Avanti West Coast workers to strike over New Year after latest offer rejected

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Train strikes have been announced over Hogmanay after an offer was rejected by Avanti West Coast staff.

The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) previously suspended strike action planned for 22, 23, and 29 December after receiving a revised offer from Avanti West Coast. But following a vote on the offer, which concluded on Tuesday 17 December strikes are back on for later in the month.

Avanti West Coast – which runs services throughout Scotland - has confirmed planned action will take place on December 31, January 2 and all Sundays from January 12 to May 25. It is not confirmed how much this will impact services.

Key elements of the offer voted on included, revised and enhanced Rest Day Working payments, discussions on a new technology agreement, and the creation of a Rest Day Working allocation agreement.

In the latest update RMT confirmed they remain in dispute with Avanti as their members vote on the revised offer.

Avanti West Coast alerted customers with an update and wrote: "The RMT union has announced strike action affecting Avanti West Coast on 31 December and 2 January, along with all Sundays from 12 January to 25 May 2025.

"We’re looking at how this industrial action will impact our services and we’ll confirm our plans as soon as possible."

An RMT spokesperson said: “Our members have resoundingly rejected Avanti’s latest offers in two referendums and sustained strike action is now the only way to focus management’s minds on reaching a negotiated settlement with the union.”

An Avanti West Coast spokesperson said: “This strike action will cause significant disruption to our customers making journeys on the West Coast Main Line over an extended period.

“We’re disappointed our Train Managers who are RMT members have voted to decline the very reasonable revised offer made to them to resolve the Rest Day Working dispute and avoid inconveniencing our customers. We remain open to working with the RMT to resolve the dispute.”

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