Rail union leader pledges to continue campaigning for pay deal

A union leader has pledged to continue with a long-running campaign over pay and conditions on the railways which remains deadlocked after 18 months.

Mick Lynch, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT), said his aim remains to achieve a negotiated settlement to the dispute.

There is little sign of a breakthrough despite more than a year of industrial action which has caused travel chaos for millions of passengers since the row started in the summer of 2022.

Mr Lynch attacked the Government, saying it had failed on rail reform while pressing ahead with controversial plans to ensure minimum levels of service during strikes.

Ministers announced this week that 40% of services would have to run on strike days, saying action was needed to make sure people can travel during days of industrial action.

The Government has described the move as “proportionate”,  but Mr Lynch said it was the most “draconian attack” on trade union rights in a generation.

He said: “Ministers have neglected their responsibilities by failing to integrate our railways under a public ownership model in the best interests of passengers and railway workers.

“Instead, they continue to prioritise and fixate on bankrolling our profiteering model which sees vast wealth in the railways leave the sector, going into dividends and shareholders’ pockets.”

He said the Williams Review into the future of the railways was published years ago, but money had “continued to leak out of a fragmented and incoherent privatised railway network”.

Mr Lynch added: “Following our success alongside other groups in preventing the mass closure of ticket offices, RMT will continue to campaign for a properly funded and publicly run railway network alongside winning a negotiated settlement for our members in the national dispute.”

The Government used the King’s Speech on Tuesday to announce that it intends to bring forward a draft Bill to enable the establishment of Great British Railways to drive the industry forward.