aslef said the new deal was a “no-strings” offer, meaning it is not conditional on changes to working practices.
The proposed deal could end the long running train drivers’ dispute if members accept it in a vote. More than a dozen England based train companies have been affected by strike action. Aslef leader Mick Whelan insisted the new government had not rolled over and given in to all his demands.
“If it was everything I wanted it wouldn’t have been this deal, it would have been a higher deal, more representative of the higher cost of inflation,” he told the BBC. A breakthrough would herald the end of industrial action which has spanned more than two years and saw drivers stage 18 strikes and take part in several overtime bans, leading to cancelled services.
Under the new Labour government, senior officials began direct pay talks with Aslef bosses last month.
Industrial action has continued since Aslef last rejected a pay offer back in April 2023. More recently the union’s tactic has been to spread walkouts over several days, with different operators affected on each day. The package included successive pay rises of 4%, which the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train companies, said would bring the average annual pay for a driver to £65,000.
According to the Rail Delivery Group, the average train driver salary across the network in 2023 was £60,055.
However, the conditions attached were a significant point of contention. Train companies and the Conservative government argued that changes to ways of working, for example to training and rosters, were necessary to make the railway function more reliably and save money.
They said hard-pressed taxpayers were having to contribute millions each week to keep services running.
However, Aslef argued drivers were being asked to sacrifice too much in exchange for too low a wage rise.
The dispute was at a standstill for a year before signs of progress in May. But the general election was called before there could be a resolution. Under the previous government, negotiations were conducted by the Rail Delivery Group but ministers have had to approve any pay offer as the government in effect took control of the railway during the Covid pandemic.
When the Labour government was elected in July, transport secretary Louise Haigh said she was “committed to resetting industrial relations”. Ms Haigh called the new deal a “breakthrough”, accusing the previous government of dragging the strikes out.
“When I took this job, I said I wanted to move fast and fix things – starting by bringing an end to rail strikes.
“The Conservatives were happy to see the taxpayer pay the price as strikes dragged on and on, and passengers suffered. This Labour Government is doing the right thing and putting passengers first,” Ms Haigh said.
Helen Whately, shadow transport secretary, said: “A ‘no strings’ deal means this will be paid for by passengers and tax payers. We have to make our railways more efficient – but instead Labour has just caved to the unions.
“Ditching working practice reforms leaves a hole in the finances that can only be filled by higher fares or higher taxes.
The Rail Delivery Group has since been removed from negotiations, with Department for Transport officials leading talks instead in July. The Aslef union says it has more than 21,000 members and represents 96% of all the train drivers in England, Scotland, and Wales, where it is organised. In a separate dispute, train drivers working for publicly run Scotrail are currently being balloted for strike action over pay.
Source: BBC
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