Rail strikes to go ahead after latest pay offer rejected

An improved offer was made earlier this week, but the RMT have recommended to members to turn it down.

Author: Liam RossPublished 6th Oct 2022
Last updated 6th Oct 2022

The RMT Union have rejected the latest ScotRail pay offer, meaning train strikes will go ahead on Monday.

An improved offer was made earlier this week, but the RMT have recommended to members to turn it down.

This means ScotRail will only be running three services on Monday, with no direct services between Glasgow and Edinburgh. This includes;

Milngavie – Edinburgh: two trains per hour

Glasgow – Lanark: one train per hour

Glasgow – Larkhall: one train per hour.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: "Strike action will go ahead on Monday and we remain open for meaningful talks to resolve the dispute with Scotrail."

ScotRail say customers should expect "significant disruption."

Head of Customer Operations, Phil Campbell said: "We’re really disappointed that the dispute with the RMT has reached this outcome, given the strength of the improved pay offer ScotRail made.

"This strike action does nothing for the railway’s recovery at this fragile time.

"It will severely impact our customers and it will also cost our staff through lost wages.

"Due to the large number of ScotRail staff who are members of the RMT, ScotRail customers should expect significant disruption to services on Monday, 10 October, as we won’t be able to operate the vast majority of our services.

"We’re advising customers to seek alternative means of transport and to only travel if they really need to on Monday, 10 October.

"We remain open to resolving this dispute."

Monday's strike is part of nationwide action due to take place next week.

Network Rail staff are also due to walk out on Saturday, as they're unhappy about pay and the future of jobs.

On Tuesday, Scotland's rail unions called for a meeting with the First Minister to discuss the future of the network, accusing the Scottish Government of a "lack of vision" for train services.

Aslef, Unite, the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers Union (RMT) and the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) wrote to Nicola Sturgeon a year on from the "A Vision for Scotland's Railway" report where they outlined their hopes for the network such as removing peak fares, extending concessionary bus travel to the train network and modernising rolling stock.