Rail workers are gearing up for a new round of strikes in an ongoing dispute over pay, jobs and conditions. Plans for a 24-hour walk-out by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) this month will hit passengers at the peak of the sumer holidays.
Network Rail's latest offer in the talks was for a 4pc pay rise backdated to January, another 2pc next year and a further 2pc conditional on achieving 'modernisation milestones'. However, this concession was branded 'paltry' by union leaders, who announced 24-hour strike action for Wednesday, July 27.
It follows highly disruptive strikes by 40,000 RMT union workers across 13 operators and at Network Rail last month. Passengers at the time struggled as only a fifth of rail services ran over three days and stations were left empty.
