Government, industry, and unions hoping for strike breakthrough after another day of negotiations

By Joe Cooper

Today, government, industry and trade unions representing rail workers and NHS staff were back in for further negotiation aiming to bring an end to months of industrial action. 

RMT leader Mick Lynch, fresh from his appearance yesterday in front of MPs at the Transport Select Committee, was back in for talks with the Rail Delivery Group, the representative body for train operators. Ahead of the meeting, Lynch told the Guardian that he was expecting an offer ‘way below inflation’, reiterating that this dispute was about job security, working conditions and pay.  

Though this latest round of negotiations appears to have reached a stalemate, the Rail Delivery Group confirmed that further discussions would be had in the coming days. There had been growing rumours about this finally being the week that the unions and rail companies would strike a deal, with Transport Secretary Mark Harper taking to ITV’s Peston to update on talks and Network Rail believing that the chances of a settlement being reached were “seven out of ten”. Eight months into the dispute it appears that there are some glimmers of hope with a deal seemingly closer, and no further strikes planned for the immediate future.  

Meanwhile, another Minister was sat around a different negotiating table as Health Secretary Steve Barclay met with leaders from medical union the BMA in an attempt to dissuade doctors from joining nurses, paramedics, emergency response teams and physiotherapists in taking strike action.  

Speaking following the meeting, BMA Chair Dr Philip Banfield said that it was ‘absolutely clear that there is no resolution [to the dispute] without consideration of full pay restoration’ while again emphasising issues relating to workload for junior doctors across the health service.  

Barclay, for his part, was said to have struck a more optimistic tone during the meeting, building on the sense of ‘some progress’ during Monday’s meeting. However, last night’s briefing that pay would not be on the agenda is unlikely to have eased the tensions in the room.  

With junior doctors in England currently balloting on further strike action in the form of a 72-hour strike in March, tensions between the unions and government is only likely to heighten in the weeks ahead, putting further pressure on Ministers to come to an agreement in the public interest.  

What such an agreement would look like remains to be seen. The latest speculation suggested a softening of the Government’s previous stance of rejecting a one-off payment for NHS staff for the year, but this would still need to be balanced with cuts in spending elsewhere.  

While the Prime Minister will no doubt be feeling pressure to resolve these disputes in the public interest, the introduction of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill demonstrates his willingness to take a harder line on industrial action to prevent the levels of widespread disruption that has characterised much of the last 12 months.  

Though there is no suggestion that the Prime Minister’s position is under any immediate threat, the current situation will no doubt be giving him substantial pause for thought. Given the scale of the challenges facing the country – not only with the latest wave of strike action but the wider cost of living crisis and what is soon to be a less generous programme of support on energy bills – it’s essential that he gets these next few months right if the Conservatives are to begin clawing back their substantial polling deficit.  

Expect industrial action to continue throughout the year and to continue dominating the domestic news agenda.