Treasury ‘blocked deal to avert rail strikes’

Government vetoed wage rise that may have averted strikes over Christmas, claim train operators

The Treasury has been accused of blocking train operators from offering unions a pay rise that would have avoided Christmas strike action, amid fears that public sector wages risk spiralling out of control. Ministers are said to have vetoed proposals for a pay increase of between 8pc and 9pc over two years on Monday – despite indicating 48 hours earlier Whitehall would support a deal. Rail staff are to bring travel to halt with eight days of walkouts in December and January.

THE Treasury has been accused of blocking train operators from offering unions a pay rise that would have avoided Christmas strike action, amid fears that public sector wages risk spiralling out of control.

The Government is said to have vetoed proposals for a pay increase of between 8pc and 9pc over two years on Monday – despite indicating 48 hours earlier Whitehall would support a deal.

Rail staff are planning to bring travel to halt with eight days of walkouts in December and January as a result.

It comes as ministers scramble to head off strikes across the public sector, with nurses, doctors and civil servants all threatening industrial action unless they can secure big pay rises. Treasury officials are thought to fear that giving in could trigger a jump in inflation.

Sources said that last Saturday, officials from the Department for Transport (DFT) ordered train negotiators to offer pay rises to their counterparts from the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) in order to avoid further strikes. All pay increases must be signed off by the Government.

An indicative deal was thrashed out that rail bosses thought would be sufficient to end the biggest wave of industrial action on the railways for a decade.

The Daily Telegraph understands that train companies were willing to offer pay rises of between 8pc and 9pc over the next two years under a national framework that would be agreed by operators and their unions. But when representatives from the train operators on Monday asked the DFT for approval to put the deal in writing, officials are believed to have backtracked.

Industry sources claim that the DFT was blocked from sanctioning the pay rises following discussions with the Treasury. A DFT spokesman insisted it did not block a deal. Yesterday, the RMT agreed to wage increases of between 7pc and 9pc on Scotland’s railways.

A senior industry source said: “Monday was a slow-motion car-crash which was totally avoidable. Government flipflopped over the course of a weekend and ended up making a non-denial denial that they had stopped an offer being made.”

The claims are consistent with those made by union leaders this week, when they blamed Whitehall meddling for crashing hopes of an agreement. The industry source said: “[RMT head] Mick Lynch called them out. He was right to.”

Following the collapse of talks, the RMT announced the biggest single wave of industrial action to date. Its 40,000 members, at train operators and Network Rail, will walk out on Dec 13, 14, 16 and 17, and Jan 3, 4, 6 and 7.

The strikes will effectively bring rail services to a near-standstill for a week from Dec 13 and the first working week

‘We can solve this, and even protect Christmas but time is short, ministers and officials need to get real’

back in the new year. Coupled with engineering works, passengers on some lines will suffer disruption for the best part of a month – from Dec 13 to Jan 8.

Mr Lynch met with Mark Harper, the Transport Secretary, on Thursday. It is understood that Mr Harper pledged to fast-track Whitehall decision-making in effort to head off Christmas rail strikes. He later insisted he would not simply “hand over enormous sums of money”.

The senior industry source said: “We can solve this, and even protect Christmas but time is short, ministers and officials need to get real, get out of the way, and let the companies make an offer.”

A spokesman for the DFT said: “We did not block a deal and have no interest in blocking a deal. Industry, trade unions and government are all in agreement that this dispute has been going on for way too long now and we would like it resolved in a way that works for the travelling public and the taxpayer.”