NEW Transport Secretary Anne Marie Trevelyan, the MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed who has taken over from Grant Shapps, has reached out to trade union leaders with a series of meetings.
As this issue went to press, these meetings do not appear to have achieved much, as both the RMT and ASLEF unions announced further strikes on Saturday, October 1, with ASLEF adding a further day on Tuesday, October 5.
The basics of the dispute are a demand for pay increases that reflect inflation, with the employers – the rail operators controlled by the Department for Transport in all but name
- offering no more than a 2% increase, with a promise of more if productivity enabling job cuts and reduced operational costs can be agreed.
In the background, the rate of inflation has started to fall slightly, with the consumer prices index (CPI) recording a 9.9% annual increase in August compared with 10.1% in July, which is largely the result of reduced prices for vehicle