Pay
disputes
++


The
transport
secretary
Mark
Harper
has
warned
that
railway
industry
reforms
are
essential
if
pay
is
to
be
increased,
and
that
he
has
no
‘bottomless
pit
of
taxpayers’
money
to
throw
at
this
problem’.
Among
the
reforms being
called
for
are
changes
to
working
practices
at
Network
Rail
and
the
rumoured
closure
of
many
ticket
offices.
Speaking
on
the
BBC,
Mr
Harper
said:
‘It
is
the
reforms
that
free
up
the
savings
that
then
unlock
the
ability
for the
companies
to
make
an
offer
to
the
trade
unions
on
pay.
Both
of
those
things
have
to
happen
in
parallel.’
Train
operators
in
England
are
no
longer
independent
franchises
but
tightly-bound
contractors,
and
any
changes
to
pay will
need
government
approval.
Mr
Harper
has
said
he
has
‘a
role
in
the
process’
but
that
he
would
not
be
doing
detailed
negotiations,
although
there
had
been
‘quite
a
lot
of
progress’.
He
was
speaking
as
the
RMT
prepares
to stage
two
pairs
of
48-hour
strikes
in
December
and
January.
During
an
interview
on
Sky
TV,
Mr
Harper
added:
‘We
want
to
try
and
give
all
the
workers
in
the
public
sector
who
work
very
hard
decent
pay
rises,
but
they
can’t
be
inflation-busting
pay
rises.’

‘Chaos’
warning
++


Train
services
in
the
north
of
England
are
close
to
collapsing
into
‘utter
chaos’
within
a
few
weeks,
according
to
members
of
the
Northern
Powerhouse
Partnership.
They
are
calling
on
transport
secretary
Mark
Harper
to
take
action,
because
they
say
the
present
problems
are
‘wreaking
havoc’.
The
government
has
said
it
is
investing
billions
in
the
region’s
transport,
but
services
provided
by
TransPennine
Express,
Northern
and
Avanti
West
Coast
are
continuing
to
be
unreliable,
although
improvements
have
been
predicted
when
the
timetables
change
next
month.
Juergen
Maier,
who
is
a
vice
chair
of
the
Partnership
and
and
a
former
Siemens
UK
chief
executive,
said
the
government
had
failed
to
‘use
only
the
levers
it
can
pull’.