Rail Dispute Update - August 2022

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Rail Dispute Update – August 2022 Thousands of rail worker members of RMT will be taking further strike action on the mainline railway on 18 and 20 August. The government is still refusing to meet the RMT and are instead directing the Train Operating Companies (TOCs) and Network Rail to begin the process of mass redundancies and hugely detrimental changes to terms and conditions, including imposing longer working hours for less pay. What pay offers there have been do not address the cost-of-living crisis and amount to significant real term pay cuts. They also compare poorly with deals achieved where the government is not dictating terms, for example on London Underground (8.4%), Docklands Light Railway (7.3%) and Merseyrail (7.1%). Key points • The rail dispute is with Network Rail and fourteen Department for Transport controlled TOCs and involves over 40,000 RMT members. • We have been seeking to work with government and employers for almost two years to address the challenges facing our industry, including the jobs, pay and conditions of our rail workers. Intensive negotiations have taken place with Network Rail and, separately, with the Train Operating Companies under the auspices of the Rail Delivery Group. • No offers have been made that address the cost-of-living crisis. Instead at the direction of the government the employers want to make mass redundancies and increase the working week by five hours for new entrants and abolish collective bargaining over pay. The employers literally want rail workers to work more for less. This attempt to create a race to the bottom will also store up future industrial relations problems by creating a two–tier workforce. The employers have not ruled out using the “More Hours, Less Pay” model for current employees by giving them notice on their existing contracts and imposing new contracts. • It is also clear that the government is directly controlling the dispute. Network Rail negotiators have indicated they have to refer back to the government throughout the negotiations. The TOCs are even more closely entangled with the government. Legal opinion secured by the TUC has shown that the TOCs must take their mandate on all issues relating to pay, employment and conditions from the Secretary of State and, as Grant Shapps has now admitted, he must sign off any deal. In addition, in any dispute the TOCs must agree a ‘dispute handling policy’ with the government and give the Secretary of State


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Rail Dispute Update - August 2022 by RMT Union - Issuu