Welcome To Poole
Related Articles
Union members embroiled in a bitter dispute with the nationalized Scottish Railway have called off strikes and will vote on whether or not to accept a pay rise from the company.
The Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union had threatened ScotRail with Christmas chaos and told bosses of the public company to raise their wage offer or have to tell passengers that trains were stopped every Friday and Saturday in December .
The RMT has now called off its strikes and overtime ban until Phil Campbell, ScotRail’s head of customer operations, urged them to accept.
“We are pleased to have reached an agreement with the RMT so that our staff have a say in our very strong salary offer. If accepted, it will result in an average base salary increase of 7.5%, job security for at least six years and increased commission payment allowances,” he said.
The member consultation agreement comes after a meeting between the rail company and the union on Wednesday and the meeting of the national executive committee of the RMT on Thursday.
ScotRail has increased its offer to workers for technology acceptance, taking it from £500 to £750, which will be consolidated into the base salary in addition to a 5% increase.
The rail company said this would mean an average increase of 7.5% for general grades, which include roles such as conductors, ticket examiners and station staff.
Wages for lower-paid staff would increase by more than 8.5%, the railway company said.
Other proposed measures include an increase in the minimum wage to £10.50 an hour and a 10 per cent increase in Sunday working pay.
A spokesman for Transport Scotland welcomed the decision to make the wage offer available to RMT members, and added that passengers would also welcome the suspension of strikes as the vote is taken.
“We encourage participants to consider the very real benefits of accepting this agreement, which is both fair and affordable,” the spokesperson said.
