London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Jul 22, 2025

RMT union rejects latest offers in rail dispute

RMT union rejects latest offers in rail dispute

The RMT rail union has rejected new pay offers, in a blow to any hopes the lengthy dispute was close to ending.

The body which represents train firms and Network Rail had described the proposals as their "best and final".

RMT boss Mick Lynch branded the offers "dreadful", while the transport secretary called the move "a kick in the teeth for passengers".

The rejection was made by the national executive committee but the industry and government want a members' vote.

Twenty officials and representatives sit on the body but the RMT said the decision was made following a wide-ranging consultation with every level of the union involved in the national rail dispute.

Mr Lynch said the offers did not meet members' expectations "on pay, job security or working conditions".

The RMT said it would now seek further meetings with Network Rail and the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) - which represents train operating companies - to try to work towards a settlement.

But it will start preparing to re-ballot its members when the existing strike mandate runs out in late May.

It is a significant moment in the ongoing national rail dispute - not just because the RMT has rejected what were billed as final offers from the employers, but because the union is now talking explicitly about seeking an "unconditional" pay deal.

The government and industry have said all along that a pay increase would have to be funded by "reforms".

There had been movement in the dispute in recent months and on all sides the tone had become less antagonistic. But it is clearly not as close to a resolution as some onlookers had hoped.


Pay deals


The RDG said on Friday that passengers and "many hard-working RMT members will be deeply dismayed that the union leadership has opted to reject our fair proposals without putting out a vote to their full membership in a democratic referendum".

It said it had made "substantial changes" to its offer after recent negotiations, including a minimum 9% pay increase over two years which rail workers "will now miss out on, without even having had an opportunity to have their say".

"We removed driver-only operation and gave an improved job security offer," the group said, adding: "The railway's financial crisis is not going away."

"The RMT leadership must now accept the urgent need to make the railway fit for the future for both our people, and the communities the railway serves," it said.

Last month, the RDG put forward a list of changes to working practices which it said could fund a 5% pay rise for 2022 and a further 4% this year.

Separately Network Rail, whose employees include maintenance and signalling staff, offered a package including a 5% pay increase last year and 4% for 2023, plus other benefits such as discounted travel for family. Members rejected this in December.

Network Rail recently put forward a slightly updated offer, but kept the pay element the same.

The RMT said it was seeking "an unconditional pay offer, a job security agreement and no detrimental changes being imposed on members terms, conditions and working practices".

The transport secretary echoed the rail industry's position that RMT members should be given a vote on the deals on the table.

Mark Harper said workers are "being blocked from having a say on their own future" and that a decision had been made for them behind closed doors.


'So-called modernisation'


Planned changes to how maintenance teams at Network Rail work are a particular point of contention for the RMT.

The union said it viewed proposed plans as "unsafe" and unworkable. Network Rail has always insisted safety would not be compromised.

Mr Lynch said: "We have carried out an in-depth consultation of our 40,000 members and the message we have received, loud and clear, is to reject these dreadful offers.

"Our members cannot accept the ripping up of their terms and conditions or to have safety standards on the railway put into jeopardy under the guise of so-called modernisation.

"If our union did accept these offers, we would see a severe reduction in scheduled maintenance tasks, making the railways less safe, the closure of all ticket offices, and thousands of jobs stripped out of the industry when the railways need more investment, not less."

Network Rail's chief negotiator Tim Shovellor claimed employees want to accept the offer and said the RMT "refuses to listen and instead takes soundings from the echo chamber of its most active members."

This is separate to the train drivers' dispute. The drivers' main union, Aslef, says it hopes to have more talks next week.

A smaller union, the TSSA, said on Friday that thousands of its members would be given a vote on the offers from the train companies.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
×