National rail dispute over pay is 'the fight of our lifetime' says RMT leader weeks after travellers hit by train chaos

The ongoing national rail dispute over pay has been named 'the fight of our lifetime' by the union leader, just days after travellers were hit by mass cancellations in Manchester and the rest of the UK. Piccadilly and Victoria station, among others, were left eerily quiet just weeks ago, as rail staff staged a walkout over pay and conditions.

Mick Lynch, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT), said negotiations over pay, jobs and conditions were the 'toughest' the union had ever been involved in. So far, union members have staged three strikes over the row which crippled services up and down the country.

No new strikes have been set and talks have been continuing between the union, Network Rail and the train operators. Mr Lynch told the RMT’s annual meeting in Birmingham: “They are trying to cut thousands of jobs and they have no scruples in cutting back on safety regimes in order to do so.

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“They are seeking to rip up working practices and conditions, agreements that protect our members and in doing so they will drive up unsocial hours, work fatigue and occupational ill-health. And they are seeking to make our members poor with below-inflation pay offers which do not take into account the cost-of-living crisis.

“Since that strike action, which was fantastic, they have not diluted their stance. At Network Rail they are ramping up their demands.

“We went to the train operators, and they put on the table that virtually every rail worker would be re-contracted on a new contract of employment and a new set of terms and conditions. They are going to bring back the driver only operated disputes in every single