THOUSANDS of ScotRail staff are being balloted for strike action in a dispute over payments for rest days.
Unions say the issue is over mainly customer facing staff who are getting three times less than train drivers for rest days that they work "to keep our railways running".
The RMT union has begun balloting 3000 members while the transport staff union TSSA is following suit.
It comes as it emerged a dispute over the dwindling numbers of ScotRail CCTV staff which unions said was putting passengers on Scotland's railways at risk has come to an end.
Both unions are seeking parity for hundreds of staff from guards and ticket examiners to station and travel shop workers, cleaners and hospitality personnel who RMT say currently get £100 a day, while train drivers get £300.
Mick Hogg, the Scottish regional organiser for the RMT said: "Our dispute over discrimination ScotRail are applying in the workplace.
"Because they are treating my people different from the train drivers. The deal for train drivers breaches fairness and equality within the workplace, in paying drivers more than any other group of workers.
"There is no justification whatsoever. And the driver gets this £300 whether he works three hours or ten hours and my guys who cover for a ten hour shift get £100.
Manuel Cortes, the TSSA general secretary said the staff affected were being treated as "second class citizens".
He said: “Our railways need more than train drivers to run. Our members in ScotRail keep trains running safely from the control room and they also make sure that passengers are safe and informed.
“Over the last few years, train drivers have seen their rest day working pay go up by £25 a year - good on them. However, our members have been lucky if it’s gone up in line with inflation and they are rightly livid about this. We aren't asking for the world, all we want are seeking is parity.
“Rest day working is just that. Members coming in to work on their day off, sacrificing time with their families and friends to keep our trains running. Our members are entitled to this time off.
"They don’t have to give up their rest days for the company, they’re doing it out of goodwill and professionalism. But if we withdraw that goodwill ScotRail will find their trains idling at the platforms because they can’t run them without our members authorising their departures.
“Alex Hynes, ScotRail’s MD knows where we are. Our doors are always open if he wants to negotiate. But our members won’t be putting up with second class payments for first class work any longer.”
ScotRail say they are are recruiting 140 additional roles so they can reduce the need for rest day working across many of its front-line roles and provide a better work-life balance for current staff.
A ScotRail spokesman said: “We are continuing to work with the trade unions and our people to try to reach a solution that benefits everyone. We do not expect this to affect services."
A strike planned for Scottish Cup Final day in May by ScotRail CCTV staff was called off as a gesture of "goodwill" in a dispute over a dwindling number of operators which unions.
Now TSSA says they have just finished "negotiating satisfactory arrangementx" in the dispute for everyone involved last week.
Staff affected monitored CCTV screens from thousands of cameras guarding all aspects of rail safety across Scotland's stations and rail track from a security operation nerve centre in Paisley and Dunfermline.
Last year union leaders suspended a strike action threat after plans to axe one third of 78 CCTV monitoring jobs were withdrawn.
But TSSA in April said it was concerned that ScotRail still managed to achieve 17 voluntary redundancies from the CCTV section without being replaced. It was also worried that moving some staff to night shifts without further recruitment would result in a "real risk to passenger safety".
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