Members of the RMT union have voted to accept a pay deal, marking an end in part to the disruptive national rail dispute. bringing some relief to the hospitality sector who feared a festive downturn in business had the strikes gone ahead.
The union announced an overwhelming vote in favour of a 5% pay deal for 2022-23, allowing talks to continue on a further deal for 2023-24 without the threat of strikes or redundancies.
However, commuters will still be hit with rail strikes from this weekend as train drivers represented by the Aslef union walk out over several days in a separate dispute over pay and conditions.
The RMT general secretary, Mick Lynch, said: “Our members have spoken in huge numbers to accept this offer and I want to congratulate them on their steadfastness in this long industrial campaign.
“We will be negotiating further with the train operators over reforms they want to see, and we will never shy away from vigorously defending our members’ terms and conditions, now or in the future.
“This campaign shows that sustained strike action and unity gets results and our members should be proud of the role they have played in securing this deal.”
UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said: “Hospitality businesses will be breathing a sigh of relief that the critical festive period will be protected from strikes from RMT members. Businesses, workers and the public now have a degree of certainty when it comes to their Christmas plans.
“We are not out of the woods yet, with strikes by ASLEF set to cause significant disruption next week. We estimate the planned rolling strikes and overtime ban will cost the sector at least half a billion in lost sales, bringing the total impact of the disruption to over £4b.
“I would urge ASLEF to follow the lead of the RMT and commit to holding no further strikes in December and the New Year. Any further strikes would decimate the essential Christmas trading period for businesses, prevent millions from working and interrupt families’ festive plans.
“It’s critical that all parties still involved in pay disputes continue to negotiate and reach a resolution as soon as possible to avoid further, damaging strikes.”
The transport secretary, Mark Harper, said: “This is welcome news for passengers and a significant step towards resolving industrial disputes on the railway, giving workers a pay rise before Christmas and a pathway to delivering long overdue reforms.
“It remains the case that the train drivers’ union Aslef continue to block their members from having a say on the offer that would take train drivers’ median salaries from £60,000 to £65,000 for a 35-hour, four-day week.
