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Responding to the news of the latest RMT national rail strike set for 27 July, the Rail Delivery Group calls the strikes 'counterproductive' and urges the unions to continue talks.
A Rail Delivery Group spokesperson, said: “This latest round of action will cause more misery for millions and take money out of the industry at a time when passenger numbers remain 20% below pre-pandemic levels, making it harder to afford a pay increase.
"We want to give our people a pay raise. But to do that we have bring working practices that are in some cases decades old up to date so that we can adapt to new, more leisure-led travel patterns – including making Sunday part of the standard working week so that services are more reliable at weekends. The alternative is asking taxpayers to shoulder the burden after contributing over £600 per household to keep the railway running during the pandemic, or asking passengers to pay even higher fares when they too are feeling the pinch – and that simply isn’t fair.
"Instead of staging more counterproductive strikes, we ask the RMT to come back to the table so we can deliver a deal that works for our people, our passengers and for taxpayers."
