Received from: RMT
Congress notes that on 9th August rail workers received notice of a mass redundancy scheme by Network Rail, which could be expanded throughout the company, following the threat of thousands of job losses across the sector, the implementation of a pay freeze, threats to working conditions and reductions in service levels.
Passengers are also facing significant fare rises following the publication on August 18th of the RPI rate that could lead to 4.8% fare increase in the New Year.
The attack on rail services and rail workers jobs together with rising fares means passengers will be paying more for less.
At the same time, despite being kept afloat by the government due to the extra funding needed to cover the drastic fall in passenger numbers during Covid-19, it is business as usual for the privatised rail industry who continue to make substantial profits on the back of the taxpayer, fare paying passengers and rail workers.
Congress believes that this is no way to run a railway and no way to treat rail workers who have been praised as heroes for keeping goods and people moving during the pandemic.
Congress agrees to fully support the rail union affiliates in their campaigns to prevent redundancies and protect jobs and conditions, and for fairer pay and fair fares and for a properly staffed, expanding, publicly owned railway as vital to attracting passengers back to our railways and meeting the climate change challenge.
Moved: National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers
Seconded: Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association