Rail chaos on way after workers vote to strike over bonus

A dispute over bonus payments for maintenance staff and signal workers could spread nationwide and any walkouts coordinated with stoppages by postal workers who are taking action over pay, the Rail Maritime and Transport union warned.

The rail dispute involves 119 RMT members based in the area of the Grayrigg rail accident in Cumbria who have had their £400 Network Rail bonus withheld, and more than 400 Scottish signallers whose bonus has been docked after they went on strike earlier this year.

The Scottish workers voted by 186 to 116 to strike, a majority of 62 per cent, while maintenance workers in Lancashire and Cumbria backed action by 184 to 37, a majority of 83 per cent.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow told his union's annual conference in Edinburgh Network Rail had acted "appallingly" and warned that the dispute could spread.

"We have been trying to get management to reconsider their position but the bosses have said they will not talk to us.

"Our members have been treated appallingly by Network Rail. What has happened in Scotland means that any group of workers going on strike could lose their bonus."

Mr Crow said he believed all of the RMT's members in Network Rail should now be balloted for industrial action. He also raised the prospect of rail strikes on the same day as industrial action by postal workers, who will walk out on Friday in a row over pay.

A strike by Scottish signallers will severely affect passenger services, officials believe.

A Network Rail spokesman said: "We are disappointed the RMT is taking this approach which is so wholly unnecessary and will only cause disruption to passengers.

"Those who took strike action in Scotland had a clear understanding at the time that their discretionary bonus would be at risk so it can hardly be surprising that their bonuses were affected.

"It would also be inappropriate to pay a bonus to the maintenance workers in Lancashire and Cumbria before the investigation into what happened at Grayrigg has been completed.

"This does not mean that they won't get it, just that we can't pre-empt the investigation in any way."