Hopes of a breakthrough in the national rail strike rose on Friday when RMT leader Mick Lynch said a deal was “achievable”.
It came as the start of the RMT’s second 48-hour walkout this week left only about one in five trains running, with the last commuter services out of London leaving around 6pm.
Mr Lynch said there were “no new proposals on the table” but indicated talks involving Network Rail, the Rail Delivery Group and rail minister Huw Merriman that finished last night had been constructive.
Mr Lynch told Sky News: “We need some compromise on some of the conditions they’re putting on the offer and we’ll need an improvement in the pay offer. That is achievable, in my view.
“I know there are some very simple steps that the employers and ourselves could take together to get a solution to this. That means a common-sense approach — both sides get into a position where there’s some commonly- held positions. And I think we could do that in the next period. And if that is done very quickly, we can consider the industrial action going forward.”
On Thursday members of the TSSA union, with 2,000 white-collar staff at Network Rail, overwhelmingly accepted the same deal that has been offered to the RMT — rises of four then five per cent plus other financial awards, including more for lower-paid workers and guarantees of no redundancies until 2025.
The dispute has split in two, with Network Rail having made an improved offer but efforts of the Rail Delivery Group, on behalf of 14 train companies, hampered by a late precondition that would involve the RMT accepting the principle of driver-only trains.
It was unclear whether the driver-only requirement had been taken off the table but RMT sources confirmed the union was hoping for a breakthrough both with Network Rail and the train companies.
Friday’s action will have an impact until Sunday, when trains will start later than normal. An overtime ban will result in fewer trains over the Christmas period.
RMT maintenance staff at Network Rail are due to walk out between December 24-27 but Mr Lynch said the impact on passengers would be minimal as many services had already been cancelled due to engineering work that includes a week-long closure of Victoria and Liverpool Street mainline stations.
Further strikes involving the RMT’s 20,000 train workers are planned for January. A breakthrough could lead to a suspension of the action, pending an offer being put to f RMT members.
On Monday, 64 per cent of RMT members at Network Rail rejected the offer accepted by TSSA members yesterday.
