Pay: Union success at Scotrail: Unite accept pay offer and Aslef

Over 300 Unite members at Scotrail have accepted a 4.5% pay rise backdated to April 2024, with a 91% vote in support of the deal. Unite represents general workers at Scotrail including engineers, who have a separate bargaining structure to train drivers.

The pay dispute involving four unions has seen drivers refusing Sunday shifts and overtime. Scotrail cut about 600 services, and the frequency of peak-time services halved.

Aslef withdrew its ballot for industrial action in response to the new offer.

Aslef members have carried out overtime bans as part of the UK-wide pay dispute. RMT members had already voted for strike action but the union put plans on hold to ballot members. At the time of going to press, neither union had announced their members’ responses to the deal.

TSSA, which represents about 500 members in managerial and technical roles, also had a mandate for industrial action but was positive about the new offer.

Separate to the pay dispute, Aslef won its campaign for Scotrail to procure replacements for high-speed trains on the intercity routes. The replacement was a key demand of the ‘Vision for Scotland’s Railways’ report published by the union.

ScotRail has been instructed to procure replacements for high-speed trains currently operating on InterCity routes between Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Inverness. Aslef urged ScotRail and the Scottish government to involve train drivers to ensure the best possible replacements are found.