Sir, It is no surprise that Brian Souter has hitched his Stagecoach to the bandwagon demanding that rail workers and passengers be made to pay for the disaster of privatisation (“Souter demands incentive to take on rail unions”, June 30). He applauds Sir Roy McNulty, whose “value for money” report claims that rail workers should lose their jobs and have worse pay and conditions because there has been a 50 per cent increase in staff costs since privatisation, but it is a claim that is riddled with inaccuracies.
McNulty ignores the 59 per cent increase in passenger journeys, the 50 per cent increase in passenger miles, and the 56 per cent increase in passenger revenue per staff member, which add up to productivity outstripping increases in pay. He also omits to mention that unit wage costs — pay measured against output — have risen at a slower rate than in the economy as a whole.
The report omits figures from the summary report provided to the media and politicians, which would have shown that UK rail workers are among the most productive in Europe.
It also states that “working practices and agreements within the industry have not undergone significant changes for many years if not decades”, when almost every grade has undergone a restructuring in terms and conditions. In a letter to the TUC dated May 10, 2011, McNulty admitted that “there is no strong correlation between staff costs in the rail industry and public subsidy” but, unsurprisingly, that admission did not find its way into the final report.
Souter, like McNulty, would have rail workers and passengers as scapegoats for the disaster of privatisation, which is responsible for a tripling of costs since 1995, while being allowed to continue plundering the industry for the benefit of shareholders.
Advertisement
Bob Crow
General Secretary, RMT