Pay and conditions for British rail workers compare favourably with those of private sector employees, a report commissioned by the UK’s rail regulator has found.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) commissioned independent consultants to establish whether employment costs for more than 64,000 railway workers are higher or lower than “market comparators.”
The study found that the total reward for rail industry roles is “in line with that for comparable roles employed elsewhere in the economy, although at +9 percent the variance is close to the cut-off point (+10 percent) for an ‘above market’ assessment.”
It also found that employee terms and conditions in the rail industry “generally compare favourably with those in the rest of the private sector with lower weekly contracted hours and more generous pension, annual leave, and sick pay entitlements.”
In addition, rail industry employees also receive travel-to-work benefits in the form of free or subsidised rail travel, which is an “industry-specific benefit.”
According to the report, the average total reward for maintenance workers at Network Rail, which owns and manages most of Britain’s railways, stands at £44,732 ($50,312) some 18 percent above the average for people in comparable jobs.
Station staff employed by train operators are typically paid 12 percent above average for that type of position.
Will Godfrey, the ORR’s director of economics, finance, and markets, said the report is “a good first step in improving transparency.”
Union Leader: ‘Something Wrong With the Market’
Trade union leaders, who have been organising a wave of strikes that have repeatedly paralysed the rail networks in recent weeks, have reacted angrily to the report.Mick Lynch, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime, and Transport (RMT) union, said: “The political thrust of this report is to target the pay and conditions of maintenance workers and station staff, the very same railway workers facing mass job cuts.
He blasted the ORR report for failing to mention the “extortionate pay” of Network Rail executives at a time when the company’s staff members have “endured a three-year pay freeze and have seen a sharp decline in living standards.”
He said: “Strong trade unions like the RMT are important in raising wages and creating good safe working environments. And if it means RMT members’ wages are higher than the market rate, there is something wrong with the market.”
