From Daily Fail via MSNTrain guards will be get a £300 bonus every time they work a five-day week under a new overtime deal signed off by Transport Secretary Louise Haigh.
The agreement was reached at the end of last month to stop staff at CrossCountry going on strike every Saturday this month.
The operator, which runs a patchwork of intercity services from Penzance to Aberdeen, had incurred the wrath of the RMT▸ union by using managers to fill in for rank and file staff at weekends.
Staff typically work a four-day week and have been paid time and a half for working on a Saturday.
The extraordinary arrangement was made alongside the bumper pay deals that were done to end national rail disputes. Guards and other rail workers were handed a 9.5 per cent pay rise over two years.
It puts fresh focus on Ms Haigh, who was publicly slapped down by Keir Starmer over the weekend for urging Brits to boycott P&O Ferries.
The comments sparked fury from the firm's parent company, Dubai-based DP World, which threatened to pull £1billion of investment ahead of the PM's vaunted global business summit tomorrow.
The Saturday bonus payments will be backdated to August under the deal and comes days after Labour struck a nationwide deal that gives guards and other rail workers a 9.5 per cent pay rise over two years.
Shadow transport secretary Helen Whately told The Sunday Times: 'Rail unions can't get enough of this government. They now know that every time they go on strike Labour will cave.'
A DfT» spokesperson said: 'While this is a local matter for CrossCountry, it's crucial that passengers receive a more reliable service, on every day of the week - something our overhaul of the railways will help deliver.'
Actually there is stuff that is missed here, as per usual with the press.
Managers were actually being offered up to £650 at weekends on top of their wages to work weekends, and Guards paid flat rate for overtime. The argument has been, if managers can be paid that much then why not qualified Guards who have the experience and knowledge of actually working trains!
Paying Guards £300 is actually saving money, believe it or not!
Guards do not all work a 4 day week. With long 10 hour plus turns, this would be possible but with some shifts, particularly those booking on before 5am being as little as 6 hours many weeks can be 5 day weeks. Hard to work 10+ hours if booking on at 3.30am!
The £300 payment is only if Guards work a rest day, not for normal time at all.
However, they will now get a £300 bonus and their pay at the normal rate until the middle of next month.
I hope this informs a little more
