Strike threat over 'scandalous' failure to pay ScotRail staff after expected £1bn Covid subsidy

And Unite has  having criticised  a  “scandalous” failure to support staff while awarding Dutch state-owned transport firm Abellio which runs ScotRail the emergency Covid payments.

In 2020/21, the railways will have cost the public purse £1.4 billion - £568m more than in the previous year. That is due to the introduction of Emergency Measures Agreements (EMAs) introduced to cover operating costs due to cut revenues due to Covid-19 restrictions and to protect staff and rail services.

It was confirmed that a further £450m in emergency funding is expected to be given to rail operators until March, next year on top of the usual subsidies, after which Dutch state-owned transport firm Abellio relinquishes control of ScotRail. A confirmed EMA has been put in place for £173m till September, 2021.

Some 97% of the emergency payouts go to Abellio-controlled ScotRail with the remainder going to Caledonian Sleeper, which is run by Serco.

In 2019/20, before the Covid-19 crisis, Scotland's railways cost the taxpayer £832.6m which is made up solely of subsidies of £476.9m to Abellio ScotRail, £13m to Serco Caledonian Sleeper as well as £355.7m paid directly to publicly owned Network Rail for the keep of the infrastructure, which includes the track and signals.

Transport Scotland said the the EMAs were originally required because of a "very significant shortfall in revenue due to an around 90% drop in passengers".

The Scottish Government agency said the extra money in the next financial year is the result of "projections of expected revenue shortfalls" till September, 2021.

The unions said the Abellio ScotRail pay rise amounted to "tens of pounds" to its members and claimed the company was under instructions from the Scottish government not to award any pay rise to rail workers adding that ministers were "actively interfering in collective bargaining".

Pat McIlvogue, Unite industrial officer, said: It's absolutely astonishing that Abellio Scotrail have been subsidised by the taxpayer to the tune of nearly £1 billion in a year with hundreds of millions more before it loses the franchise next year.

"These eye watering figures should shock the Scottish public especially in the context that rail workers are not being given any meaningful pay rise. It's a scandalous situation whereby the Dutch based firm will continue to fleece the taxpayer before it loses the franchise and it’s our members' who are bearing the brunt of this."

Transport secretary Michael Matheson decided a fortnight ago that ScotRail would come under public ownership run through an arm’s-length company controlled by the Scottish Government, declaring that the current system of rail franchising “is no longer fit for purpose”.

READ MORE: Direct state control of ScotRail will provide better value for taxpayers' money, says Michael Matheson

Mr Matheson said the move will come through "operator of last resort arrangements" after he decided it was not the right time to seek a franchise procurement competition to run Scotland's railways after Abellio ends it control in March, 2022.

It came a year after ministers announced it had stripped Abellio of the franchise three years early in the wake of continuing outcry over service failings and rising costs to the taxpayer.

It came after a 2018 winter timetable with the introduction of high-speed trains and new class 385 electric trains ushered in months of cancellations and disruption to services with much of it put down to staff shortages partly due to training to deal with the new trains and timetable.

Unite was upset that pay talks had collapsed and that there was further anger over the withdrawal of a rest day working agreement - which allows workers to increase their salary by working overtime.

It said the trade unions have jointly taken the step to write to Transport Scotland to "immediately intervene to bring this company to its senses after its litany of failures".

Mr McIlvogue added: “Unite members have shown great patience in waiting for an offer from Abellio only for the company to fail to make any meaningful offer. Unite members have worked on the front line during the pandemic ensuring that fellow key workers were able to get to work to aid the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. Following the collapse of pay talks involving the joint trade unions it is now abundantly clear that Abellio has no interest in engaging with us, which is why we have launched a consultative ballot.

ScotRail insisted there was no new or extra money to fund a pay increase and that any rise would have to be made through new savings elsewhere.

Gerry Skelton, ScotRail HR director, said: "At a time when we need everyone in the railway to work together as we face the most serious financial crisis in our history, it’s disappointing that the trade unions have decided to walk away from discussions and issue misleading statements.

READ MORE: ScotRail to become state owned from March 2022

"With passenger numbers down by more than 90 per cent, it’s only thanks to emergency government support that ScotRail has been able to continue to operate services for key workers and pay staff wages. The hundreds of millions of pounds of additional emergency government subsidy means there have been no job losses, no furlough, no wage cuts, and no changes to terms and conditions during the pandemic. ScotRail staff also continue to benefit from a no compulsory redundancies policy.

"That’s in stark contrast to many other organisations, including other transport operators. We have worked hard to protect every single job at ScotRail during the most serious financial crisis in the railway’s history."

At the weekend, passengers in Scotland were warned to expect significant rail disruptions on Sundays because of strike action by ScotRail conductors.

RMT confirmed that industrial action will go ahead over six consecutive Sunday from March 28, in a separate fight over payments for rest day working.

Mr Matheson made it clear that it was his "strongly held view" was that a public sector controlled integrated passenger railway was the future for Scotland enabling what he called a "more cohesive, fleet of foot strategic decision making structure between rail infrastructure and services with full accountability to the Scottish Government".

But it has been confirmed that the vision of public ownership is not immediately extending to the beleaguered Serco Caledonian Sleeper. The Scottish Government cannot decide to take control of Network Rail in Scotland because it is devolved to the UK government.

Scottish Labour and union leaders have said that that the refusal to also take Serco Caledonian Sleeper under public ownership showed a "lack of commitment to fully nationalise the railways", and that steps must be taken to bring the two systems under one umbrella.

Serco, which won a 15-year franchise to run the Sleeper which started in 2015 operates the Caledonian Sleeper service nightly except on Saturdays between Edinburgh, Glasgow, Fort William, Inverness and London.

Scottish Labour transport spokesperson Alex Rowley said: “It is nothing short of hypocrisy that the SNP government would claim to support nationalising our railways whilst leaving the Caledonian Sleeper out in the cold.

“Awarding franchises to Abellio and Serco came at crippling cost to the taxpayer – yet still the SNP refuses to address this massive oversight.

“If the Scottish Government is going to nationalise our railways, there can be no half-measures: they need to do it properly and commit to bringing Serco Caledonian sleeper in line with other publicly-owned railways.”

While Mr Matheson announced that ScotRail would come under direct state control from March 2022, he never said how long they would be in place for, adding that it was something that will be considered further as the "shape and pace" of rail reform becomes clearer.

He said the vision for state-run railways cannot be delivered under the existing legislative framework, which is reserved to the UK Government and that that is why he has repeatedly sought "full devolution" of rail powers to Scotland. He says his calls have so far been rejected.