Hopes for a settlement of a long-running rail dispute rose on Thursday after a meeting between Mick Lynch, general secretary of the RMT rail union, and Transport Secretary Mark Harper.
The RMT, the UK’s largest rail union, on Tuesday announced a ban on overtime for its members at Network Rail and 14 train operators over the festive period, as well as two 48-hour work stoppages in December and two other such walkouts in January.
Lynch refused to call off these strikes after the meeting.
“It was a positive meeting, in the sense that we got rid of the belligerent nonsense that we used to get from Grant Shapps,” Lynch said, referring to the former transport secretary who declined to comment. to encounter.
In a meeting he called “constructive,” Harper said he and Lynch had an “open and honest conversation” about the “serious challenges facing the railroads.”
“We have common ground – we both want the dispute to end and we both want a thriving railroad that delivers for passengers and workers,” Harper said.
To achieve this, however, all parties needed to work together, Harper added.
“There’s a deal to be made, and I believe we’ll get there,” he said. “I want to help the RMT and employers come to an agreement and end the dispute for the benefit of the traveling public.”
Harper said Thursday morning in the House of Commons that he would meet with representatives of railway unions “in the coming days.”