Rail passengers have been spared a summer of disruption after attempts by union leaders to call strikes were rebuffed by their members.

The threat of a strike by British Airways pilots has also receded. Yesterday the British Airline Pilots’ Association dropped its High Court claim for a declaration asserting its right to take industrial action over BA’s plan to create an airline with lower costs to operate between Paris and New York.

Rail signallers have voted against a proposal by the Rail, Maritime and Transport union for the first national rail strike in 14 years. The strike would have caused three quarters of Britain’s daily train services to be cancelled.

The signallers voted almost two to one against taking industrial action over pay. The defeat is an embarrassment for the RMT, which usually secures a big majority in its strike ballots.

The signallers’ vote to take action short of a strike may entail refusing to do overtime. This could cause disruption but is unlikely to result in widespread cancellations.

More than 12,000 maintenance workers have voted to strike but Network Rail said that “this workforce is unlikely to have a detrimental effect on services”.

The RMT executive had wanted the signallers to reject what is one of the most generous pay offers made this year by any big organisation; Network Rail has offered a deal worth 4.9 per cent this year and inflation plus 0.5 per cent next year. By contrast, police are receiving a 1.9 per cent increase this year, and teachers 2.45 per cent. The average private company is paying 4 per cent.

Peter Bennett, of Network Rail, said: “I am proud that our people have recognised that a fair and reasonable deal is on the table and thank them for taking the time to make their views known. We are now calling for the RMT to come back to the table.”

The signallers’ decisive rejection of strikes was the worst result for Bob Crow since he became RMT leader. An RMT source said: “It is very unusual for us to lose a strike ballot by such a large margin.” There were 1,203 votes in favour of strikes and 2,015 against.

On the pilots’ dispute, a BA spokesman said: “We welcome the withdrawal of proceedings by Balpa, which represents acknowledgement by the union that the creation of our subsidiary, OpenSkies, poses no threat to the jobs, pay or conditions of mainline British Airways pilots. The union accepted in court that its ballot in support of industrial action was time-expired and gave an undertaking not to pursue any future ballot on the same issue.

“In January, we offered guarantees that OpenSkies would not be used to worsen the terms and conditions of BA mainline pilots. These guarantees remain in place.”

BA said that OpenSkies would operate its first flight on June 19. Tickets went on sale yesterday.

Jim McAuslan of Balpa said that the union would campaign for a change in European competition law, which BA successfully argued barred the pilots from striking over the new airline.

Pay deals this year

4.9% Network Rail

4.8% BT

3.2% Prison Service

2.5% Nurses

2.45% Teachers

1.9% Police

3.7% UK average

Sources: Times research; Network Rail

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