A pay deal has been reached between Merseyrail and the RMT Union following “intense negotiations” the union has said.
Less than two weeks after the long-running dispute over the guard position on new services was brought to an end, RMT members on Merseyrail have voted in favour of accepting a deal that will amount to a pay rise of 7.1%. The national executive of the union had strongly recommended its members agree to the one year “no strings” offer.
The deal is the same offer made to members of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) who accepted the deal last month. The pay deal comes after the largest rail staff walkouts in June since the 1980s and the entire Merseyrail network shut down for three separate days.
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Mick Lynch, general secretary of the RMT Union, said: “I congratulate our Merseyrail members on this impressive win. It is clear we can win decent pay rises on train operators when they are not under the auspices of the Department for Transport and when free collective bargaining can take place.
"RMT has now done several deals with train and tube operators that begin to deal with the cost-of-living crisis. We want negotiated settlements in all our industrial disputes, and we are not afraid to use strike action where needed."
The union said in its announcement of the pay deal being struck that there had been “ intense negotiations at the rail company.” It added: “The train operator which is owned jointly by Serco and Abellio agreed the deal on a no strings attached basis.”
The offer will increase staff pay by 7.1% on basic rates or a £1,600 flat rate increase for grades below £24K whichever is the greater. At the start of this month, RMT members voted in favour of proposals for establishing a new permanent position of train manager on the new Merseyrail class 777 service trains.
This new position will continue the role of the existing guards on the new trains and brought an end to the long running saga that included a number of strikes over a three-year period. The agreement marked a huge milestone in terms of finally beginning the roll-out of the new trains on the Merseyrail network.
The dispute was one of a number of blockages that have delayed that rollout, with covid another key factor. The ECHO has contacted Merseyrail for comment.
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