ASLEF accepts pay deal ending industrial action
It brings to a close a two year period which saw 18 strikes and cost hospitality an estimated £3.5bn in lost sales according to UKH
Train drivers union ASLEF has voted to accept a multi-year pay deal bringing to an end a two-year dispute with 16 train companies.
Members of the union voted 96% in favour of the deal which will see drivers receive a pay rise of 15% over the next three years.
Secretary of State for Transport Louise Haigh made it a priority to resolve the dispute when Labour was voted into office in July.
It brings to a close a two-year period which saw 18 strikes and cost hospitality an estimated £3.5bn in lost sales according to UKH.
UKH chief Kate Nicholls has stated that hospitality businesses will be “breathing a sigh of relief” as a result.
She said: “The strikes have been enormously disruptive over the past two and a half years, with businesses estimated to have lost out on £3.5bn in sales as a result. It’s also cost workers who have not been able to make it for shifts and impacted families who have had to cancel plans.
“A resolution as we head towards the winter months and the critical ‘golden quarter’, when hospitality makes a significant chunk of its revenue around Christmas, was absolutely essential. With a line now drawn under this dispute, I hope all parties can work together to rebuild faith and confidence in our rail network, which is so critical to hospitality, leisure and tourism.”
Mick Whelan, ASLEF general secretary, added: “It just shows what can be done when the grown-ups come into the room. The Tory government sat on their hands and refused to talk to us. But this Labour government has worked with us to resolve this dispute.
“The offer is a fair offer and it is what we have always asked for, a clean offer, without a land grab for our terms & conditions. We achieved more in the first four weeks of a Labour government than we managed under a Tory government that set out to destroy us.”