Inverness facing rail chaos after union members reject strike deal
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RAIL passengers in the Inverness area face the possibility of up to five days of chaos on the network after RMT members working for Network Rail rejected a fresh pay deal.
The union has announced a new 24 hour strike from 5pm on 4th June and a 48 hour strike from 5pm on 9th June. Members will also work no overtime between Saturday 6th June and Friday 12th June.
The last time a 24 hour strike was threatened - which would have taken place from 5pm on Bank Holiday Monday until 5pm on Tuesday - Scotrail confirmed that no services in or out of Inverness would run on either day. That strike was called off last week pending a vote on the deal which has now been rejected.
Scotrail has yet to confirm what effects the newly-called strikes may have, but if the same disruption were to be predicted this time round, the Highland Capital would be without any trains for five days. However, Scotrail has yet to comment on its plans for services over the new strikes.
The possibility of strike action was first raised early this month after members rejected an initial pay deal which would have seen them each receive a one-off £500 payment this year, followed by rises matching inflation for the following three years.
The latest deal, now rejected, would have seen members receive rises over two years equivalent to one per cent this year and a an increase of 1.4% in 2016. There would also have been a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies for the deal's duration.
The new deal was rejected by 80 per cent of members on a 62 per cent turnout.
The RMT's general secretary, Mick Cash, said: “Our rail staff deserve a fair reward for the high-pressure, safety-critical work that they undertake day and night and the last thing that we need is a demoralised, burnt-out workforce living in fear for their livelihoods and their futures and the message has come back loud and clear that that is exactly how they feel about the current offer from Network Rail."
