END TO PAY DISPUTE – AND THREAT OF STRIKE ACTION

Friday 28 Jul 2006

END TO PAY DISPUTE – AND THREAT OF STRIKE ACTION

Region & Route:: National

Network Rail today welcomed an announcement by the RMT trade union that its members have voted to accept a revised pay offer. Network Rail Chief Executive, John Armitt, said: "We are pleased that the dispute is over, and that our passengers and freight customers are no longer facing the threat of a rail strike. "We worked very hard to resolve this, and we believe the final settlement is a fair and generous one for our people." The final settlement includes:

A rise of 3.2% backdated to April 2006
A rise of RPI + 0.75% from April 2007
The introduction of the 35-hour working week in August 2006
A significant increase in travel subsidies
An increase in London allowances

The dispute was about the pay settlement for staff in Network Rail’s operations and customer services, projects and engineering and support functions. Members voted by 2,338 (82 per cent) to 521 (18 per cent) to accept the deal in a postal ballot with a turnout of 60 per cent.

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