Merseyrail employees have voted in favour of accepting a 7.1% pay rise deal following negotiations carried out by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT).
The one-year pay deal was secured less than two weeks after the long-running dispute over the guard position on new services was brought to an end, with staff on pay grades below £24,000 set to receive a 7.1% rise on basic rates or a £1,600 flat rate increase, depending on which is the greater amount.
According to the union, there were negotiations with the train operator, owned jointly by Serco and Abellio, before they agreed the deal on a ‘no strings attached’ basis.
RMT members voted in favour of proposals for establishing a permanent position of train manager on the Merseyrail class 777 service trains at the start of July, which will continue the role of existing guards on the new trains. The agreement marked the end of a number of strikes over a three-year period, and means that the roll-out of the new trains on the Merseyrail network can now begin.
Mick Lynch, general secretary of RMT, said: “I congratulate our Merseyrail members on this impressive win. It is clear we can win decent pay rises on train operators when they are not under the auspices of the Department for Transport and when free collective bargaining can take place.
“RMT has now done several deals with train and tube operators that begin to deal with the cost-of-living crisis. We want negotiated settlements in all our industrial disputes, and we are not afraid to use strike action where needed.”
Merseyrail declined to comment.