The union boss leading the biggest train strike in decades has not ruled out more walkouts as he revealed "there's a long way to go yet" talks to settle the dispute.
Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union General Secretary Mick Lynch said members will decide next week on what to do next. Today is the final of three strike dates agreed by the union in May, following walkouts on Tuesday June 21 and Thursday June 23.
Mr Lynch told Sky News that RMT is in constant discussions with Network Rail and 13 train operators. But he warned, "we haven't made the advances we'd like to make".
Read more: Jeremy Corbyn joins rail strike picket in Newcastle
Responding to a statement from Network Rail to Sky News about how how the talks are progressing, Mr Lynch added: "We’ve got to be very cautious about what they call progress.
“They may be progressing their agenda, but it doesn’t mean that our members are going to accept those changes, just because the company wants them, so we’ve got to work that problem through with them.”
Mr Lynch then suggested the RMT - Britain's largest specialist transport union - could choose to strike again. Any action would not take place until late July at the earliest.
Mr Lynch added: “So it’s likely unless we get a lot of movement provided by the Government that the companies can change their stance that there will be more action, yes.”
He continued: “We’ve not named dates. We’re going to review where we are in the discussions next week, and then we will decide if we need to take more action.
“We have to get two weeks’ notice of strikes anyway, that’s the legislation, so there won’t be any strikes in the next couple of weeks, but we’ll decide that. But we won’t hesitate to use more industrial action if we can’t reach an agreement or if the companies carry through their threats to make people redundant.”
The RMT wants a pay rise more in line with inflation than the 2% increase members were offered, with an added 1% tied to job cuts. A promise of no compulsory redundancies is also among the union's demands.
Rail operators argue the network needs to be modernised, which makes changes or cuts inevitable, such as reducing the number of staffed ticket offices. LNER, CrossCountry, TransPennine and Northern are among the operators who run trains through Newcastle and elsewhere in the North East, whose staff are part of the dispute.
The public has a right to expect reforms to rail services, the Prime Minister has said. He claimed "nobody except union leaders" defends the changes reforms could bring.
Boris Johnson told Sky News: “I would say, given the circumstances we’re in, I think what we want to see is reform and improvement in the way the railways work, and modernisation.
“When you’ve got a 25% fall in ridership, which we’ve got at the moment, we’ve got the Government putting billions and billion (into it).
“We’re putting more into the railways than any previous government.
“I think the traveling public has a right to expect some basic reforms, like with ticket offices, like with walking time, and some of these other practices that really nobody defends except the union leaders.”
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