 If the pay deal is resolved no train services will face disruption |
National rail strikes planned for later this month could be averted after a new pay offer was made to signal workers. The offer came during talks between Network Rail and the Rail Maritime & Transport Union (RMT).
Planned 24-hour strikes by up to 5,000 signallers on June 20 and 25 now look likely to be called off.
If the pay offer were confirmed in writing at fresh talks on Thursday, the strikes would probably be suspended, RMT General secretary Bob Crow said.
Signallers and operational staff had planned two one-day strikes in a dispute over pay.
Earlier this week the RMT said the workers had voted by 2,104 to 970 to take industrial action to reject a pay deal which they said would have amounted to a two-year pay freeze.
The first strike was planned on June 20, when England play Sweden in their final World Cup group game, potentially inconveniencing tens of thousands of fans on their way home to watch the match.
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If what was offered to us verbally today is what we receive in writing there is a good chance that the strikes can be suspended
