RMT BLACK CAB DRIVERS’ PICKET HAILED A SUCCESS

RMT helpline 0800 3763706 :: june 2009 :: RMTnews 27 An RMT London taxi drivers’ picket of Westminster City Council last month over parking charges that force them to spend up to £3 had a big impact last month. Westminster Council have now promised to introduce free parking for use of toilets in the borough. Westminster recently introduced a new mobile phone/credit card based parking system, ripping out the old pay as you go meters. At the same time a number of public conveniences close to black cab ranks have been closed down by Westminster City Council. RMT called on Westminster City Council to waive parking fees for ten minutes for black cabs on bays close to public toilets to enable the cabbies to enable them to use the facilities. Taxi drivers are being forced to pay the minimum parking charge of £3 an hour just to dash in and use the public toilet or risk a fine of £80. Westminster have introduced a limited number of taxi-only bays at £1 an hour but these are inadequate and drivers pointed out that they are a great earner for the council. In the wake of the picket Martin Low, director of transportation at the City of Westminster, offered talks with RMT Taxis and said that “they are working on a package for the trade that would give free parking and toilets in the borough”. RMT Taxis have accepted this offer and look forward to informing the trade of the details. Despite opposition from RMT, three Stagecoach train companies are introducing a Salary Sacrifice scheme, called PaySave, with effect from July 1. South West Trains, Island Line Trains and East Midlands Trains managements have written to their employees advising that all contributors to the Railways Pension Scheme who earn more than £6,750 will be automatically entered into the scheme. PaySave allows employees and employers to save National Insurance contributions on their pension contributions. It works by reducing each individual’s salary by the amount of their contribution of their pension scheme; thus the employees pay is lower and National Insurance contributions are reduced accordingly. The saving depends on the level of salary. Participation in PaySave should not affect other terms and conditions of employment and a number of companies have introduced such arrangements. However, in certain circumstances it can affect enticements to state benefits RMT policy is against salary sacrifice schemes. They effectively reduce the value of National Insurance contributions collected by the Treasury, which are, of course, used to fund the National Health Service and state pensions. Also, the savings to the employer are significantly greater than those of employees. Employers can save hundreds of thousands of pounds. RMT believes that where salary schemes are introduced, that any savings should be paid into the employer’s pension scheme, in these cases the RPS, to improve the funding position and reduce contribution levels. RMT is totally against employees being automatically opted-in to such schemes. Management should not automatically assume its employees wish to participate but they are automatically opted-in because the companies stand to make significant financial gains from doing so. This is just another example of companies increasing their profitability from the privatised railway industry. Members wishing to support RMT policy can opt-out of the scheme by obtaining an appropriate form from their employer. RMT has devised its own opt- out form which is available via the RMT website. RMT BLACK CAB DRIVERS’ PICKET HAILED A SUCCESS Action over short-term parking brings offer of resolution RMT Taxis picket City Hall RMT ISSUES CALL TO OPT OUT OF SALARY SACRIFICE SCHEME Introduction of PaySave (Salary Sacrifice) – South West Trains, Island Line Trains and East Midlands Trains