London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Rail strikes: Transport ministers should follow health lead, says RMT

Rail strikes: Transport ministers should follow health lead, says RMT

Transport ministers must follow the example of their colleagues in the Department of Health and offer "new money" in union negotiations, the head of the RMT union says.
Mick Lynch was speaking at a picket line at London's Euston station as rail workers strike over pay and conditions.

Train passengers are facing further disruption this weekend as a result.

It follows a week of strike action from teachers, junior doctors and civil servants as well as rail workers.

Mr Lynch said ministers in the health service had shown a small "change in attitude" in offering NHS staff in England - including nurses and ambulance workers - a 5% pay rise from April as part of government negotiations.

"The difference in that is there are no conditions, it's new money - but our members are expected to swallow vast changes to their working conditions and they're not prepared to do that to get a very modest, poor pay rise," he said.

"In order to get something moving they'll have to take away some of the conditions they've put on this proposal, and we want some fresh money in the pay proposal, so we'll see what happens next week."

Three of the biggest unions - the Royal College of Nursing, Unison and the GMB - are backing the deal.

In Saturday's rail strike, workers at 14 train operators are walking out over a long-running dispute over pay, job cuts and conditions.

Across the UK, only between 40 and 50% of trains are expected to run on Saturday, with no services at all in some places.

Rail passengers have been advised to check before travelling, with services starting later and finish much earlier than usual.

Football fans, those making the journey to Cheltenham Festival by train and people travelling for the weekend are among those expected to be affected.

Some travellers posted on social media about disruption to their journeys.

"I hate train strikes, M6 is just traffic forever," wrote a supporter of Aston Villa Football Club who are playing Bournemouth at Villa Park stadium in Birmingham this afternoon.

"Missing Southampton FC because of train strikes is miserable, come on you saints. Wishing I was there," wrote another football fan travelling to a separate game.

Another said: "Train strikes. Roadworks everywhere. Rain. It's almost as if a higher power is telling me not to go to Queens Park Rangers today."

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union said more than 20,000 workers were walking out on Saturday.

Steve Montgomery. who chairs the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), said the latest strike action would be a "further inconvenience" for passengers "who have already experienced months of disruption".

"Unfortunately, while we will pull out all the stops to keep as many trains running as possible, there will be reduced services across many parts of the rail network on strike days, so our advice is to check before you travel," he added.

RMT members also walked out on Thursday and further strike action is planned for 30 March and 1 April.

Unions say any pay offer should reflect the rising cost of living, which is currently above 10%.

On 19 January, the RDG offered the RMT a 9% pay rise over two years for crew and station staff in a bid to end the long-running strike action.

Mr Lynch said the private rail companies were "in complete chaos".

He said the RDG needed to "sort themselves out and settle our dispute with an improved offer".

"They are incapable of providing a decent service to passengers and the sooner they are brought into public ownership the better."

Following the walkout, there are warnings that trains services could also be disrupted on Sunday morning as some rolling stock will not be in the right depots.

On Friday, a five-week strike by 1,000 Passport Office workers was announced and security guards at Heathrow Airport's Terminal Five said they would strike for 10 days.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
×