The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) who represents train companies has called on the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) to call off next week’s strikes and meet “for urgent talks.”
The RMT has been striking since June 2022 in a bitter row over jobs, pay and conditions and rejected the government’s offer as the Transport Secretary Mark Harper warned the union this is the “best and final” offer.
On Tuesday evening the RMT announced that they will suspend strike action and they are committed to hold a ballot on a “new offer.”
An RDG spokesman said: “The RMT leadership’s decision to put Network Rail’s deal to its membership is a welcome development, but train operating staff will rightly be asking why their union continues to deny them the opportunity to have their say on our equivalent offer.
“Instead of inflicting more lost pay on its members and disruption to our passengers, we are calling on the union to call off their strikes and meet us for urgent talks to resolve this dispute.”
A DfT spokeswoman said: “It is positive news that the RMT has finally put this offer to their members and have called off upcoming industrial action by Network Rail workers.
“The RMT’s leaders must now put the best and final offer to their members in the train operating companies, who are still due to strike in the coming weeks and who are not being given the opportunity to vote on an offer.”
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