RAIL workers’ calls for a pay rise are “not unreasonable,” RMT stressed today, after its members overwhelmingly backed national strike action.

Assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey highlighted that many staff are in their third year of a wage freeze, despite inflation hitting a 40-year high.

His warning came after the rail union announced on Tuesday evening that 40,000 of its members had voted for industrial action by a whopping 89 per cent on a 71 per cent turn out. 

The ballot could see walkouts from next month at Cross Country, East Midlands, Northern and 10 other rail companies, as well as the first strike since 1994 at Network Rail, which maintains Britain’s railway infrastructure. 

RMT warns that the nationalised company plans to axe 2,500 safety critical jobs to save £2 billion before 2024.

Mr Dempsey told the BBC: “Don’t forget we kept this country moving during the pandemic, we’ve tightened our belts, we haven’t had a pay rise.

“At the same time, the private companies made bumper profits.”

The union’s calls for a wage increase, job security and no compulsory redundancies are “not unreasonable in the current day and age,” he said. 

He urged rail employers and ministers to negotiate with the union, saying: "The quicker we do that, the quicker we can get a settlement and hopefully we won’t have to take the next step [of strikes].”

General secretary Mick Lynch has welcomed the ballot result as a “vindication of the union’s approach which sends a clear message.”

Manuel Cortes, general secretary of fellow transport union TSSA, sent his solidarity to RMT and demanded bosses “stand up to their Tory paymasters.”

He said: “We are already seeing the fat cat bosses at Network Rail crying wolf.

“If they had any guts, they would stand up to their Tory paymasters rather than have a go at ordinary workers.”

The Department for Transport claimed the vote “threatens to pull the plug on the life support that has kept the railway network alive.”

“We urge RMT to reconsider and accept the invitation of industry talks so we can find a solution that delivers for workers, passengers and taxpayers alike,” a spokesperson said.