THE RMT is holding fresh talks with Network Rail today, in a bid to come to terms over pay before a strike begins next Monday.
The union has declared a 24-hour walkout from 17.00 on Bank Holiday Monday, a week today, and also an overtime ban which would run for 48 hours on Monday and Tuesday.
The offer which it has rejected is for a one-off payment of £500 for 2015, to be followed by rises in line with the Retail Price Index for each of the following three years.
Network Rail has defended the proposed increases as 'fair', but the union's general secretary Mick Cash has threatened a 'rolling programme' of industrial action after he secured a vote in favour of action from his members.
The RMT has almost 16,000 members working for the company, and they include many signallers. If the strike does go ahead major disruption is likely, which would seriously affect commuters and long-distance rail travellers on Tuesday.