A TRADE union has hit out at a Scottish Government minister for asking workers to be 'sensible' about pay.
Richard Lochhead, employment and fair work minister, said this morning that workers from Scotrail, and elsewhere, had to be "sensible" due to the economic situation in the country.
He said: "My message to all workers in Scotland and all these sectors is we have to be sensible, everything has to be affordable because the country’s in a very, very precarious position at the moment, and if we take wrong decisions we could end up with a recession in the near future...
“It’s not for me as a minister to say what’s the right or wrong wage for a train driver or anyone else.
“But just to say that it’s really important that people are compromising, being constructive, and recognise the consequences of these disputes dragging on for too long."
He was speaking during an interview about the looming train chaos, which will see 700 services cut from tomorrow in a dispute over pay.
A typical ScotRail driver salary is more than £50,000, with drivers being offered a 2.2% pay rise and the opportunity to participate in a revenue share agreement which would take the total package to 5%.
The offers has been rejected by the unions Aslef and RMT, which described it as “derisory”.
Aslef Scottish Organiser Kevin Lindsay said Mr Lochhead's appeal for workers to be "sensible" was not credible.
He said: "On the BBC's Sunday Morning show Scottish Government Minister Richard Lochhead said he wants people to be 'sensible' over pay claims.
"From an ASLEF point of view the most sensible thing that he could do right now is to tell ScotRail to get back to the negotiating table to settle this dispute so that the ridiculous timetable cuts that are planned for tomorrow can be withdrawn and our railways can get back to serving the public.
"It is not sensible to ask workers to accept 2.2% when inflation is heading north of 10% and it is not credible to blame workers for the state of the economy."
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