PARLIAMENTARY COLUMN

9 Parliamentary column RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: january 2014 :: RMTnews S kytrac catering workers on First Trans-Pennine Express have won a major victory after RMT shamed the employers into reversing a mean-spirited sleight-of-hand that would have turned a pay rise into a pay cut. FTPE, newly accredited as a Living Wage employer, pledged that its contractors would also conform to the voluntary standard of £7.45 an hour - but told Skytrac to claw back 22p an hour from catering staff to cover their uniforms, staff travel and other ‘benefits’. After being told by regional organiser Andy Warnock-Smith that their hypocrisy would find them out, TPE relented, meaning that the full living wage would be paid from December, and the new rate of £7.65 from April 2014. “For TPE to bask in the glory of being a Living-Wage employer while also demanding 22p an hour back from low-paid catering staff for the supposed benefit of wearing a uniform was simply mean and hypocritical, and I told them so. “There is a danger that employers will seek the positive publicity of accreditation by the Living Wage Foundation while also picking at every available loophole to avoid actually paying it. “If nearly four decades as a trade-union activist have taught me anything, it is that there is no substitute for solid union organisation backed by the determination to win justice,” said Andy. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that the RMT executive had rightly congratulated Andy on forcing this dramatic U-turn from FTPE and Skytrac. “It is testament to Andy’s record as a totally committed organiser for 27 years that he won this remarkable victory for a group of vulnerable workers on the eve of his retirement,” he said. Over the summer I launched a local petition against high fares and poor services affecting passengers on the Brighton to London line and arranged meetings to listen to their concerns. The level of support we got was testament to the frustration people feel at having to pay through the nose to travel on packed trains that frequently fun late. As a regular passenger on the Brighton to London line I know how they feel. The Rebuilding Rail report, published last year by Transport for Quality of Life and commissioned by the rail unions, offers a superb analysis of the mess Britain's railways are in. It finds that the private sector has not delivered the innovation and investment that were once promised, that the costs of back-room staff have massively increased, and that the costs of train travel rose by 17 per cent between 1997 and 2010 (while the costs of travelling by car fell). It conservatively estimates that £1.2 billion is being lost each year as a result of fragmentation and privatisation. The irony is that some of the biggest profiteers are the state-owned rail companies of our neighbours: Deutsche Bahn, for example, owns three UK franchises. The solution the Green Party advance is unequivocal. We want our railways to be brought back into public hands, with passengers and workers having a greater say in the development of the system. The enormous savings generated could and should then be reinvested in rail infrastructure and to reduce the soaring cost of fares. I have published a Private Member's Bill sets out the process to make this happen, and I’m grateful to the RMT for all its support in that process. Currently the Greens are the only party that supports this policy, but I’d love Labour to get behind it. Polling by YouGov has shown that two thirds of the public want the railways to be run in the public sector. Even 52 per cent of Conservatives are pro- nationalisation of the rail companies as are 72 per cent of UKIP supporters. Finally solidarity to RMT London Underground and Transport for London members fighting Boris Johnson’s job cuts. It is an absolute scandal that the Government (who cut TFL’s budget) and the Mayor are proposing to scrap a thousand decent jobs that provide a service that passengers greatly value. You have widespread public support and together it is important that we win this fight otherwise we know there will be more cuts to come. Caroline Lucas MP is the Green Party Member for Brighton Pavilion, and a member of the RMT Progressive Cross Party Group FOR RENATIONALISATION RMT SHAMES EMPLOYERS INTO PAYING THE RATE