All far north trains cancelled on Saturday due to strike action
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Train users in Caithness are reminded that no services will be running tomorrow (October 29) due to strike action over pay.
RMT strike action will go ahead on Saturday after the RMT’s Company Council and National Executive Committee (NEC) rejected ScotRail’s latest offer.
This represents the second day of strike action as part of the trade union’s dispute over pay with the train operator.
It means only three routes in the central belt will be operating with a skeleton service due to the number of contingency staff required to cover the shifts of those on strike.
Phil Campbell, ScotRail head of customer operations, said: “Further strike action has a damaging effect on 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 losing out through lost wages.
"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. We remain open to resolving this dispute.”
ScotRail proposed consolidating the one-off technology payment into basic pay on top of the 5 per cent already offered, this was worth £500 per member for all general grade staff (pro-rata). This would have meant an improvement on the previous offer of a 5 per cent increase in basic pay.
The improved element of the offer was conditional on the suspension of this weekend’s strike action by the RMT, and the offer being put to the union’s members. Given the RMT’s refusal to do either of those things, the improved element of the offer has been withdrawn.
More information on the impact of strike action to ScotRail services, including ScotRail’s refund policy, can be found on the ScotRail website at scotrail.co.uk/strike.
More than 2000 ScotRail employees are members of the RMT though not all employees in these roles are trade union members. ScotRail members of the 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.
