Off The Rails's blog

Northern Ireland: rail workers strike

Solidarity from Off The Rails to rail (and bus) workers in Northern Ireland who are striking today.

The UK government has used the pretext of the political stalemate to refuse to fund a pay rise. Now that stalemate is over - pay up!

TOCs drivers' strikes: LNER shows escalation can work

Aslef drivers at multiple Train Operating Companies (TOCs) are striking again, one day each between 30 Jan and 5 Feb at different TOCs, and launching an overtime ban. Southeastern, Southern, Gatwick Express, South Western Railway, Great Northern and Thameslink drivers strike on Tuesday 30 January...

London Overground staff to strike

RMT members working as station staff, revenue staff, and security staff on London Overground will strike on 19-20 February and 4-5 March, as they seek to improve their pay and conditions.

Their employer, Arriva Rail London (ARL), has made a below-inflation pay offer, which workers have rejected...

LNER calls off "work notices" threat

BBC News reported on 22 January that "a source" said Train Operating Company LNER had told the Aslef train drivers' union that it no longer intends to put minimum service levels (MSLs) in place.

Rail strike challenges Minimum Service Law

Aslef has announced more strikes on pay, alongside nine days of a rest-day working ban. It is not clear whether TOCs will actually issue "work notices". It would be foolish, though, to assume that TOCs will hold off forever.

Track workers hospitalised by Isle of Wight collision

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) is to carry out yet another investigation into yet another incident where track workers have been injured.

This one happened on the Isle of Wight in the small hours on 22 November, when a road-rail vehicle (RRV) collided with a hand trolley between...

Tories scrap central online ticket-selling service

Remember the Tory government trumpeting its Great British Railways (GBR) gimmick as a move to return coherence to the national railway? And remember that one of the ways that it was going to do that was by running a centralised online ticket-selling service?

Well, guess what? It has decided not to...

Where next for TOCs drivers' strikes?

Between 1 and 9 December, train driver members of Aslef employed by 14 Train Operating Companies (TOCs) held a Rest Day Working ban, as well as a series of one day strikes between the 2nd and 8th, on various groups of two or more TOCs out of the 14.

This was the first time the union had employed...

ITF launches Palestine Solidarity Fund

The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) has launched a Palestine Solidarity Fund, which will direct donations to humanitarian causes via the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions.

The ITF writes: "Transport unions in Egypt and across the region have committed to delivering as...

Aslef drivers strike again

On 1 December we begin a nine day ban on Rest Day Working (RDW, voluntary overtime) and a series of one day strikes by train driver members of Aslef employed by Train Operating Companies (TOCs). A long-running dispute over pay has turned also into a battle over conditions of employment.

On the...

DB Cargo jobs to go?

Freight operator DB Cargo has announced that it intends to cut 95 drivers' jobs.

Although it plans to do this by scrapping vacant posts rather than by making any drivers redundant, it is still a very bad move.

Firstly, if it doesn't need these jobs right now, then it could keep the same number of...

TOCs offer: Why I'm Voting No

This article is reposted from a Twitter thread by rail worker and RMT activist Conor Price, with the author's permission. See the original here.


I'll be voting NO to the pay offer from the RDG to the RMT.

1) 5% for the year 22/23 is far too low and is a pay cut in real terms especially as we've...

Another view on the TOCs offer...

This article was written by a rail worker and RMT activist. For Off the Rails' own response, see here.


The latest offer from the Rail Delivery Group to RMT members employed by the train operating companies is somewhat impressive if you consider we have put up little fight. In reality it is well...

TOCs dispute: vote no to a pay cut!

The Rail Delivery Group has made a new offer to the RMT, to settle our long-running dispute over pay and conditions at mainline Train Operating Companies (TOCs). The offer is for a 5% pay increase for 2022-3, or a flat-rate £1,750 increase, whichever is higher for a given grade.

Formally, the offer...

DLR on strike!

Passenger service agents on the DLR are due to take strike action November 7-8 after rejecting their latest pay offer. The basic components of the offer are a 5% basic pay rise plus a £1,000 non-consolidated lump sum. Little to no service is expected across the network on these days.

Meanwhile...

Avanti slashes December services

Avanti West Coast has returned to its bad old ways by announcing that it won't be running enough services over the forthcoming festive period.

Having temporarily improved - from a very low bar, and for long enough to get a new, nine-year contract from its Tory government friends - the operator now...

TOC railworkers renew strike mandate

Members of the RMT union at all 14 of the Train Operating Companies (TOCs) involved in the dispute over pay and conditions have yet again, renewed the mandate for industrial action.

Turnouts were above 65% in more than half the TOCs. The lowest was 53%, at Govia Thameslink Railway. The highest was...

Elizabeth line: "the best we can get"?

Pay-talk fatigue is setting in across the Elizabeth line, as bosses come back to the table with a few sweeteners. An enhanced Sunday rate, night allowance and extra day of annual leave are being offered on top of the basic 5% pay rise.

When presenting the offer, reps say it is the best we will get...

Renew the mandate - but dispute must change course

RMT members at multiple Train Operating Companies are now voting to renew our industrial mandate yet again. The ballot concludes on 19 October. It's vital we renew it, to allow us to continue taking action to win decent pay and defend jobs and conditions.

Every time our mandate has been up for...

Real fight needed on Elizabeth Line pay

2023/4 pay negotiations drag on on the Elizabeth Line, with another meeting scheduled for early September. Customer service grades overwhelmingly rejected the current offer of a 5% pay rise, plus some tweaks to annual leave entitlement and a non-consolidated bonus for the CEA grade.

RMT gave no...

Yes, we should negotiate in the open!

RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch told an LBC journalist that he would be prepared to conduct live, televised negotiations with the government, saying, "Let's get it in the open [...] The RMT and the trade unions always turn up for any debate. I’ve debated with government ministers in the past on the...

Network Rail's scab bonuses

Network Rail has withheld annual bonuses from staff who participated in strikes in the national dispute from June 2022.

Bosses have been explicit that the £300 bonus is a prize for scabbing: “Our position was made very clear: any discretionary payments would focus on those who continued to support...

Network Rail workers strike in Cardiff

Network Rail workers at Cardiff S&T (Signalling & Telecommunications) Depot will launch sustained strikes throughout September and October, as they attempt to push back the imposition of a worse roster.

RMT has called the imposition a "breach of national rostering agreements".

Strikes will begin...

Unipart Rail workers strike

Workers at Unipart Rail in Crewe, which provides engineering services for infrastructure, signalling, and rolling stock, are striking from 29 August to 1 September.

The workers have rejected the company’s latest 4.25% pay offer, which RMT has described as “derisory”.

It’s good they’re kicking...

To break dispute deadlock, escalate strikes!

Aslef has called further strikes on TOCs on 1 September, with a further OT ban starting the following day. RMT has already got strikes planned for 26 August and 2 September.

There's no sign of a new offer from the RDG, nor any movement from the government. How can we break the deadlock?

Off the...

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