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RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: january 2016 :: RMTnews 15 F ollowing rock solid 48-hour strike action last month on the Caledonian Sleeper RMT has revealed that the operator SERCO scooped up a taxpayer- funded bung of over £300,000 for “lost revenue”. Under the arcane rail privatisation rules, deliberately rigged in favour of the private train companies, they can demand compensation for income lost during a trade dispute – regardless of whether it was of their making in the first place. More than £5 million was also blown on consultancy and tendering costs before the contract was let last March - money that could have been spent on rectifying the serious safety faults at the heart of the dispute. In a written answer to a Parliamentary question the Scottish Transport Minister was forced to admit that the cost to the Scottish taxpayer of the tendering process for the Caledonian Sleeper was £5,672,393. In addition RMT said that the decision to fragment the sleeper service away from the main Scotrail franchise has also meant that it no longer benefits from being able to draw on shared financial or engineering resources. This fragmentation has been further compounded by the decision to outsource the upkeep of the sleeper service which has led to less effective control and oversight of train repair and maintenance. In addition the expertise acquired over many years by in –house staff would have been better placed to continue to deliver a maintenance and repair regime which would not have tolerated rolling stock leaving the depot in the state of disrepair that they do now. The cheapest and most efficient vehicle would be to have the whole package of services combined into one publicly owned and integrated operation. RMT general secretary Mick Cash congratulated members on the Serco Caledonian Sleeper in defence of passenger and staff safety. “We have had a brilliant response from the public who understand what this dispute is all about and have decided to back their rail workers against Serco - the specialists in failure. “This dispute has been caused by penny-pinching on maintenance by SERCO which has allowed a number of major defects to rolling stock to deteriorate to a level where it is unsafe, leading to carriages being condemned and taken out of service at short notice. "RMT will continue to fight for safe and reliable services on the sleeper and the union remains available for further meaningful talks,” he said. ROCK SOLID CALEDONIAN SLEEPER STRIKE