To: To: Steve White, Managing Director, Southeastern Trains Ltd
End outsourcing at Southeastern Trains
We welcome the fact that Southeastern Trains is publicly owned and its staff are becoming part of Great British Railways.
But too many people are being left behind. The people who clean your trains and stations are still outsourced to a private company called Churchill.
Churchill have paid out more than £50 million to their shareholders in the last two years.
Their profits are made by making sure their staff have low pay, no sick pay and no decent pension. They cut jobs to make their profits bigger and force everyone else to work harder.
So, if you’ve ever thought your trains or stations could be cleaner, you’re right. They could be, if you brought them into Southeastern Trains, employed them directly and treated properly.
It's time for Southeastern Trains to put an end to outsourcing.
Why is this important?
The creation of Great British Railways is a big step forward, ending profiteering by train operating companies and creating an integrated publicly owned railway.
But too many people are still being left out, including tens of thousands of outsourced and sub-contracted workers.
The use of outsourcing and sub-contracting is a scam, designed to siphon off profits from the railway by creating low paid and precarious work and driving down the quality of working life.
RMT estimates that more than £400 million of the railway's money is lost to outsourcing and sub-contracting firms every year.
Outsourcing and sub-contracting are worse for passengers too, leading to dirtier trains and stations and a poorer overall service.
Since 2020, Southeastern Trains has contracted out its cleaning to a company called Churchill. Churchill have provided an inferior service and profited from this contract. In the last two years, they have skimmed more than £50 million in dividends to their shareholders while passengers have seen worse standards and workers have struggled to get by.
Now Churchill’s contract is up and there is a golden opportunity to bring these workers into Great British Railways, end the profiteering, create better jobs and a better service for passengers.
