UK rail strikes to go ahead as scheduled - trade union

LONDON (Reuters) -British trade union the RMT on Wednesday said planned strikes by tens of thousands of railway workers later this month and in early January would go ahead as scheduled after being informed that no new pay offer would be made.

More than 40,000 railway workers are due to walk out on Dec. 13-14, 16-17, 24-27, Jan. 3-4 and 6-7 in a long-running dispute over pay.

On Sunday, the RMT said it had rejected a pay rise offer of 4% in 2022 and 2023 from train operators aimed at heading off the strike action.

The RMT said on Wednesday it had heard from the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, that there would be no revised offer and it had been instead been instructed by the government to "take on the strike action".

"The planned industrial action for RMT train operating company members goes ahead as scheduled as there is no resolution to the dispute," the RMT said in a statement.

"In fact a resolution to the dispute is now further away due to the government’s late intervention in the negotiating process."

The Department for Transport did not have an immediate comment.

(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Mark Porter and Alistair Bell)