MANCHESTER, England — After 33 days of strikes, beginning in June 2022, members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union voted overwhelmingly to approve an offer from 14 different rail companies covering 20,000 workers.
When the strikes began the government and rail bosses thought union actions would be isolated. But nurses, teachers, civil servants and postal workers began to strike in the face of soaring prices. On Feb. 1 half a million struck for a day. These actions buoyed the rail workers.
Under the deal, rail workers get a 5% raise or 1,750 pounds ($2,205), whichever is highest, for 2022, with talks on a 2023 raise ongoing. Prior to 2022 rail workers had faced a two-year pay freeze.
“We were told a pay offer would only come with changes to our terms and conditions, including driver-only trains,” Clayton Clive, Manchester South RMT branch secretary, told the Militant. But bosses backed down. The government also shelved plans for the closure of all rail ticket offices, which would have led to huge job cuts, in the face of a popular union-led campaign.
“For us the raise is worth more than the 5%,” said John Carroll, a Manchester Piccadilly station train cleaner here. “As we’re lower paid we get the flat figure of 1,750 pounds, so most of us voted for the offer. This is the first time I’ve joined picket lines.”
“It’s not the pay percentage we wanted,” said conductor Sean Nunan, who works at the same station, “but there is no immediate change to conditions.”
Concessions from the union “will still be up for discussion next year,” Clive warned.
In a separate fight, more than 100 RMT-organized on-board catering workers took seven days of strike action over three months, winning a 21% pay raise. “We were blown away by what we achieved,” said Nora Higgins, a union representative for Rail Gourmet contractors. “Our union membership has grown too.”
Train drivers organized by the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen continue to fight for a pay raise that is not conditional on an attack on their conditions.
“The government has refused to negotiate since January,” Gary Boyle, engineers’ union representative for TransPennine Express workers, told the Militant at a strike picket line here Dec. 8. “We are solid. It’s not going to be easy for them to shove us off.”