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| Crisis talks over planned rail strike action resume | |
| (about 14 hours later) | |
| Talks aimed at averting strike action by rail workers in a dispute over pay have resumed. | |
| Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union members are set to hold a 24-hour strike from 17:00 BST on 4 June and a 48-hour strike from 17:00 BST on 9 June. | Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union members are set to hold a 24-hour strike from 17:00 BST on 4 June and a 48-hour strike from 17:00 BST on 9 June. |
| On Thursday the union rejected a fresh pay offer by Network Rail. | On Thursday the union rejected a fresh pay offer by Network Rail. |
| Both sides agreed to meet again with conciliation service Acas to try to resolve the issue. | |
| The workers, including signallers and maintenance staff, are also planning to ban overtime from 6-12 June. | The workers, including signallers and maintenance staff, are also planning to ban overtime from 6-12 June. |
| Saturday's talks follow discussions on Friday. | |
| 'Negotiated settlement' | 'Negotiated settlement' |
| Mick Cash, general secretary of the RMT, said in a message to members on Friday: "Your negotiating team was invited to further discussions at Acas on the Network Rail dispute at short notice this afternoon. | Mick Cash, general secretary of the RMT, said in a message to members on Friday: "Your negotiating team was invited to further discussions at Acas on the Network Rail dispute at short notice this afternoon. |
| "Discussions have commenced and our full team will be in London on Saturday morning to take the negotiations forward. | "Discussions have commenced and our full team will be in London on Saturday morning to take the negotiations forward. |
| "RMT is fully committed to achieving a negotiated settlement and will be available in London for discussions for the whole weekend and beyond in order to achieve a settlement." | "RMT is fully committed to achieving a negotiated settlement and will be available in London for discussions for the whole weekend and beyond in order to achieve a settlement." |
| The RMT's 16,000 members at Network Rail work across the company's operations and maintenance departments. | The RMT's 16,000 members at Network Rail work across the company's operations and maintenance departments. |
| A planned strike over last week's bank holiday was suspended after Network Rail tabled a revised pay offer to workers. | A planned strike over last week's bank holiday was suspended after Network Rail tabled a revised pay offer to workers. |
| Network Rail originally offered a four-year deal of a single £500 payment followed by three years of rises in line with RPI inflation. | Network Rail originally offered a four-year deal of a single £500 payment followed by three years of rises in line with RPI inflation. |
| But the revised offer was for two years, with a 1% rise this year, and a rise of about 1.4% next year. It was also established that there would be no compulsory redundancies for the duration of the agreement. | But the revised offer was for two years, with a 1% rise this year, and a rise of about 1.4% next year. It was also established that there would be no compulsory redundancies for the duration of the agreement. |
| Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has previously said he considered strike action "unnecessary and unreasonable". | Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has previously said he considered strike action "unnecessary and unreasonable". |