Since train drivers make an average of £60,000 per year, which is double what teachers, nurses, and police earn, rail union bosses have come under fire for calling a strike in demand of a pay increase.
Once again this week, passengers have experienced travel chaos as a result of worker strikes that began on Wednesday and will continue on Friday, crippling services throughout the UK.
Depending on the 2021/2022 year, sources in the rail industry told MailOnline that the average pay for train drivers has increased by 35% over the previous ten years to £60,000.
A salary review paper by the Rail Delivery Group, which polled rail operating companies throughout Britain, revealed this weighted average of basic pay.
According to industry sources, some drivers may even make over £100,000 if they put in a lot of overtime, but they also tend to be the ones who contribute the most to the network’s resilience in times of disruption.
Network Rail stated that its most recent proposal was a two-year, 8% deal with a guarantee against forced layoffs and other perks.
However, it claimed union leaders from the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) left the negotiations, escalating the bitter dispute over employment terms such as pay, benefits, and pensions.
When compared to public sector jobs, train drivers are very well paid; care workers make an average of £19,250, according to data from the National Careers Service.
The NCS also lists average salaries for refuse collectors at £21,000, librarians at £25,250, nurses at £28,594 and firefighters at £28,218; and police officers at £30,147.
Teachers make $33,659 on average, paramedics make $32,341, and social workers make £32,000.
The NCS estimates that train station employees make an average of £22,250, track maintenance workers make an average of £25,250, train conductors make an average of £29,500, and railway signallers make an average of £43,000. However, it places train drivers at a much lower average of £44,500.
These averages are slightly higher according to Network Rail, at £31,000 for maintenance employees and £44,000 for signalers.
While Network Rail reports that the average annual salary for all railroad employees is £36,000, the RMT claims that its average rail member makes £33,000.
The RMT estimates that train drivers make an average salary of £54,000, which is slightly less than the Rail Delivery Group estimate but still significantly more than the majority of employees in the public sector.
Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen responded to the comparison to public sector employees by telling MailOnline that the union barons of the RMT, who make six-figure salaries themselves, have adopted the blatantly hypocritical Marxist dogma that “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”
The “needs” of our nurses are not equal to those of train drivers, contrary to what those very same union barons would have you believe.
“I’m not sure the long-suffering British public, who are suffering from the politically motivated strike disruption, will concur with either the Marxist doctrine or their opposition to modernising their working practises.
We won’t just see a 12-month increase in prices; instead, we will experience a severely harmful inflation spiral, warns our next prime minister, if he or she doesn’t stand up to these Luddites.
One way to lower driver salaries, according to Cheney Hamilton, CEO of HR consulting firm The Find Your Flex Group, based in Darlington, where the first railway line in history opened to Stockton in 1825, is to “train more talent into the roles.”
In any profession, salaries will always be greater if a skill set is specialised and there are few people who are competent, she told MailOnline.
“Businesses, especially rail companies, would need to train more personnel for the roles if they intended to lower salaries in these specialised fields.” In any field, volume lowers expenses.
The cost of living crisis is comparable to the pay for individuals in specialised positions, Ms. Hamilton continued.
“We only need to look at the bonuses and salaries of CEOs and other leaders to see the disparity between the “Doers” and the “Directors.”
“In my view, our society, hierarchy, class, and the deeds of our “leaders” are to blame for this, not the unions.
To promote development and equitable access to well-paying employment, the UK business sector needs a fundamental organisational reorganisation.
In addition, Sam Alsop-Hall, chief strategy officer at the Birmingham-based Woodrow Mercer Healthcare healthcare recruitment firm, told MailOnline that “where private sector operators are running public sector services that’s manifesting itself in the pay and conditions that train drivers are receiving in comparison to their wider public sector peers.”
“They have the competition, market prices, and flexibility of the private sector on the one hand, and the rights, pensions, and union strength of the public sector on the other.
The end result is that they may utilise the public safety net to raise costs in the private sector, which, as we’ve lately seen, is a deadly mix for train operator margins.
