Rail workers face ‘jobs massacre’
By politics.co.uk staff
Union bosses will today meet with transport secretary Geoff Hoon to ask him to prevent operators from cutting jobs and paying out dividends which risk creating a “jobs massacre”.
The Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, the Transport Salaried Staffs Association and Aslef say operators are using the recession as an excuse to cut jobs and protect profits at an alarming rate.
Rail companies are facing a slowdown with passenger numbers dwindling and there is a risk some franchises could go under if something is not done. The government says it is monitoring the industry’s financial health.
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: “While the train operators are jacking up fares by as much as 11 per cent, thousands of rail worker jobs are on the line and up to a third of this year’s essential renewals programme is being deferred.
“The companies are protecting their profits while those who run the services and who keep the tracks safe face the prospect of being dumped on the dole queue.
“It is critical for the future of the rail industry that the government intervene now to stop the jobs massacre and to call to account the private companies who have bled billions in profits and subsidies out of the British taxpayer.”
He added: “It seems strange that the government is putting taxpayers’ money into an industry, and then the industry’s sacking people, putting them on the dole queues and the taxpayer’s picking up the money for the dole queues.”
RMT members working for Stagecoach subsidiary East Midland Trains will take industrial action on Friday over 200 threatened job losses.
