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Tuesday 4 May 2004

NETWORK RAIL SLAMS RMT SCAREMONGERING ON PENSIONS

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National

Network Rail today slammed the RMT for its campaign of misinformation and scaremongering about railway pensions.  The company and RMT are currently in dispute over pay, pensions and travel benefits with the union balloting its members for strike action. A Network Rail spokesman said: “The RMT is deliberately seeking to create confusion and concern among our employees.  Union members should not be misled into voting for strike action on the basis of false claims.  This campaign of misinformation and scaremongering about railway pensions must stop.” The RMT is currently mounting an aggressive campaign to mobilise support for a rail strike with leaflets, posters, meetings and personal visits by union leaders. Among the RMT’s false claims are that; “The company has closed a decent pension scheme and imposed a glorified savings plan on our members” The truth is that; All existing members will continue to benefit from the Railway Pensions Scheme, a generous final salary pension scheme.  Those transferring into Network Rail as part of the company’s move to bring rail maintenance in-house and who are not members of the RPS will benefit from a defined contribution pension with employer contributions higher than they currently receive.  New employees who have joined the company since 1 April 2004 will join this occupational pension scheme, which is among the most generous offered by large companies and has an RMT representative among its trustees.  The RMT wrongly alleges; “Even those left in the old pension scheme will have to pay out ever-increasing contributions to maintain their benefits as fewer and fewer workers are left paying in.” The reality is that; The decision to increase contributions into the Railway Pensions Scheme was taken by the pension fund trustees (who include an RMT representative) not Network Rail.  This is an entirely separate matter, which is not part of the pay bargaining process. Network Rail Chief Executive, John Armitt, has written directly to all Network Rail employees to rebut the RMT’s false claims about pensions and to ensure that the company’s position is made abundantly clear - Network Rail is protecting the rights and benefits of existing members of the Railway Pensions Scheme. The spokesman concluded: “The changes we have introduced to Network Rail’s pension arrangements do not affect the people who are being balloted for strike action; the RMT should stop pretending that they do. “A strike would cause great damage to the railway, just when we are delivering real improvements in the vital service we provide for passengers.”             For media enquiries please contact the Network Rail press office on 020 7557 8292 / 3