Rail strikes: Mick Lynch expects pay offer ‘well below inflation’ | RMT

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RMT chairman Mick Lynch said he expected the rail bosses to make a wage offer “well below inflation”, as he arrived to meet them in an effort to resolve the union’s long-running dispute over wages, jobs and conditions.

He and others from the rail workers’ union were meeting with the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operating companies, on Thursday afternoon to try to break a deadlock after months of disruption to the network from industrial strike action.

Speaking ahead of the meeting at FirstGroup’s offices in Paddington, London, Lynch told the PA news agency: “We’re going to have further conversations today with the Delivery Rail group and the proposal and the idea is that they’re going to put forward a revised proposal… I don’t know if it’s going to take a long time or it will be Too fast.”

Lynch said they expect to get a “very narrow bid” with a payout offer “well below inflation,” and warned that he expected it to be ungenerous with onerous terms attached.

“This is a three-pronged package. It’s about job security — no forced redundancies — it’s about working conditions, and pay is the third part of that element,” he said.

The three things are intrinsically linked. You can’t have one without the other. You cannot get a job security package without the terms. You can’t get a pay package without the conditions.”

No 10 said it hoped to see “progress” in the talks and expected a renewed salary offer from rail employers.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: “These offers were made by the rail delivery group, not the government – they are the employers.

“I understand that they are making a new offer, so we hope to see progress in the coming days. Unions and employers will have to work through the details of the negotiations.”

The deadlocked talks come just a day after Network Rail’s chief negotiator, Tim Schoeffler, told MPs that the chances of a settlement in its separate dispute with RMT were “seven out of 10”.

He told the Transportation Select Committee members that they needed to convince another 2,000 union members to accept a deal, and this could be done through “very carefully targeted discussions”.

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RMT last month rejected a deal worth 9% over two years, even though smaller numbers of employees in the unions TSSA and Unite have accepted Network Rail’s offer.

The train drivers’ union, Asif, told the committee on Wednesday there was “zero” chance of reaching an agreement in its dispute.

Rail union leaders tell MPs to decide on strikes farther than ever – VIDEO

Lynch said any proposal received on Thursday should be brought to the attention of members. “when [a proposal is] “In a position to vote on it, there will be a vote for our members,” he said.

“The only way this dispute will be resolved is if our members agree to the proposals of Network Rail and the train operators in a referendum. It is the only way we will resolve it.”

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