Train drivers vote to accept bumper pay deal from Labour as unions boast they have ‘protected hard-won terms and conditions’ with strikes

Train drivers have overwhelmingly accept a bumper pay offer from Labour to end a two-year dispute at 16 rail companies that brought chaos for commuters.

Aslef said members voted 96 per cent to four per cent in favour of a deal worth around 15 per cent over three years. The turnout was 84 per cent.

The offer was made by Transport Secretary Louise Haigh within weeks of the party winning the general election, among a slew of generous offers to end strikes.

It included a 5 per cent backdated pay rise for 2022-23, a 4.75 per cent rise for 23-24, and a 4.5 per cent increase for 2024-25. 

But shadow transport secretary Helen Whately said it was ‘no surprise’ the package had been accepted. 

‘It’s an inflation-busting pay rise with ‘no strings attached’ for reforms or improvements to services for passengers. And it will do nothing to prevent strikes in future,’ she said.

‘The government has failed to take responsibility – they don’t want to do the hard work of negotiating a fair, affordable settlement. Easier just to say yes to the unions and have taxpayers pick up the bill.’

Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary, announced that drivers had accepted the deal 

The offer was made by Transport Secretary Louise Haigh within weeks of the party winning the general election

The ballot result ends what Aslef called the longest train drivers’ strike in recent history, during which drivers took 18 days of strike action.

Aslef had accused the previous Conservative government of ‘sitting on its hands’ and refusing to negotiate.

Ms Haigh said: ‘After two years of chaos on our railways under the Conservatives, this is an important step towards fixing our railways and getting the country moving again.

‘It will ensure a more reliable service by helping to protect passengers from national strikes, and crucially, it clears the way for vital reform – including modernising outdated working practices – to ensure a better performing railway for everyone.’

During the dispute 13,000 drivers took 18 days of strike action as well as refusing to work non-contractual overtime at 16 companies.

They were Avanti West Coast, Chiltern, C2C, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Greater Anglia, Great Northern Thameslink, Great Western Railway, LNER, Northern, Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express, South Western Railway and Island Line, TransPennine Express, and West Midlands Trains. 

Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary, said: ‘The strength and resilience and determination shown by train drivers to protect their hard-won and paid-for terms and conditions against the political piracy of an inept and destructive Tory government has prevailed.

‘It was not a fight we sought, or wanted. All we sought after five years without a pay rise, working for private companies who, throughout that period, declared millions of pounds in profits and dividends to shareholders, was a dent in the cost of living.

‘We are grateful that Louise Haigh … and the adults entered the room and sought an equitable way forward so that trains will perform and run in the interest of the passenger, of the taxpayer and of those who work in and are dedicated to this industry.’