There will be severe disruption on the Manchester Metrolink network this June after members of Unite the Union voted to take strike action over what they are describing as a “woeful” pay offer. 95% of their members who took part in the ballot (on an 84% turnout) voted to take the action and as expected Unite have chosen to go on strike over the weekend of Parklife (10th/11th June).
The pay offer made to staff was 5% over a 15 month period (with Metrolink operator KeolisAmey Metrolink changing the annual pay deal from January to April this offer will cover a slightly longer period). But the union consider this to be a woeful pay offer when compared to the current RPI which is at 11.4%.
Sharon Graham, Unite General Secretary, said: “Metrolink is operated by vastly wealthy multinational companies that can fully afford to make our members a fair pay offer but they have chosen not to. Our members at Metrolink are frontline workers who play a vital role in keeping Manchester moving. It is incomprehensible that Metrolink thinks it is in anyway acceptable to further suppress their pay when workers are struggling with a cost of living crisis. Unite is now entirely dedicated to defending and enhancing the jobs, pay and conditions of its members and the workforce at Metrolink will receive the union’s unflinching support.”
The press release from Unite states that the KeolisAmey Metrolink posted a profit in their accounts posted in 2022 although its not mentioned the size of this profit.
Unite have also said that management at KeolisAmey Metrolink have refused to enter into any negotiations on the pay since the end of March and that they feel they have been left with no choice but to take this strike action in order to get a better pay deal for their members.
The first strikes will take place on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th June. This will be the weekend of Parklife at Heaton Park as well as Soccer Aid at Old Trafford, Roger Waters at the AO Arena and The Weekend at the Etihad Stadium.
In response to the announcement of strike action, Rob Cox, HR Director at KeolisAmey Metrolink, said: “I have contacted Unite asking them to meet with me. I urge them to accept this invitation. From January to March 2023 we met with Unite on 12 occasions before making our final offer of five per cent for 15 months. After rejecting our offer, Unite took the decision to ballot for strike action rather than reaching out for further talks. We recognised the valuable contribution made by employees by increasing all salaries by 7.8 per cent in 2022.”