After 18 strike days since July 2022, plus overtime bans – with union members voting for action repeatedly in the reballots demanded by Tory anti-union legislation – Aslef train drivers’ union has put a pay offer from the new Labour government to members, with a recommendation from the leadership to accept.
The pay offer of 14.25% covers three years, with backdated rises for 2022-23 and 2023-24, plus 4.5% for 2024-25. That means it still does not recover pay lost in real terms over that time. But Aslef says the offer does not include the attacks on terms and conditions that were attached to previous offers under the Tories.
Kris O’Sullivan, Aslef member, says:
After five years of no pay increase during one of the worst cost-of-living crises, and being key workers during Covid …
After two years of industrial action, making countless sacrifices both financial and personal …
After multiple attempts to break our union through threatened use of minimum service levels legislation (MSLs) and media spin …
And after four prime ministers and five transport secretaries …
Aslef members up and down the country should be proud of making it to an actual pay offer – they’ve fought for it!
Unity and solidarity have proven yet again that workers are stronger together collectively as a class and as a union.
We have only got this far because of our action – Starmer’s Labour government is under pressure and trying to avoid more strikes. Hopefully this will inspire workers in other sectors to fight for more!
