RMT welcomes Greater Anglia into public ownership

RMT welcomes Greater Anglia into public ownership

11 October 2025

RMT Press Office:

Rail union RMT, has welcomed Greater Anglia returning to public ownership this Sunday and hailed a breakthrough agreement with the company that brings previously outsourced staff back in-house.

RMT said a deal on insourcing workers was done through negotiations with the company prior to it being bought back into public ownership and provides a blueprint for Great British Railways (GBR) to embrace going forward.
 
Prior to the general election, Labour said they would undertake the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation.
 
RMT General Secretary Eddie Dempsey said: “Greater Anglia coming back into public ownership is a big step forward towards creating Great British Railways and to unite track and train under a single publicly owned body, benefiting railway workers and passengers alike.
 
"What makes Greater Anglia stand out is that RMT has also secured agreement on a wave of insourcing.
 
"At London Liverpool Street, train presentation, gateline and customer service staff are now directly employed.
 
“This ends years of exploitation where outsourced workers, many from BME backgrounds, were left on worse pay and worse conditions.
 
"We still have work to do on outsourcing within the company but this is a fantastic start.  
 
“Public ownership needs to be accompanied by insourcing across rail which would cut out profiteering contractors, deliver better value for money and give rail workers the dignity and security of direct employment.
 
"Labour must now press on with their public ownership agenda on rail and roll out insourcing across the network through Great British Railways.”
 
END
 
Notes:
 
- RMT said outsourcing drains over £400 million a year from the railway in profits for private contractors.
 
- Bringing staff back in-house will mean better safety, quality and value for money for passengers, while protecting jobs and conditions.
 
Photo: By Geof Sheppard - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=153101176

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