UNITED KINGDOM / AGILITYPR.NEWS / September 01, 2021 / Unite the union today (1 September) confirmed that hundreds of its engineering members at Abellio Scotrail have voted to take industrial action following the collapse of pay talks. 

The ballot returned a vote of 78% in support of strike action on a 68.4% turnout. The percentage who voted ‘Yes’ to take strike action exceeded more than half of the membership. 92% also supported taking industrial action short of a strike. Industrial action is now expected to take place from the middle of September.

The vote to support industrial action is a result of the failure by Abellio Scotrail to make a meaningful pay offer, as well as the company withdrawing a number of entitlements from workers including the Rest Day Working Agreement with Unite in April 2020 for engineering workers. The Dutch firm initially withdrew it for drivers but later reinstated it. 

Abellio has claimed they are under instructions from the Scottish Government not to award any pay rise to rail workers. In April 2020 the Scottish Government put in place an Emergency Measures Agreement (EMA) which made a temporary variation to the ScotRail franchise agreement. This includes a £8.9m management fee associated with the EMA between March - September 2020 (see notes to editor).

Unite has submitted a number of demands to Abellio Scotrail including a substantial increase in pay, greater flexibility of holidays, the introduction of no compulsory redundancies and the reinstatement of the Rest Day Working Agreement, which have all been rejected by the company. Abellio will now stop running the ScotRail franchise at the end of March next year when Scotland's train services are set to be run by a public sector body.

Abellio’s turnover for the year (2020) at £917m was down from the previous accounting period, principally due to passenger income falling from £445.3m in 2019 to £360.4m. However, the franchise subsidy from Transport Scotland rose over the same period from £482.8m to £526.3m.

Pat McIlvogue, Unite industrial officer, said: “The mandate Unite has received from its members at Abellio Scotrail is an indictment of the company's behaviour and attitude towards its workers. The reality is the working relationship between Unite, and for that matter all trade unions, with Abellio is virtually non-existent. Unite’s members have had their terms and conditions cut, while Abellio also refuse to offer a decent pay rise. The ballot result is the inevitable outcome when workers are treated with no respect. Abellio has a final opportunity to get back round the table to meaningfully and positively resolve this dispute. If they do not then strike action, and action short of strike, will start from the middle of September.”

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