Train drivers vote to accept multiyear pay offer and end two-year dispute

Train drivers have voted overwhelmingly to accept a multiyear pay offer, ending a two-year dispute at 16 rail companies.

Aslef said its members voted by 96% in favour of a deal the union said was worth 15% over three years. The turnout was 84%.

The offer was made by the new Labour Government within weeks of the party winning the general election.

The ballot result ends what Aslef called the longest train drivers’ strike in recent history, during which drivers took 18 days of strike action.

Aslef had accused the previous Conservative government of “sitting on its hands” and refusing to negotiate.

Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary, said: “It is with great pleasure that we can announce the end of the longest train drivers’ strike in history.

“The strength and resilience and determination shown by train drivers to protect their hard-won and paid-for terms and conditions against the political piracy of an inept and destructive Tory government has prevailed.

“It was not a fight we sought, or wanted. All we sought after five years without a pay rise, working for private companies who, throughout that period, declared millions of pounds in profits and dividends to shareholders, was a dent in the cost of living.

“We are grateful that Louise Haigh, the Secretary of State for Transport, and the adults entered the room and sought an equitable way forward so that trains will perform and run in the interest of the passenger, of the taxpayer and of those who work in and are dedicated to this industry.

“Those who have been lying about this pay offer, and conflating the deal offered to train drivers with decisions on the winter fuel allowance, should be ashamed.

“Although it seems to be the work of those who would not accurately report anything about train drivers over the past two years.

“Now we will get back to our day job of seeking a green, well-invested, vertically-integrated and safe public railway.”

Published: 18/09/2024 by Radio NewsHub