The RMT Union has said that their planned strike action in December will go ahead after the Rail Delivery Group said that they wont be submitting a revised offer.
In their statement, the union said that the Rail Delivery Group has been “instructed” by the Government to take on the strike action, rather than resolve the dispute through negotiations.
This means that the strike action will affect millions trying to travel by rail as we approach Christmas, as well as in January.
A spokesperson for the RMT Union said “RMT has just heard from the RDG and there will be no revised offer from them on the TOC-side of the dispute and they have been instructed by the Government instead to take on the strike action set out, rather than trying to resolve the dispute through negotiations.
“It is now absolutely clear that the RDG's attempts to resolve the dispute by making a revised and improved offer have been blocked by the Government.
“The companies know that RMT cannot, and never will, accept the implementation of Driver Only Operation (DOO) as a national principle for operating the railways.
“It is also clear that it is the Government itself, and not the RDG, that insisted that DOO was inserted in to the proposals on Sunday evening as a pre-condition, and the responsibility for the failure to progress proposals towards a resolution lies solely with the Government, who have torpedoed the dispute resolution process.
“The planned Industrial action for RMT Train Operating Company members goes ahead as scheduled as there is no resolution to the dispute and in fact a resolution to the dispute is now further away due to the Government's late intervention in the negotiating process.”
Well there it is:
The Tory government are deliberately making this situation worse by not allowing further negotiations with the RMT.
It is clear now that the Tory government have no interest in preventing the issues these strikes will cause for so many.
Instead they enact their right wing anti union,anti worker principles to play politics.
They have some obsession with the Thatcher policy’s if the 1980’s.
They will fail,as as although the Tory party cannot move out of the 80s we the people have ,and the days of doffing our cap’s are over.
I’m sure the unions would look to new ways of working if proper fair negations resulted in a decent deal for all.
The government of course are afraid of a decent deal for workers.
Yet only a couple of months ago they handed out tax cuts and bonuses to the very richest in society.
DOO is perfectly safe on local and commuter trains. Why are the unions still living in the 19th century? They are an utter disgrace.