RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “RMT can confirm that we were within an inch of making progress towards boxing off a deal with Southern in Acas talks on Friday afternoon that was based on the offer from ScotRail, an offer that enabled us to suspend all industrial action in the ScotRail guards dispute”.
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The opposition Labour Party accused the government of failing to help resolve the dispute because of an anti-union agenda but Prime Minister Theresa May’s spokeswoman said the strike would not solve anything.
He added: ‘As you know, our plans to implement the new role will commence on 21 August 2016 (although no conductor will move to the OBS role on that date) so the window for you to reach agreement with us is closing.
”Our fight is with the company and the government, who have dragged this franchise into total meltdown”, he said.
“We share the anger and frustration of passengers and we can not sit back while jobs and safety are compromised on these dangerously overcrowded trains”, said Cash.
The RMT said today’s walkout was being “solidly” supported.
Southern, which runs trains from destinations such as Brighton and Gatwick Airport, has said only 60 percent of its services would operate during the week-long stoppage, the longest British rail walkout for nearly 50 years, and no trains would operate at all on some routes.
Charles Horton wrote to Mick Cash claiming the company would promise: “Southern will propose a list of exceptional circumstances, to be agreed with RMT, whereby a train can continue in service without a second member of on board staff, for the benefit of customers”.
The RMT announced that its members on Virgin Trains East Coast had voted by a large majority to strike in a separate dispute about the jobs of onboard staff.
Train drivers working for Southern and Thameslink are being balloted for strike action which could take place in September.
No trains will operate to or from Earlswood, Salfords and Faygate.
The RMT told Southern last Friday that it would pull back from this week’s action if a similar deal was offered.
The five-day rail strike this week is thought to be the longest industrial action taken by transport unions since 1968.
The company says on-board staff will be able to focus on helping passengers, insisting this will offer a better service.
Southern is running about 60% of its normal timetable.
ScotRail said conductors would be retained on a new fleet of electric trains which are scheduled to start running from next year.
The RMT is planning to protest outside the DfT on Wednesday.
One of the organisers, Lianna Etkind, of the Campaign for Better Transport, said: “We are forced into this action as Southern Rail passengers are fed up with suffering such a poor service”.
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It did however say the latter figure was a manual one compiled by Southern, as industry data was showing inaccurate public performance data due to a systems error.
