Railway staff in Scotland will go on strike this weekend after a union rejected ScotRail’s latest pay offer.
Members of the RMT working for the publicly owned rail operator will stage a 24-hour walkout on Saturday as part of an ongoing dispute over pay and conditions.
ScotRail said the latest offer would have seen the lowest paid staff receive a basic pay increase of almost 7.5%.
It said the RMT’s Company Council and National Executive Committee (NEC) rejected the offer without giving staff a say, and that the deal was conditional on the suspension of this weekend’s strike action, and the offer being put to RMT members.
The rail operator said the deal has now been withdrawn, but it remains open to resolving the dispute.
Phil Campbell, ScotRail’s head of customer operations, said: “It’s really disappointing that the RMT has refused to put this improved offer to its members so they can have a say.
“Further strike action has a damaging effect on the railway’s recovery at a time when we should be encouraging more people to travel. Instead, our customers are being severely impacted and our staff are losing out through lost wages.”
More than 2,000 ScotRail employees are members of the trade union, with staff working as conductors, ticket examiners, station staff, engineering depot staff and CCTV operators all expected to take part in the action.
As a result, the rail operator warned there will be widespread disruption to its services across the country.
It made a particular warning to rugby fans who are heading to Scotland’s first autumn international to avoid using the train given the strike action will cause “significant disruption”.
Campbell said: “Regrettably, we won’t be able to operate the vast majority of our services on Saturday October 29, and customers should expect significant disruption to services due to the large proportion of ScotRail staff who are members of the RMT trade union.
“We’re advising customers, including rugby fans intending to travel to Scotland’s first autumn international at Murrayfield, to seek alternative means of transport and to only travel by train if they really need to.”
ScotRail said the strike action means it can only operate a limited service between 7.30am and 6.30pm on Saturday, with a half-hourly service on the Milngavie to Edinburgh Waverley via Glasgow Queen Street Low-Level route, and an hourly service on both the Glasgow Central to Lanark and the Glasgow Central to Larkhall routes.
The operator warned RMT’s general grades are also currently taking part in an overtime and rest day working ban as part of action short of a strike.
This has seen some daily cancellations across the ScotRail network since October 14, as the train operator requires rest day working and overtime while recruitment continues.
Saturday will be the union’s second day of strike action this month over pay.
It follows industrial action on October 10.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here