A long-running dispute involving train guards has been resolved, it was announced on Saturday, July 9.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) said its members working as guards on Merseyrail had agreed a “historic” deal which secured 220 jobs.

The union said the agreement means a new class of train can be rolled out and the role of the train manager has been protected for the long-term future.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “We congratulate the dogged determination of our members to secure the crucial role of the onboard train manager.

“After a five-year dispute and 16 days of industrial action stoppages, our members have job security and can make an important contribution to the running of this new train fleet for the travelling public of Merseyside.”

The Argus: Mick Lynch was happy with the deal secured (PA)Mick Lynch was happy with the deal secured (PA)

Will there be rail strikes later this year?

After the RMT helped launch industrial action that caused disruption in June for travellers, there may be a question for some if more are to be expected in the future.

At the time of the June strikes Mick Lynch said Network Rail had offered a 2% pay rise with the possibility of a further 1% later dependent on efficiency savings.

He told BBC’s Newsnight that Network Rail had “escalated” the dispute during talks, saying: “They have issued me a letter saying that there are going to be redundancies starting from July 1.

“So rather than trying to come to an agreement in this dispute, they’ve escalated it by giving us formal notice of redundancy amongst our Network Rail members.”

He warned the dispute could continue for months, adding: “It is clear that the Tory Government, after slashing £4bn of funding from National Rail and Transport for London, has now actively prevented a settlement to this dispute.

“The rail companies have now proposed pay rates that are massively under the relevant rates of inflation, coming on top of the pay freezes of the past few years.

“At the behest of the Government, companies are also seeking to implement thousands of job cuts and have failed to give any guarantee against compulsory redundancies.”

Therefore if the issue over pay is not resolved then we could be seeing plenty of similar incidents over the course of the year.