PRESS RELEASE : RMT Request Talks with Rishi Sunak [December 2022]

The press release issued by the RMT on 10 December 2022.

Rail union RMT request talks with PM to resolve rail strikes.

Letter below.

10 Downing Street
London​

SW1A 2AA

9th December 2022

Dear Prime Minister,

National Rail strikes

I’m writing to you to ask you to meet with me as a matter of urgency.

From the reports in the press, Mark Harper’s appearance at the Transport Committee and from what I have been directly told by the Rail Delivery Group’s negotiators, it is now clear to my union and the wider public that No. 10 is directing the mandate for the rail companies and has torpedoed the talks.

There is no reason why this dispute could not be settled in the same way that RMT has resolved disputes in Scotland and Wales. Where the Scottish and Welsh governments have had responsibility for mandates, pay settlements for 2022 have been agreed and neither of these settlements have been conditional on cutting staffing, and eroding safety, security and accessibility.

It is already a national scandal that your government has been paying the train operating companies not to settle the dispute, indemnifying them to the tune of £300 million so that they have no incentive to reach a resolution.

It’s not clear to me why, on top of this, your government has now torpedoed the negotiations, but I now believe that a meeting with yourself represents the best prospect of any renewed progress.

We have a duty to explore every possible option for settling this dispute and I’m willing to do my part. I hope you will agree to meet me.

Yours sincerely

Michael Lynch
General Secretary