29.05.15
Rail strike Groundhog Day
It feels like Groundhog Day now that RMT has rejected the improved pay deal from Network Rail and will strike next week.
Does anyone think the strike will actually happen? The overwhelming feeling at RTM is: Nope.
Over the next week there’ll be plenty of fretting, a lot exclamations of “rail chaos” and the network “coming to a standstill” but in the end it will all be empty air.
Network Rail will come up with another offer before the strike has any chance of affecting services – it simply cannot afford not to. Their problem is that RMT know this so the union has all the leverage, and they’ll keep twisting to get as much as they can.
Will the next offer be good enough? To postpone the next set of strikes, yes. To actually reach a deal? We’ll see.
(Picture by: Anthony Quintano)