Following a series of positive talks led by the government, ASLEF has today (14 August 2024) agreed to recommend a new pay proposal to its members.
The offer made to ASLEF is a 5% pay rise for 2022/23, 4.75% for 23/24, and 4.5% for 24/25. The offer will now be put to ASLEF members in a referendum.
This marks a significant step towards resetting industrial relations and resolving the long-running rail dispute, which has seen services disrupted for over 2 years now. As the pay proposal includes an offer for the year ahead, it also means there is no national rail dispute on the horizon.
The Secretary of State for Transport, Louise Haigh, says the breakthrough shows how this government is “putting passengers first”.
If agreed by ASLEF members, the pay proposal could see an end to 2 years of industrial action, protect passengers from further national strikes and improve the reliability of services, which train passengers have been missing for far too long.
Poor industrial relations have caused disruption and delay for working people, prevented families from visiting loved ones and stopped the public from attending events, damaging the hospitality sector.
New industry estimates revealed today show that railway revenue foregone because of strikes since June 2022 has totalled around £850 million – a debilitating amount for the industry and a huge burden that falls directly on the taxpayer. Accounting for additional impacts of strikes, including those due to people being unable to work, or due to potential reductions in spending on hospitality and retail, the total impact likely exceeds £1 billion.
This government changed the tone and got unions back around the table to resolve rail disputes. In recent weeks, the Transport Secretary has instructed senior officials to conduct intensive talks with unions in order to resolve disputes in the interests of the travelling public, which has led to this significant breakthrough.
Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh, said:
When I took this job, I said I wanted to move fast and fix things – starting by bringing an end to rail strikes. Finally today the end is in sight.
If accepted, this offer would finally bring an end to this long-running dispute and allow us to move forward by driving up performance for passengers with the biggest overhaul to our railways in a generation.
Transport disruption has a huge impact on the wider economy, with sectors like hospitality and tourism among the worst affected. In the financial year of 2022 to 2023 alone, strike action was estimated to cost over £500 million of economic output due to people not being able to work.