Pay deal signals end of strikes

The union ASLEF announced yesterday that its members, who work for First North Western, had accepted a 19 per cent pay rise.

Under the new three-year deal the basic salary for qualified drivers will rise to £25,000 backdated to April last year, then to £26,000 next week, and then to £28,000 from next January.

A planned strike for the weekend of February 1 and 2 has been cancelled.

The union will decide tomorrow whether it will reinstate the drivers' rest day working agreement. At the moment, drivers are not working on their rest days, which means some services through Bolton are not running.

First North Western said they were pleased with the ballot result.

Managing director Vernon Barker said: "I am delighted for both our customers and staff that the pay deal has now been accepted and the continuous threat of strike action and disruption to our services is now over."

ASLEF claimed a deal would have been agreed a long time ago if the Strategic Rail Authority had not got involved in negotiations.

General Secretary Mick Rix said: "The disruption that the travelling public have suffered would have been minimised if ASLEF and First North Western had not been restrained by the SRA." The industrial dispute has been running since last spring.

Almost two thirds of the union members who work for the company, which runs trains through Bolton station to Manchester, Blackburn and Blackpool, voted in favour of the rise.

The drivers have gone on strike eight times since they balloted for action last August. The last strike was held on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

TRAIN drivers have agreed to accept a new pay offer -- ending months of misery on the railways for commuters.

The union ASLEF announced yesterday that its members, who work for First North Western, had accepted a 19 per cent pay rise.

Under the new three-year deal the basic salary for qualified drivers will rise to £25,000 backdated to April last year, then to £26,000 next week, and then to £28,000 from next January.

A planned strike for the weekend of February 1 and 2 has been cancelled.

The union will decide tomorrow whether it will reinstate the drivers' rest day working agreement. At the moment, drivers are not working on their rest days, which means some services through Bolton are not running.

First North Western said they were pleased with the ballot result.

Managing director Vernon Barker said: "I am delighted for both our customers and staff that the pay deal has now been accepted and the continuous threat of strike action and disruption to our services is now over."

ASLEF claimed a deal would have been agreed a long time ago if the Strategic Rail Authority had not got involved in negotiations.

General Secretary Mick Rix said: "The disruption that the travelling public have suffered would have been minimised if ASLEF and First North Western had not been restrained by the SRA."

The industrial dispute has been running since last spring.

Almost two thirds of the union members who work for the company, which runs trains through Bolton station to Manchester, Blackburn and Blackpool, voted in favour of the rise.

The drivers have gone on strike eight times since they balloted for action last August. The last strike was held on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.