The transport secretary has claimed taxpayers paid greater than £300,000 to maintain every rail employee of their job through the Covid pandemic – and insisted that “reform of the rail business” is crucial.
Mark Harper was answering questions from by MPs on the Transport Choose Committee on Wednesday morning.
Over the subsequent month, members of the RMT union are scheduled to strike on 12 days. It’s the largest industrial motion on the railways for the reason that Eighties, in a dispute over pay, job safety and dealing preparations.
Mr Harper mentioned: “It’s not only a pay dispute. It’s about reform of the rail business, within the context of the truth that the taxpayer’s put £31bn of help into the rail business over the previous two years – clearly pushed by Covid and the truth that a major variety of passengers haven’t returned to the railways.
“That’s equal to over £1,000 per family within the nation, and over £300,000 per rail employee.”
He mentioned that no employees on practice operators contracted by the Division for Transport (DfT) had been furloughed.
“That’s the context of why we want reform. We’ve protected railway jobs,” he mentioned.
“We’ve solely seen about 80 per cent of passenger numbers return to the railway.”
Earlier the RMT union mentioned: “Passenger numbers are again to 99 per cent of pre-pandemic ranges based on the newest information.”
The union rejected the newest pay provide from 14 practice operators on Sunday.
It concerned 4 per cent pay rises this 12 months and subsequent, contingent on the closure of some ticket workplaces and growth of driver-controlled operation of practice doorways, often called DOO.
The overall secretary of the RMT, Mick Lynch, mentioned: “We have now rejected this provide because it doesn’t meet any of our standards for securing a settlement on long run job safety, an honest pay rise and defending working circumstances.
“The RDG and DfT who units their mandate, each knew this provide wouldn’t be acceptable to RMT members.
“If this plan was carried out, it will not solely imply the lack of hundreds of jobs however using unsafe practices equivalent to DOO and would go away our railways chronically understaffed.”
Mr Harper repeated declined to reply questions from Labour’s Ben Bradshaw about whether or not No 10 or the Treasury had insisted on growth of driver-controlled operation as a situation for the practice operators’ pay provide.
The transport secretary mentioned: “I’m not going to supply a working commentary.”
A Community Rail proposal of 5 per cent this 12 months and 4 per cent subsequent has been put to a referendum with the union recommending it’s rejected.
Mr Harper mentioned: “I might nonetheless urge the unions to maintain speaking and put these offers to their members with at the very least with a impartial suggestion and name off the strikes earlier than Christmas that are going to be so damaging to people and companies.
“The federal government will do what we will to attempt to encourage each employers and unions to maintain speaking.”
Prepare cancellations have begun to be made forward of subsequent week’s strikes, which can see 48-hour walk-outs on 13-14 and 16-17 December.
