15 March 2026
RMT Press Office:
RAIL union RMT activists will gather in Leeds on Monday March 16, 2026 at 1145am outside the meeting of Transport for the North’s Board at the Queen’s Hotel in Leeds, New Station Street City Square, Leeds LS1 1PJ.
Even though Northern Trains will soon become part of a publicly owned Great British Railways, too many rail workers are being left out of Great British Railways because they are outsourced to private companies.
Northern Trains currently outsources station staff, cleaners and security guards to companies like Carlisle and ISS. Carlisle, which is owned by the Tory peer Lord Ashcroft, is typical of the worst of outsourcing firms in its treatment of staff.
RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said that outsourcing companies cut costs to boost profits, resulting in inferior pay and conditions for staff and a worse service for passengers.
“RMT members at Carlisle on Northern Trains are currently in a bitter dispute with their employer over their employer’s refusal to negotiate pay.
“Instead, Carlisle chooses to impose the minimum possible pay rates it can get away with and blame Northern Trains instead.
“Our members have been forced to take industrial action in the form of strikes and refusing to scan tickets to try to get a negotiated pay rise,” he said.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
RMT has launched a petition to Northern Trains https://www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/northern-trains-end-the-dispute-with-carlisle-and-bring-outsourced-rail-workers-in-house
An Early Day Motion has been tabled in Parliament tabled by Rebecca Long-Bailey MP calling on Northern Trains to resolve the dispute and insource Carlisle’s workers:
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Tagged with: RMT, Eddie Dempsey, Northern Trains, Outsourcing
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