The RMT has been advocating for a 7% wage increase for members, a demand that was made public for the first time on June 19 by General Secretary Mick Lynch.
With benefits and pensions, Mr. Lynch’s annual income rises to £124,000 from £84,000 without them.
Last month, Unison, GMB, and Unite demanded a pay increase of 11.1% for council employees, which would have applied to jobs like refuse collectors, library staff, teaching assistants, and caretakers, in line with inflation measured by the Retail Price Index.
The Royal College of Nursing requested a 12.5% pay increase for all nurses in March.
Then, last week, the Government increased pay for more than a million members of the NHS, including nurses, paramedics, and midwives, by at least £1,400, with the lowest-paid employees earning increases of up to 9.3%.
Although the Fire Brigades Union last month called a 2% salary offer “utterly inadequate” and contrasted it to “a current rate of inflation of 9.1%,” the union has not yet officially stated the amount it seeks.
Regarding educators, the NASUWT union stated last month that it wanted to see a “12% salary award this year” for teachers.
Following a Government announcement last week that police personnel will get a pay award of £1,900 starting in September of this year, the Police Federation stated that this translates to an 8.8% increase for the lowest paid officers.
Adam Commons, the chairman of the Leicestershire Police Federation, remarked on July 19: “Did I anticipate receiving a 9% raise today? Sincerely, I didn’t, but we weren’t either ignored.
But the battle is not over; we’ll get back up tomorrow and continue.
The Police Federation had requested a pay increase for officers in 2022 “to at least ensure officers do not fall further behind inflation” in April of this year.
Inflation measured by the Consumer Prices Index was 9% in that month.
With more strikes scheduled for tomorrow and a wave of action planned on the railways and the London Underground for next month, the situation on trains has gotten worse in the dispute over jobs, pay, pensions, and conditions.
On Wednesday, only around one in five trains ran on about half the network, and some districts had no trains all day.
On Wednesday, picket lines were set up in front of train stations as 14 train operators and RMT employees at Network Rail went on strike.
It was advised to only take the train if absolutely necessary, to allow extra time if needed, and to confirm the time of the last train before boarding.
As workers returned to their jobs this morning, trains were also delayed in starting their services.
Wednesday’s strike at Avanti West Coast was also announced by the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA), and tomorrow’s strike by Aslef drivers will affect seven operators.
Members of the RMT and TSSA will launch co-ordinated strikes on August 18 and 20, while the RMT announced a strike on London Underground on August 19.
And Aslef has announced that drivers at nine rail companies are to stage a one-day strike on Saturday, August 13, saying the firms failed to make a pay offer to help members keep pace with increases in the cost of living.
A Network Rail spokesman told MailOnline: ‘Rail workers earn a decent wage.
We have presented a strong and fair offer that includes an 8% wage increase over two years, a guarantee that there won’t be any forced layoffs, significantly reduced travel costs for employees and their families, and a cash incentive.
That the RMT wouldn’t even permit our staff, who are also its members, to vote on this offer is really disappointing.
We have been very clear that any wage increase must come from within our own budget because it would not be fair to ask passengers or taxpayers to foot the bill.
“We implore the RMT to present our proposal to their members and put an end to the inconvenience these strikes are causing for our passengers,” the statement reads.
MailOnline contacted the RMT for a response regarding the pay gap between train drivers and the majority of public sector employees.
RMT boss Mr. Lynch stated earlier this week that union members are more determined than ever to obtain a reasonable pay increase, job security, and favourable working conditions.
He stated, “Network Rail has not improved upon their prior salary offer, and the train operators have not made us any new offers.”
We will not be intimidated or coerced by anyone, but RMT will continue to negotiate in good faith.
Earlier yesterday, RMT tweeted: “We are happy to represent train drivers, but RMT is an all-grades transport union and we represent employees right throughout the railway.”
“Equally, our dispute is about the salary of every rail worker and to maintain a safe, secure, and open railway for all passengers,” the statement reads.