Union leaders have urged ScotRail bosses to come up with an improved offer for train drivers in an attempt to get the country’s railways running normally again.
Kevin Lindsay of the trade union Aslef insisted “the ball is clearly in ScotRail’s court now” when it comes to resolving the dispute over pay – which has led to the rail operator slashing about a third of services on an emergency timetable.
That has been brought in as drivers are currently refusing to work on rest days.
An increased pay offer of a 4.2% rise has already been rejected by Aslef as unacceptable without being put to a formal ballot of members – with David Simpson, the ScotRail service delivery director, describing it as “astonishing” that the deal had not been put to members.
Kevin Lindsay, the union’s Scottish organiser, defended the move, saying Aslef had “many different layers of democracy in the union”.
Aslef’s national executive committee rejected the pay rise, with Mr Lindsay saying this body includes train drivers and is “elected by train drivers to make decisions on behalf of train drivers”.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme, he said: “We held a series of open meetings across Scotland and online, where over 250 train drivers attended, and we only had one person saying this offer was acceptable.”
Talks are now due to resume with the recently nationalised ScotRail on Monday, with Mr Lindsay saying be believes a deal is “close”.
He warned if an agreement cannot be reached, the union could ballot for industrial action.
Mr Lindsay said that could see the union “ballot for a withdrawal of all overtime working” by drivers, as well as seeking a series of 24-hour strikes.
He said: “I do not want to go on strike, we’ve never been on strike in Scotland for over 20 years. I’m a negotiator, I want to get back round the table with ScotRail, thrash out a deal.
“I believe we are close to a deal, I believe there is money in settlement that is already there that can be used in a different way to ensure we get a fair settlement and we can get Scotland’s trains running again.”
He continued: “Aslef members have told us clearly this offer doesn’t meet their aspirations, the National Executive said it doesn’t meet the aspirations.
“So, we will sit down and negotiate and try and get a deal which is acceptable, and I look forward to meeting with ScotRail on Monday.
“If we get an improved offer, and acceptable offer, there will be no strike action. It’s as simple as that.
“The ball is clearly in ScotRail’s court now, they can come up with an improved offer using the money that is already there in this package.
“Let’s get a deal sorted, let’s get the railway running, that is what we want.”
His comments came as he insisted the emergency timetable put in place by ScotRail in a bid to prevent short-notice cancellations “goes too far”.
Speaking about the timetable, which axed hundreds of services across Scotland, Mr Lindsay said: “It cuts too deep. There’s train drivers sitting spare in every mess room up and down the country, that’s how ScotRail could suddenly magic additional trains on the night of the football last night.
“They’ve cut too deep and too soon, they should have kept on talking to us, we could have resolved this matter and we could be delivering the train services the Scottish people deserve.”
Transport Scotland said on Thursday it was “disappointed” Aslef had dismissed the 4.2% offer.
A spokesperson said: “We all need to work together to make nationalisation a success. Ministers are committed to ensuring that the railway unions are part of that success.
“However, to be part of the vision moving forward, the unions need to agree on a deal that is both fair and affordable, particularly in the context of wider public sector pay policy.”
