RMT welcomes support from Scottish MSPs

RMT welcomes support from Scottish MSPs

8 July 2021

RMT Press Office:

On the eve of ACAS talks, RMT welcomes support from Scottish MSPs for pay justice for Serco Caledonian Sleeper workers.

On the eve of ACAS talks between RMT and Serco in relation to an ongoing dispute over pay justice for Caledonian Sleeper workers, the Union has welcomed support from MSPs for a Scottish Parliamentary motion which calls on the Scottish Government to intervene in order to find a fair resolution to this dispute.

RMT members employed on the Serco Caledonian Sleeper have already taken a number of days of industrial action in their ongoing fight for pay justice, after being subjected to a pay freeze, despite being key workers who have worked throughout the pandemic.

The motion highlights that ‘under the terms of its Emergency Measures Agreements (EMA) with the Scottish Government, Serco Caledonian Sleeper is able to receive performance and management fees’ and goes on to say that ‘as the Scottish Government is managing the franchise via the EMA, only it has the ability to resolve the dispute’.

With ACAS talks commencing tomorrow, Friday 9th July, RMT believes it is high time the Scottish Government took responsibility for finding a fair resolution to this dispute which recognises the vital contribution made by these essential workers.

General Secretary Mick Lynch said:

“RMT welcomes the support from MSPs for finding a fair resolution to Caledonian Sleeper and their recognition that the Scottish Government, which is funding and managing the franchise, is holding the reins.

“The Scottish Government has openly criticised the Westminster Government’s public sector pay freeze, which has been applied to rail workers in England, but yet it has taken the same approach in Scotland. On the one hand it is refusing to fund a pay award for Scotland’s key worker rail staff while at the same time funding management and performance fees under private operator Serco’s Emergency Measures Agreement. This is completely unjust.

“RMT is calling on the Scottish Government to take action to ensure that the ACAS talks commencing tomorrow are productive and to ensure we can reach and a fair and just resolution to this dispute.”

Notes for editors: 
Motion
Pay Justice for Serco Caledonian Sleeper Workers
 
Submitted by: Richard Leonard, Central Scotland, Scottish Labour.
Date lodged: Thursday, June 17, 2021
Supported by: Jackie Baillie, Foysol Choudhury, Katy Clark, Monica Lennon, Pauline McNeill, Carol Mochan, Paul O'Kane, Alex Rowley, Mark Ruskell, Paul Sweeney, Mercedes Villalba, Martin Whitfield
 
That the Parliament commends what it sees as the essential role played by Serco Caledonian Sleeper workers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure that rail services on the route could continue to run; understands that workers employed by Serco Caledonian Sleeper have been subjected to a pay freeze for 2021-22; is concerned that a pay freeze fails to take into account the vital role played by these workers during the pandemic, and the rise in the cost of living; believes that all workers on the Serco Caledonian Sleeper deserve a fair pay award for 2021-22; further understands that under the terms of its Emergency Measures Agreements (EMA) with the Scottish Government, Serco Caledonian Sleeper is able to receive performance and management fees; believes that, as the Scottish Government is managing the franchise via the EMA, only it has the ability to resolve the dispute, and notes the calls on the Scottish Government to intervene as a matter of urgency and commit itself and Serco Caledonian Sleeper to meaningful talks with the RMT, with the purpose of reaching a fair resolution to this dispute.

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Tagged with: Caledonian Sleeper, Serco, Pay Justice, Scottish Government