HULL TRAINS CUTS CLEANING

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: september 2020 :: RMTnews 5 R MT has warned that plans to slash staffing levels on Hull Trains by the contractor Greens in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic are a recipe for disaster for both staff and passengers alike and should be halted as a matter of urgency. Proposals received by the union this week would more than halve both the day shift cleaning teams and the over- night deep cleaning operations.   RMT has pledged to fight the cuts and says that the plans expose again the fragmentation on our railways where open access providers like Hull Trains have been cut out of the Emergency Measures Agreements applied to franchise holders. The union says that the current chaos reinforces the need for public ownership.  RMT senior assistant general secretary Mick Lynch said that the plan to slash cleaning staff numbers on Hull Trains by more than half on both night and day shifts in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic is grossly irresponsible and should be reversed. "RMT will fight these plans which once again expose the chaos on our fragmented railways and reinforce the case for public ownership,” he said. Stock companies (the ROSCOs). On April 7, appearing in front of the Transport Select Committee, Minister of State for Rail Chris Heaton Harris was asked whether the government was covering the costs of leasing trains from the ROSCOs or whether the companies had agreed to waive those charges for the duration of the crisis. Heaton Harris said ‘Currently, we are picking up the tab. Grahame Morris MP subsequently tabled further questions in Parliament asking how much the ROSCOs were receiving. On June 2 the Minister answered that “Train operating companies are continuing to pay the contractually agreed rental cost for rolling stock as they were prior to the Emergency Measures Agreements.” In a further answer he confirmed that “Rolling stock contracts are fixed over the term of the original franchise and were competitively procured by the operators; the same payments will continue through the period of the EMA”. While the government urges the train operating companies to look for efficiencies and possible savings, it is paying out in full to cover the lease charges paid to the ROSCOs. As the ROSCOs are forced to buy new trains, so their leasing charges rise. Last year, they received a record £2.45 billion from the TOCs. A new RMT report ‘Picking up the Tab for Trains’ showed how these rolling stock charges represent a growing proportion of the TOCs costs (around 17 per cent), a cost that’s being passed on to the taxpayer through franchise subsidies. With the advent of the EMAs that cost is now being directly and transparently paid by the government. And the ROSCOs will be doing very nicely out of this. In 2018, the last year where we can see the accounts of all three ROSCOs, they made profits before tax of £241 million and paid out dividends to the asset management funds who own them worth £267 million. As an earlier RMT report ‘The Rolling Stock Racket’ showed, much of this money is then shuffled offshore through tax havens in Luxembourg and elsewhere. While rail workers have risked their lives to come into work and keep services running throughout the pandemic, a few big businesses have been busy with the government rearranging the deck chairs so that they can continue raking in public money and turning it into shareholder dividends. The EMAs may be here to stay in the short term, but the battle is on to build a safe, affordable, accessible and integrated railway that works for British people. HULL TRAINS CUTS CLEANING ROSCO PROFITS AND DIVIDENDS FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 2018 Rolling Stock company Profit Before Tax Dividend Porterbrook* £81,659,000 £80,000,000 Angel Trains** £128,900,000 £147,000,000 Eversholt*** £30,469,000 £40,100,000 Total £241,028,000 £267,100,000 *Porterbrook Holdings 1 Ltd, Annual Report and Financial Statements, Year Ended December 2018 **Angel Trains Ltd, Annual Report and Financial Statements, Year Ended December 2018 ***Eversholt UK Rails (Holding) Ltd (Security Group), Annual Report and Financial Statements, Year Ended December 2018. Grahame Morris MP