Labour will offer train drivers £600 payments to work overtime in what’s set to be a major coup for transport union Aslef.
In one of her first acts as Transport Secretary after replacing the disgraced Louise Haigh, Heidi Alexander approved plans for the union to offer the extra cash to hundreds of its members to work weekend shifts.
Drivers on services from London Euston to Birmingham and Liverpool can be offered £580 to work overtime shifts on weekdays – rising to £600 on overtime on Saturdays and Sundays, the Sunday Times revealed.
The bump represents an increase of up to 75 per cent in overtime pay which was previously £332 in the week, £359 on Saturdays and £431 on Sundays.
Heidi Alexander approved plans for the union to offer the extra cash to hundreds of its members to work weekend shifts
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But it comes months after Aslef chief Mick Whelan warned his union would “never be content” with Labour’s concessions – just after accepting a bumper pay deal from Starmer’s administration.
Aslef had been tabled a 14 per cent pay rise over three years, which will see the average driver’s salary soar from £60,000 to just under £70,000.
Speaking out on the overtime deal, a Department for Transport spokesman said: “We are delivering the biggest overhaul to our railways in a generation, creating a publicly owned, passenger-focused Great British Railways.
“As part of these plans, we’re determined to move towards a seven-day working week and end the over-reliance on rest day working, giving passengers the certainty and reliability they deserve.”
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But it comes months after Aslef chief Mick Whelan warned his union would ‘never be content’ with Labour’s concessions
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But on the same day that news of the deal came to light, services on the routes being handed the overtime boosts were sent into disarray.
Labour’s own Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham was at the much-maligned London Euston station, where a spate of delays and cancellations forced him to urge his party to “sort this mess out”.
Writing on social media, Burnham fumed: “Chaos at Euston again and across the railways this weekend.
“Sorting this mess out needs to be a top-level priority for the Government in 2025 – starting on day one in the New Year. People are truly fed up with it and it is damaging the economy.”
Labour’s own Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham urged his party to ‘sort this mess out’ at a delay-stricken London Euston
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Cancellations on Britain’s railways have hit a record high despite unions’ bumper pay deals – over summer, more than one in 25 trains were withdrawn before they ran.
As many as 78,000 services have been fully or partially cancelled in 2024 – the highest number logged by the Office for Rail and Road since records began.
State-owned Northern Rail ranked bottom, with 6.5 per cent of all its services cancelled.
It’s set to be joined under Government control by South Western Railway, which will be taken into public ownership and controlled by Great British Railways.
