Three days of rail strikes are to go ahead across the UK this week after last-minute talks failed to secure a breakthrough.
Rail workers who are members of the RMT union are now set to walk out for three days this week on Tuesday (21 June), Thursday (23 June) and Saturday (25 June), although passengers have been warned to expect disruption across the network for the entire week.
Mick Lynch, the RMT’s general secretary, said: “Discussions with Network Rail and the train operators have continued today. The train operators have now made an offer and there is no further offer from Network Rail following the one which was rejected last Friday.
“The RMT National Executive Committee has now found both sets of proposals to be unacceptable and it is now confirmed that the strike action scheduled this week will go ahead.
“The rail companies have now proposed pay rates that are massively under the relevant rates of inflation, coming on top of the pay freezes of the past few years.”
The rail industry has warned that there will only be a “very limited” service on the three strike days with around 20 per cent of the country’s normal schedule likely to be running.
Clive Wratten, CEO of the Business Travel Association, condemned the strikes as “completely against everything the travel industry stands for”.
“People are being left not able to get to work, stranded in unfamiliar places unable to get home and deprived of hard-won income,” added Wratten.
“We urge the government and the unions to get around the table so that we can have the summer we deserve as we recover from the ravages of the pandemic.”