Transport Secretary Mark Harper ‘could create liaison group for rail strikes’

The Government is considering setting up a liaison committee to bring unions and employers together to solve the long running rail dispute, in an apparent change in tack by ministers.

Mark Harper, the Transport Secretary, on Thursday held talks with Mick Lynch, the general secretary of the RMT, in a bid to find a way to bring damaging rail strikes to an end.

It came as thousands of postal workers joined university lecturers and teachers in one of the biggest walkouts of the year.

Picket lines were mounted outside postal delivery and sorting offices, universities and schools as industrial unrest continued to spread across the country over pay, jobs and conditions.

Mr Lynch said the recently appointed Transport Secretary had said he would “consider” setting up a liaison group at ministerial level to smooth the road to a settlement and take “forward steps towards a resolution”.

Mr Lynch said their meeting was “positive” and had “got rid of the bellicose nonsense that we used to have”, adding that “we’re now starting to get a dialogue”.

‘There is a deal to be done’

In a statement Mr Harper said: “There is a deal to be done, and I believe we will get there – I want to facilitate the RMT and the employers to reach an agreement and end the dispute for the benefit of the travelling public.”

Mr Harper warned that continuing strike action “risks putting the very future of the entire industry in jeopardy”.

But he added: “We have common ground - we both want the dispute to end and we both want a thriving railway which delivers for passengers and workers alike. To achieve this though, we need to work together, across the entire industry to ensure our railway industry thrives.”

Mr Harper said he wanted the dispute resolved as soon as possible, but warned he could not sign any blank cheques

He said: “You could solve the dispute very quickly if you simply just handed over enormous amounts of taxpayers’ money. But that would be the wrong thing to do, and it would be wrong in this dispute.

“It would also be the wrong precedent to set for all of the disputes that are going on.”

The more conciliatory tone from both sides comes after weeks of one day strikes across the network have repeatedly brought the rail industry to a standstill.

Further strikes have been called by the RMT in the run up to Christmas, with one-day stoppages on December 13, 14, 16 and 17.

Until now ministers have denied blocking any settlement and insisted it was for Network Rail and the train operating firms to negotiate a deal with the unions over reforms to jobs and working conditions.

Black Friday postal strike

Hopes of a breakthrough in the rail dispute came as retailers said the postal strike on Black Friday could not have come at a worst time, compounding an already difficult year.

The two-day strike, which began on Thursday, comes at one of the busiest online shopping periods, with consumers trying to take advantage of bargains in the run up to Christmas.

The stoppage is expected to lead to delays in deliveries of items bought by people to take advantage of Black Friday deals.

Members of the Communications Workers Union (CWU) employed by Royal Mail are planning another one-day strike on November 30, with further one-day walkouts to follow on December 9, 11, 14, 15, 23, and Christmas Eve.

Business groups have said online retailers are doing their best to ensure all orders are processed and dispatched as quickly as possible, but have criticised the timing of the strike on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said: “Retailers will be working closely with their delivery providers on contingency plans to ensure customers can get the goods they need, especially on Black Friday and the run up to Christmas which is so important to consumers and retail businesses during this very difficult year.”

Postal workers to ‘fight as long as it takes’

Royal Mail said it has made its “best and final offer” aimed at resolving the dispute, including “extensive improvements” made during negotiations with the CWU, such as an enhanced pay deal of up to nine per cent over 18 months, offering to develop a new profit share scheme for employees, and making voluntary redundancy terms more generous.

But the general secretary of the Communication Workers Union accused Royal Mail of subjecting its workers to a “psychological attack”.

Speaking at a picket in Camden, north London, Dave Ward said: “What they’re doing is threatening our people every day. If they leave behind mail because they can’t complete it in their normal work time, they’re being threatened with the sack.

“They’d rather have the quality of service failures and then they blame it on the postal workers.”

Mr Ward said postal workers will “fight as long as it takes”, with further strike action possible, and said the Government should “intervene”.