Union leader says more UK rail strikes may be averted

Transport union leader Mick Lynch raised hopes future rail strikes in the UK could be averted as travel was disrupted by a fresh 48-hour walkout and nurses warned their action could escalate.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) general secretary believes compromise on conditions and an improvement in the pay offer are “achievable” after talks with the Government.

His members at 14 companies and Network Rail again walked out on Friday, crippling services across the country a day after an unprecedented nursing strike.

Health leaders warned the situation in the NHS will become “increasingly difficult” next week when nurses walk out again before ambulance staff strike.

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With the Government under growing pressure to offer better pay deals to end the disruption by Christmas, the RMT attended talks with rail minister Huw Merriman on Thursday.

Mr Lynch said there were “no new proposals on the table” but said there were “soundings-out” of possible solutions in advance of further talks with rail bosses.

“So we need some compromise on some of the conditions they’re putting on the offer and we’ll need an improvement in the pay offer. That is achievable, in my view,” he told Sky News.

“I know that there are some very simple steps that the employers and ourselves could take together to get a solution to this. That means a common-sense approach – both sides get into a position where there’s some commonly held positions.

“And I think we could do that in the next period. And if that is done very quickly, we can consider the industrial action going forward.”

Rail workers in England, Wales and Scotland will walk out again on Christmas Eve if there is no breakthrough.

Nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will walk out again on Tuesday after the Royal College of Nursing’s (RCN) first national action.

Some senior Conservatives have urged British prime minister Rishi Sunak to get nurses a better pay deal, either by directly proposing one or by getting the NHS pay review body to recommend a fresh offer. But Mr Sunak was refusing to reopen pay discussions, defending the deal as “appropriate and fair”.

RCN leader Pat Cullen warned that action by nurses would escalate unless ministers back down on their refusal to negotiate on pay.

Nearly 16,000 appointments, procedures and surgeries were rescheduled in England – 54,000 less than the Government suggested – when nurses staged the biggest strike in the history of the NHS on Thursday.

The figures were published after British health minister Maria Caulfield said about 70,000 appointments would be lost due to the 12-hour industrial action.

But, according to provisional NHS data reported by trusts where the RCN strike took place 2,452 inpatient and day case elective procedures and 13,327 outpatient appointments were rescheduled, coming to 15,779 in total.

Across England, 9,999 staff were absent from work due to the strike, according to figures on the NHS England website. - PA