Hospitality businesses can breathe a “sigh of relief” after RMT rail workers voted to accept a deal to end their long-running dispute over pay and conditions.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union have agreed to an offer from train companies for a backdated pay rise of 5% for 2022-2023, alongside job security guarantees.
UKHospitality Chief Executive Kate Nicholls said that the deal would mean, “businesses, workers and the public now have a degree of certainty when it comes to their Christmas plans.”
“Hospitality businesses will be breathing a sigh of relief that the critical festive period will be protected from strikes from RMT members.”
However, Nicholls added, “We are not out of the woods yet”, with strikes by ASLEF set to cause significant disruption next week.
The train driveres union previously announced a fresh round of industrial action, with strikes planned from 2 to 8 December.
”We estimate the planned rolling strikes and overtime ban will cost the sector at least half a billion in lost sales, bringing the total impact of the disruption to over £4 billion”, added Nicholls.
“I would urge ASLEF to follow the lead of the RMT and commit to holding no further strikes in December and the New Year.
She said that further strikes would decimate the essential Christmas trading period for businesses, prevent millions from working and interrupt families’ festive plans.
“It’s critical that all parties still involved in pay disputes continue to negotiate and reach a resolution as soon as possible to avoid further, damaging strikes”, she said.
