RMT Strikes: Impact on Businesses

Lord Moylan Excerpts

Tuesday 28th April 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

In the recent dispute in London, the particularly disappointing aspect was that in fact, particularly last Thursday, 88% of journeys in London still took place. I think the problem—well, if it is a problem—is that, because of Covid, many more people are able to work from home, and they decided to take the risk out of their day and stay at home. The noble Lord is right that the impact can be devastating, but the positive thing in the dispute this week is that ASLEF did not go out on strike. I think that holds hope for the future round.

[Lord Moylan (Con)]

My Lords, my noble friend Lord Sharpe referred to the threat made yesterday by the RMT to bring about a total stoppage of the railways nationwide if they did not receive an above-inflation pay rise with no strings attached. Last week, I asked the noble Lord, Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill, whether the Government would insist in future that pay rises on the railways would be linked to productivity improvements, and he managed to avoid answering. Will the Minister answer now for the Government that very simple and straightforward question? What is the Government’s policy about achieving productivity improvements on the railways in connection with increases in pay?

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

Part of the difficulty when we came into government in 2024 was that there was no agreement on the table around productivity between the private owners of TOCs and staff. I assure the noble Lord that work has been done in this area, as he would expect, and all TOCs have productivity ready due to government action recognising that the benefits of this will be to both staff and passengers.