ASLEF General Secretary Mick Whelan has reiterated his desire for the strikes to end and hopes they will end in the coming months, if, as expected, Labour gains power in the general election on July 4. Whelan was speaking on the second day of RAIL Live at Long Marston Rail Innovation Centre in Warwickshire.
Whelan also sent a parting shot to the likely outgoing government of Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak by saying they were the most disingenuous set of people he had ever worked with.
“We’re not the problem in this dispute. I am confident of that. Never in my four decades working in the railway industry have I dealt with a group of people, so deceitful.”
ASLEF has been in dispute with the government for nearly two years, in an ongoing dispute regarding driver pay and overtime working. Progress has stalled since the last offer from the government and the operators which involved a two years of 4% pay rises - which the government argued would see an average salary increase from £60,000 to £65,000 for drivers - was declined by union members. Rostering and seven-day working weeks are a sticking point which has not been overcome yet.
Whelan, who is a member of Labour’s National Executive Council, was critical of the Conservative government, telling the audience that “As a union, we’ve been negotiating with people that were signing contracts with companies that said they were not to give our drivers a pay rise.
So, every negotiation is hard-fought, they don’t come to us and ask us what we want. We must go to them. But when you’ve been pushed from pillar to post, it makes it very hard.”
He remains hopeful that an agreement could be reached in the future.
“I am quite hopeful that we will have some sort of resolution in sight once the 5th of July comes along,” he added.
Comment as guest
Comments
No comments have been made yet.