Schools minister Nick Gibb has criticised the RMT union after it announced a new wave of Christmas strikes that would disrupt “hundreds of thousands of people up and down the country”.
Gibb’s words come after RMT announced a new set of rail strikes that will last from December 24 to December 27, amid the ongoing row with rail bosses over pay and conditions.
However, Gibb has said that RMT had rejected a fresh pay offer without consulting its members and he has called on the union not to “hold the country to ransom” and call the strikes off.
The new strikes come on top of industrial action already scheduled for next week and early January. Walkouts are still to be staged over December 13-14 and 16-17, as well as on January 3-4 and 6-7.
Around 40,000 workers will strike as part of the latest waves of industrial action, which is likely to cause knock-on effects to services on days around the strikes.
Mick Lynch, the RMT general secretary, blamed the disruption on the government.
Lynch accused ministers of “running the playbook and the strategy for the railway companies” and “directing what’s going on”.
Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner sympathised with the striking workers, pointing out that with each day of industrial action, they lose out on wages.
“Every single day that those workers have been on strike they've lost pay so they don't want to do this, they want to find a resolution,” Rayner said.
Rayner also suggested that the latest offer of a pay rise from rail bosses seemed “low” and that there was “a deal to be done”.
Rail workers are pursuing a pay increase in line with inflation as the current cost-of-living squeeze continues to bite.
The RMT is in talks with both Network Rail and the Rail Delivery Group in a bid to negotiate a settlement. Network Rail has already said that it has tabled its “best and final offer”, which includes a five per cent pay rise this year and a four per cent rise the following year.
Network Rail’s proposal also stipulates that no workers who aren’t managers can be subject to compulsory redundancy until January 31, 2025, and that staff and their family members can receive a 75 per cent discount on leisure travel.
The RMT has dismissed Network Rail’s offer and said it would ask its members to reject it in an online referendum.
Over the weekend, RMT rebuffed the Rail Delivery Group’s offer of a four per cent pay rise this year, followed by four per cent next year.
The Rail Delivery Group also promised in its rejected offer than no compulsory redundancies would be made until April 2024.
RMT’s talks with the Rail Delivery Group are ongoing.
Elsewhere, industrial action is also set to impact a number of other sectors. Ambulance staff in England and Wales have said that they will down tools on December 21, while further strikes are expected to disrupt Royal Mail services, buses and schools.
