RAILWAY PENSION SCHEME THREAT

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: february 2020 :: RMTnews 8 Before the dust has even settled on the December 2019 General Election the right-wing media has already began sharpening the knifes to attack pension provision for rail workers. This is exemplified by an article which appeared in the Financial Times on January 8 asking why are railways pensions, ie the Railways Pension Scheme (RPS), were so “toxic” and suggests that RPS should be closed with railway workers’ being moved into inferior Defined Contribution pension arrangements. While it is true that many RMT members across the railway industry are still members of the final salary pension scheme in the shape of the RPS, it is a fact that there are tens of thousands that do not enjoy such benefits. While the union has done everything to protect members retirement benefits since the railways industry was privatised in 1994, it is opportunist employers across the industry that have closed pension sections to new entrants and done the most damage to the RPS. Indeed, the union has, at times, reluctantly agreed to change future service benefits, such as increasing the retirement age or contributions, to keep RPS sections affordable and open to new employees. The Financial Times article suggests that stakeholders of the RPS, which includes unions, have done very little to keep the RPS affordable and sustainable. Yet this claim could not be further from the truth. This inaccurate attack was partly provoked by RMT members’ defence of safety on South Western Railways and the Department of Transport decision to disqualify Stagecoach from bidding for three railways franchises as a result of them putting in a non- compliant franchise bid. However, much of the article concentrated on attacking the very core of the RPS and how it is valued which has been stirred up by the Pensions Regulators (TPR) intervention into the RPS 2016 Actuarial Valuation of Train Operating Companies (TOC) sections. The 2016 Actuarial Triennial Valuation draft results were due to be published in the middle of 2017. While the initial results for TOC were showing all of these Railways Pension Scheme (RPS) sections in surplus, the Pension Regulator (TPR) has raised its concerns with the RPS Trustee Board that the assumptions which have been used for TOC sections are over overstated. RAILWAYS PENSION SCHEME THREAT RMT responds to recent attacks on pension provision for rail workers