First Transpennine Express staff vote for strike action over pay

Listen to this article

Members of Britain’s biggest rail union at First Transpennine Express have voted for strike action after the company ‘refused to budge from a 2.2% pay offer that would amount to a substantial pay cut’.

In two separate ballots, RMT drivers and all other grades across the company voted for strikes and other forms of action.

The RMT has ‘urged the company to think again’ if it wants to avoid strike action.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said:

“Our members have today made it quite clear that they expect a company that makes substantial profits out of their efforts to offer more than a real-terms pay cut.

“First Transpennine’s lame excuse that it couldn’t afford a decent pay rise in the last year of its franchise has evaporated with the extension of its contract to 2015.

“The company knows that RMT is ready to negotiate, and if it wants to avoid industrial action it should get back around the table with us and talk seriously about rewarding properly the people who make their profits for them.”

2 COMMENTS

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest Rail News

ORR review leads to 50% reduction in maximum fees for ticket refunds

New rules will mean that from 2 April the maximum fee that train operators and ticket retailers can charge...

More like this...