LONDON, March 8 (Reuters) – Britain’s RMT trade union of rail workers will ask its members to vote on an improved pay offer from rail infrastructure group Network Rail, the union said on Wednesday after suspending plans for a strike.

The new pay offer from Network Rail, the public sector group which owns and operates thousands of miles of tracks, bridges and tunnels, amounts to a rise of 14.4% for the lowest paid grades of workers to 9.2% for the highest paid, the RMT said.

The trade union said it was not making a recommendation on how to vote in the referendum, which will start on March 9 and end on March 20.

“We will continue our campaign for a negotiated settlement on all aspects of the railway dispute,” RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said.

On Tuesday the union suspended all strike action involving Network Rail staff after the new pay offer in the long-running dispute that has led to months of disruptive transport strikes.

Members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) have also been staging strikes in a separate pay dispute with more than a dozen train operators. That dispute remains unresolved.

Reporting by William James, writing by Sachin Ravikumar

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