Talks between unions and Network Rail continue

Talks between the RMT transport union and Network Rail resumed this week at the Acas conciliation service. This comes after the RMT, along with the TSSA union, called off four days of strikes at the company after a court ruling against a strike ballot.

The high court judged that there were irregularities in the RMT’s ballot of signal workers and stopped the planned action.

The unions then called off a strike by maintenance workers against 1,500 job cuts, although there was no injunction against these ballots. They said that they would reballot all their members for action.

The unions must move quickly to stop the firm getting away with slashing safety-critical jobs and imposing work rosters on signallers. The unions have lost momentum by calling off the maintenance strikes.

The biggest possible yes vote is needed in the reballots to send a powerful message to the bosses, courts and government. The unions must be prepared to call strike action, even if there is a court decision against their ballots.