FIGHTING CASUALISATION

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: january 2015 :: RMTnews 13 R ail workers from across the country lobbied Parliament last month to oppose the exploitation of workers through the use of umbrella companies and to highlight the safety concerns of those working alongside an increasingly casualised contractor workforce. RMT general secretary Mick Cash welcomed the joint rally with building union UCATT and Unite who both organise in the construction industry and who are up against many of the companies RMT members encounter working on the rail network. “This is an important opportunity for rail workers to raise their concerns in Parliament and also to show the firms using umbrella companies that the trade union movement is united in opposition to this super exploitation. “RMT has repeatedly pointed out that casualisation and exploitation on the rail network is diluting the safety culture. Fatigue, zero-hours contracts and the pay-roll rip off are massive issues for RMT members that we intend to raise with MPs,” he said. UCATT general secretary Steve Murphy outlined at the rally how workers operating under an umbrella company are required to pay both the employers’ and employees national insurance contributions, representing up to 25 per cent of eligible earnings. “Despite pay rates being advertised at a much higher level the worker is only actually paid the national minimum wage, wearnings are then boosted by mechanisms such as expenses and performance related pay. “Many umbrella companies issue zero hours contracts, which mean that the worker is not guaranteed work and does not have set hours. “Therefore when and for how long they are required to work can differ from week to week and, in some cases the worker is not even entitled to work for anyone else,” he said. • Payslips are made so complex that it is difficult if not impossible to understand all the deductions being made from the pay the worker receives. • The umbrella company charges the worker directly for their services and fees can be up to £30 a week. Emma Lewell-Buck MP told the rally that the Tory-led coalition government had been ignoring the issue for too long and loopholes in the law had to be closed. “The government’s reluctance to take the side of millions of workers against these shady umbrella companies is typical. “Everyone but this government is up for the fight and making the changes needed,” she said. UCATT has produced a report, The umbrella company con-trick, available on the UCATT website and RMT has also produced The Great Rail Payroll Rip-Off, available on the RMT website exposing how contractors use bogus self- employment on zero-hours contracts to rip off rail workers, paying just minimum wage for highly-skilled work. FIGHTING CASUALISATION Unions unite against contractors using umbrella companies, undermining safety and increasing exploitation