Train travellers’ hope of a resolution to the increasingly deep and bitter dispute on the railway were dashed on Monday evening by the RMT.
The most protracted and disruptive rail strikes since 1989 will begin on 13 December and involve industrial action on a total of 12 days, stretching into the New Year.
The union’s leader, Mick Lynch, called an additional strike straddling four days over Christmas and urged his members to reject a pay offer by Network Rail.
Twenty-four hours earlier, the RMT had rejected outright a conditional pay offer from train operators of 4 per cent rises this year and next. The union said proposals from the Rail Delivery Group, representing the operators, would involve “vast changes to working practices” and “huge job losses”.
The December strikes by RMT members are expected to cause severe financial damage to retailers and hospitality businesses, especially in London, by limiting the options for shoppers and weekenders in the build-up to Christmas.
The executive committee of the main rail union spent longer considering an offer from Network Rail, the infrastructure provider, worth 5 per cent this year and 4 per cent next – with a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies before 2025.
The RMT will put the proposals to members in an online referendum with a recommendation to reject them. The poll closes at noon on 12 December, hours before the next round of national strikes begin.
Mr Lynch said: “We remain available for talks in order to resolve these issues but we will not bow to pressure from the employers and the government to the detriment of our members.”
The strikes involve a series of four 48-hour stoppages – on 13-14 and 16-17 December, plus 3-4 and 6-7 January – with a new 60-hour walkout from 6pm on Christmas Eve until 6am on 27 December.
The newest bout of industrial action will have little immediate effect on passengers, but is intended to wreck £150m of engineering projects scheduled for Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
The RMT tweeted: “The latest strike dates will impact engineering work not train services.”
On Saturday Mr Lynch told the Campaign For Trade Union Freedom conference: “We’ve got to make sure that the legacy of this time is a profound change in this society.
“We’re going to fight for what we’re going to achieve, and we’re going to make anyone who…
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