Drivers on Southern rail could be about to end their dispute after their union recommended a deal that would allow some trains to run without guards and give drivers a 28.5% pay rise over the next five years.
Industrial action has been disrupting the railway since April 2016 but now Aslef, the drivers’ union, will ask its members to vote to end the row.
Talks between Aslef and Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), the parent company of Southern, have continued on and off for much of this year, but on two previous occasions drivers have voted against proposed settlements.
Strikes were initially brought by the RMT, which represents conductors on Southern, in response to changes to their roles and responsibilities which would allow trains to run without them in driver-only operations.
Aslef supported their action, and called a series of strikes that brought Southern to a standstill in December and January. While the RMT remains in dispute and has continued to strike, walkouts by guards have caused relatively minimal disruption on Southern in 2017.
The Aslef general secretary, Mick Whelan, said: “The proposed agreement on driver-only operation means we will have a second safety-trained person on every train covered by this agreement, except in exceptional circumstances. That person will have all the relevant safety competence including the skills to evacuate passengers in an emergency.”
He said the deal would confirm and underpin employment terms and conditions. He said the proposed agreement was fully backed by Aslef’s executive as a “complete resolution of our long-standing issues with Southern”. But he said it was “company-specific and does not have implications for any other company on the railway network”.
The RMT’s disputes over driver-only operation have now spread to four other franchises, although Aslef is yet to join them – straining relations between two unions that briefly stood side by side last year.
Ballot papers on the new deal will go to drivers next week with the result due on 8 November.
Nick Brown, the chief operating officer of GTR, said: “We welcome the Aslef executive’s endorsement of the proposals we have negotiated to resolve the dispute. We have concluded negotiations on pay, productivity and driver-only operation in a package that will now be put to a referendum of Aslef members.”
The RMT general secretary, Mick Cash, said the union would continue to oppose driver-only operation. He said: “From what we have seen so far this is exactly the sort of deal that Southern and Chris Grayling have been hoping for and which drivers and guards have been fighting against. This is just a rehash of earlier company and government proposals that have been roundly rejected as unsafe.
“It is shocking that Southern and the government believe that drivers can be bought off in this fashion. You cannot put a price on the safety and welfare of passengers and drivers.”
