Train driver have accepted a deal which will see them receive a near-15% increase in pay.
The agreement ends more than two years’ strike action in England and Scotland.
Aslef members accepted an offer which included a backdated 5% pay increase for 2022-23. A 4.75% raise for 2023-24 and a 4.5% for 2024-25. This offer was made mid-August and is pensionable. It includes drivers who have retired or left the railway industry during the dispute.
In July 2022, industrial action started with walkouts in protest of pay and conditions. The previous government demanded changes in work practices to get more money, but this led to an impasse. There were approximately 20 strikes in total and several overtime bans.
Rail Delivery Group estimates that the average salary of a train operator in 2023 will be PS60,055. The new agreement will see the average salary increase to approximately PS69,000.
Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary, said that the longest strike on trains in UK history “was not a fight or struggle we wanted.” After five years of working for private companies that declared millions in profits and dividends, we only wanted a reduction in the cost-of-living.
He said that the 55 changes proposed by the previous government to the working conditions and terms of employment, which were dropped from the agreement, were the main sticking point, not the pay issue.
The union called the agreement “no strings attached”, and said it protected working practices. “It was not willing to give this away for free.”
In July, the new Labour Government began direct salary talks with Aslef bosses.
Helen Whately, the shadow transport minister for the Conservative Party, criticised this agreement. She said that it was a pay increase with “no conditions attached to reforms”, and would “do little” to prevent future strikes.
Aslef said that 96.6% (or 21,000) of its members who voted supported the new offer. The voting rate was 88.5%.
The transport union RMT announced that it had received new proposals for pay from the government following talks. These included a 4,5% increase in 2024 for Network Rail employees.
The group said that its members who work for train operating companies have been offered pay agreements of 4.75% in 2023-24 and 4.5% in 2024-25.
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