A UNION representing thousands of ScotRail workers has rejected a 5% pay deal offered to train drivers - placing the nationalised train operator into fresh turmoil.
Aslef, the union representing drivers, agreed a 5% pay deal after negotiations with the rail provider's management.
It had previously rejected a 4.2% rise in a dispute that led ScotRail to introduce a reduced timetable when drivers refused to work on rest days.
But now it has emerged that similar offer to the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) has been rejected and members will vote over strike action.
The RMT represents the vast majority of the 5000 ScotRail staff, including conductors, ticket examiners and some drivers.
The union will instead recommend to its national executive that it continues to ballot its members for strike action.
Its members were also offered the 5% pay rise, and similar benefits to the train drivers, including a five year no-compulsory-redundancy agreement, on top of a minimum flat rate pay to £10.50 per hour.
The RMT is at the centre of a separate dispute, which threatens to paralysed Scotland's railways in less than a fortnight, with Network Rail - which owns the nation’s rail tracks, stations and signals – over plans to axe hundreds of critical maintenance jobs. ScotRail has admitted that it may not be able to run any services during the strike.
More than 50,000 railway staff will walkout on 21st, 23rd and 25th June in the biggest dispute on the UK network in 33 years.
The rail industry has called on RMT to call off the "premature" strikes and continue discussions to avoid unnecessary and disruptive industrial action.
The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) said the strike action will cause "significant disruption" to businesses and passengers, particularly key workers who cannot work from home.
The Aslef pay dispute surrounded train drivers who having completed all training and a probation period are being paid some £52,000 per year – a rise of £3,640 (7.5%) in the past three years. Three years ago, the pre-nationalised service was paying £48,360 to qualified drivers.
The Aslef dispute has led to a reduced timetable since last month, with almost a third fewer train services a day on weekdays.
A temporary, scaled-back Sunday timetable was also introduced last weekend which cut services in half following several weeks of severe disruption with thousands of services cancelled.
David Simpson, ScotRail's service delivery director, said: “We’ve made a really good offer which recognises the cost-of-living challenges faced by families across the country and delivers good value for the public.
“The feedback we’ve had from many drivers is that they recognise we have made a series of very good offers and we are pleased they will get a say in a referendum.
“The railway plays a vital role in growing the economy and connecting communities. Now more than ever we all need to work together to attract more people to the railway as we recover from the impact of the pandemic.”
Transport minister Jenny Gilruth was forced to fend off questions about her involvement, or lack of it, in the ScotRail dispute on Wednesday.
She declined to apologise to the Tartan Army after nationalised ScotRail told fans they will have to leave the Scotland’s first Nations League fixture before the game ends if they want to get home.
Newly nationalised ScotRail had urged those heading to Hampden Park for the Scotland v Armenia game on Wednesday to consider their travel options after the operator was forced to cut the number of services.
Kick off was at 7.45pm but the last train of the night from Mount Florida, the national stadium’s closet station, back to Glasgow Central was to leave before the final whistle.
The cuts were the result of the continuing pay dispute involving unions, which has led to the axing of daily services by up to a half in an emergency timetable due to a shortage of staff.
Scottish Conservatives' transport spokesman Graham Simpson was concerned there were no provisions to deal with those travelling to and from Hampden for the big match.
He said the minister had not bothered to dirty her hands with getting involved with the talks so far and asked how confident she was that this situation will be resolved and we don't have a "summer of chaos".
The transport minister responded: "I am not in the negotiating room. It is appropriate for ScotRail, the employer to negotiate directly with the trade unions, that is how we resolve industrial disputes."
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