Trains in Renfrewshire are still cancelled today despite strike action being averted.
On Friday, the Rail, Maritime and Transport workers (RMT) union announced they would be calling off planned industrial action set to take place on Saturday, November 5; Monday, November 7 and Wednesday, November 9 due to a breakthrough in negotiations.
However, ScotRail were unable to prevent disruption on the railway network, saying that the “complexity of rewriting timetables and rosters for thousands of our staff” was to blame.
Trains were also cancelled on Saturday.
More than 2,000 ScotRail workers – including conductors, ticket examiners, station staff, engineering depot staff and CCTV operators were due to take part in the latest round of strike action.
But after a meeting between the RMT union and ScotRail bosses on Friday, it was postponed.
David Simpson, ScotRail's service delivery director, said: “ScotRail welcomes the announcement that planned strike action on November 5, 7, and 9 by RMT members at Network Rail has been suspended.
“Strike action does nothing for the railway’s recovery or reputation at this fragile time. It impacts customers, staff, and the economy.
“We’re now working hard to restore the timetable to normal as soon as possible, but this will take time.
“We’d encourage anyone planning to travel by rail over the next few days to check their journey before travel on our website or social media channels.”
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “The threat of strike action and our strongly-supported industrial campaign has made the rail employers see sense.
“We have always wanted to secure a negotiated settlement and that is what we will continue to push for in this next phase of intensive talks.
“Our priority is our members, and we are working towards securing a deal on job security, a decent pay rise and good working conditions.
“Our re-ballot remains live and if we have to take strike action during the next six months to secure a deal, we will.”
At Friday's meeting, ScotRail bosses were notified of plans for future strike action to take place every Friday and Saturday between December 2 and December 24 – as well as on Saturday, November 19 – unless a deal is agreed as workers continue to fight for a “decent cost of living pay increase”.
Speaking about the threat of looming industrial action, Phil Campbell, ScotRail's head of customer operations, said: “Strike action in the lead up to Christmas would severely impact our customers, our staff, and the economy.
"We are assessing the full impact of any potential strike action and we’ve begun preparing contingency arrangements should it go ahead."
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