Britain's biggest railway workers' union rejected the latest pay offers from train companies on Friday, signalling more pain for commuters who have been disrupted by sporadic strikes since last summer.
Amid a wave of industrial action by health workers and teachers among others, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), said the decision was made after an "in-depth" consultation with its 40,000 rail staff members.
"The message we have received loud and clear (from our members) is to reject these dreadful offers," RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said, adding they did not meet members' expectations on pay, job security or working conditions.
Britain's Transport minister Mark Harper said the RMT's rejection of the offers was "a kick in the teeth for passengers" and workers who had not been given a vote on the offer.
"The RMT's leaders should have had the courage to allow their own members to have the chance to vote on their own pay and conditions, rather than making that decision for them behind closed doors," Harper said in a statement.
Separately, the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA), which represents train drivers, said "thousands" of workers will be given a vote on offers from their employers, but it did not formally recommend that its members accept or reject the offers.
The Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents train operators, said passengers and RMT members would be "deeply dismayed" that the union rejected its offer without a full members' vote.
The RDG had described its offer as "best and final", saying it would improve services in exchange for pay rises of 5 per cent and 4 per cent to cover 2022 and 2023, respectively. It said on Friday it remained "willing to engage" further.
Hundreds of thousands of workers, many from the public sector, have been going on strike across Britain over the past year as they demand pay rises from employers that take into account the worst inflation in four decades.
"Our industrial campaign will continue for as long as it takes to get a negotiated settlement that meets our members reasonable expectations on jobs, pay and working conditions," Mr Lynch said.
The TSSA said the offers it received represented progress in some areas, but that it would continue to ballot for further industrial action and that the dispute remained ongoing.
Mr Harper, the transport minister, said Britain's railways needed reform to be financially sustainable but "it is now clear that no realistic offer is ever going to be good enough for the RMT leadership."
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Company%20profile%20
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It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Read more from Aya Iskandarani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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If you go
The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at.
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti with Coastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
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The specs: 2019 Haval H6
Price, base: Dh69,900
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 197hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 315Nm @ 2,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
The years Ramadan fell in May
Ads on social media can 'normalise' drugs
A UK report on youth social media habits commissioned by advocacy group Volteface found a quarter of young people were exposed to illegal drug dealers on social media.
The poll of 2,006 people aged 16-24 assessed their exposure to drug dealers online in a nationally representative survey.
Of those admitting to seeing drugs for sale online, 56 per cent saw them advertised on Snapchat, 55 per cent on Instagram and 47 per cent on Facebook.
Cannabis was the drug most pushed by online dealers, with 63 per cent of survey respondents claiming to have seen adverts on social media for the drug, followed by cocaine (26 per cent) and MDMA/ecstasy, with 24 per cent of people.
