Engineers working in Tyne & Wear Metro’s depot in Gosforth have called off a planned strike after receiving an improved pay offer from their employer, Stadler Rail. Stadler is being contracted by Nexus, who operate the Metro, to build new trains for the network and to look after the trains currently in use.
Unite, which represents the workers, claims that Stadler has been given a significant increase in funding by Nexus, which is ran by the local government. This means that Stadler’s increased funding had essentially been paid for by taxpayers.
The 35 engineers who maintain the Metro’s fleet had planned to strike if this increased funding was not reflected in better pay. However, after being offered a 7% pay rise, engineers called off the strike and will return to work.
Many of the Metro’s trains have been in constant use since the 1980s, and are constantly in need of repairs. Their planned strike would therefore have likely lead to the Metro’s complete shutdown.
However, the improved pay offer means the Metro will continue operating as usual. This will come as a relief to the many Newcastle students who use the Metro to commute into University from Heaton, Jesmond, and Gateshead.
Last year, 29.3 journeys were made on the Tyne and Wear Metro. This makes it the second-busiest light rail system outside of London.
Politicians and spokespeople welcomed the new agreement, but made allusions to other local transport strikes that have yet to be resolved.
Unite Union’s Sharon Graham said she was ‘pleased Stadler Rail acted in a timely fashion to our demands – a marked contrast to other transport operators in the North East’, likely referring to an ongoing by Go North East’s bus drivers.
Labour councillor Carl Johnson agreed, adding that ‘we simply cannot have a Metro strike at the same time as a major bus operator strike’, saying this would have caused ‘utter misery’ to communities.
Go North East is owned by the Go-Ahead Group, which runs bus services across the UK. Its North East services carry 175,000 passengers per day. However, workers here are paid 20% less than their colleagues working for Go North West.
The bus drivers have been on strike indefinitely since October, in an effort to be paid the same wages as their colleagues in other parts of the country.
Unite represents both the Metro engineers and Go North East bus drivers. It is hoped that the success of the Metro engineers will embolden Go North East to follow Stadler’s lead and end the strike in their own company.