Ministers accused of ‘favouring unions over pensioners’ as GPs ‘next to receive payout’ after rail deal (2024)

16 August 2024, 02:39 | Updated: 16 August 2024, 03:31

By Emma Soteriou

Ministers have been accused of ‘favouring unions over pensioners’ as GPs are set to become the next to receive payouts after a deal was made with train drivers.

The government has refused to say how much taxpayers will have to contribute towards the 15 per cent pay rise for rail workers.

The deal, which was tabled on Wednesday, is expected to cost more than £100 million - but transport secretary Louise Haigh said it was better value for taxpayers than allowing industrial action to continue.

GPs are now expected to be next in line to receive a pay rise.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has urged doctors not to “punish” patients by continuing with industrial action when the government wants to work with them to “rebuild the NHS”.

He is said to have been seeking funding as part of the October Budget to help provide a solution to “general practice sustainability”, according to the Telegraph.

Read more: Train drivers offered bumper pay deal to end strikes after two years of rail misery

Read more: Junior doctors 'could strike again next year' despite 22% pay rise as union leader considers 'long sustained action'

The paper said leaked letters revealed that the government had agreed to an above-inflation increase of 7.4 per cent - but the British Medical Association (BMA) wants more.

It is pushing for a 10.7 per cent rise in one year, in a bid to bring real-terms income back to levels in 2018/19.

It follows a "major breakthrough" in the long-running rail dispute, which saw train drivers offered a nearly 15 per cent pay rise over three years.

The offer made to Aslef is a 5% pay rise for 2022/23, 4.75% for 23/24 and 4.5% for 24/25.

Drivers are now set to vote on the multi-year pay offer, potentially putting an end to industrial action across the rail network.

However, the RMT union - which represents workers such as guards, station staff and signallers - is now expecting the same offer as Aslef, according to the Times.

A senior government source said they could not comment on “live talks” but insisted a negotiated settlement with the unions was in the best interests of taxpayers and passengers.

“The cost of this deal is significantly less to the taxpayer than the cost of the ongoing strikes,” they said.

“It was spectacularly poor value to allow the strikes to drag on and on, causing huge disruption to the economy by provoking the unions again and again.”

RMT's negotiations with the government are set to resume next week.

The union previously accepted a four per cent pay deal from the previous government.

“All things being equal, we are expecting a parallel, synchronised offer to that of Aslef,” RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said.

“We are meeting with the department on Tuesday on behalf of our members who work for train operating companies and there is another meeting on Thursday for staff who work for Network Rail.

"All the indications are that we will be offered the same terms as Aslef. And we are expecting that it will be delivered.”

Mr Lynch went on to warn that there could be “problems” if the same deal is not put on the table.

But after Chancellor Rachel Reeves' decision to scrap the winter fuel allowance for most pensioners, Age UK's Caroline Abrahams told the Times: “We have been inundated with messages from pensioners who are angry and upset about the impact on them of losing their winter fuel payment this winter and, in the light of news stories about various industrial disputes being settled, some are also commenting that they feel they are being treated as a lower priority and that this is unfair.”

Meanwhile, shadow transport secretary Helen Whately said: “The government has chosen to prioritise the unions over passengers and taxpayers — and pensioners, too.”

She added that it was “deeply disappointing that this government has chosen not to include working practice reforms in their deal”.

“Pensioners are being deprived of the winter fuel allowance, taxpayers are facing tax hikes and passengers are facing higher fares — all as a result of this government’s choice to put the unions first," Ms Whately went on to say.

A government spokesman said:“We said we would be honest with the public and, with the dire state of the public finances that we have inherited, we must take difficult decisions to fix the foundations of the economy.

“We are accepting the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration pay recommendation of six per cent uplift to pay.

"We are consulting on the implementation of the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration for GPs and will announce further detail in due course.”