The Avanti West Coast Train staff has suspended their strike scheduled for the next two weekends to allow for discussions, which raises hopes that the planned weekend disruption may be cancelled.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport union RMT announced that the two next Sunday strikes of onboard train managers will be cancelled in the hopes of making “meaningful” progress in negotiations with Intercity Rail Operator.
Avanti services between London and Birmingham, Manchester, and Glasgow would have been severely cut during the strike.
A spokesperson for the RMT said: “This suspending reflects our commitment and goodwill in finding a solution to this rest-day working dispute. We are responding in kind to Avanti’s overtures and hope that meaningful progress can be made towards a negotiated resolution during these discussions.
The RMT and Aslef strikes on other rail networks have been resolved, but Avanti is the only operator still being affected by industrial action.
Initial plans for a Christmas series of strikes were suspended in December while a vote was held on a new proposal, which included promises to talk about new technology agreements and changes to the rest-day payments. These were however rejected by the members, who then voted for a strike due to the higher payments made to senior management who offered to cover train crews on rest days.
Mick Lynch, RMT’s general secretary who will retire this May, stated earlier in the month that it was wrong for Avanti to pay replacement managers up PS500 per hour – double what members earn – while they fail to provide the same service to passengers.
A spokesperson for Avanti West Coast said, in response to the cancellation of the strike: “We are delighted that the RMT decided to suspend planned industrial actions on Sunday 19 January and Sunday 26 Jan. We are still open to working together to resolve the dispute.
“Although we are unable to operate a full schedule this Sunday due to the short notice of only 48 hours, we will still consider running extra services that day.”
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