Rail union RMT has easily beaten the thresholds required by law and secured a mandate from members to take further strike action in its long-running national dispute.

The union has been taking action against fourteen train operating companies since June 2022, demanding a pay rise that keeps pace with price inflation and end to employers plans to cut jobs.

The ballot vote means that the union may call further industrial action over the next six months.

More than twenty thousand RMT members took part in the vote, and in every one of the fourteen companies, the turnout exceeded fifty per cent and the proportion of those voting Yes to strikes was overwhelming. The turnout threshold became law under the 2016 Trade Union Act, and means that it is not enough for union members to vote for strikes in order to take lawful action.

The combined result saw 89.9% of members vote Yes on a 63.6% turnout.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “I congratulate our members for delivering a decisive mandate for future industrial action as we pursue a negotiated settlement of jobs pay and conditions.

“This ringing endorsement of RMT’s approach to the dispute now means we have industrial leverage to secure an improved offer from the RDG.

“The government, which controls this dispute through a contractual mandate over the train operating companies, must now allow the Rail Delivery Group to put forward a revised offer so we can work towards reaching a settlement.

“However, if no new offer is forthcoming, we will once again take strike action in defence of our members’ livelihoods.”