HC Deb 26 November 1990 vol 181 cc606-7
5. Mr. Skinner

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he next expects to meet the chairman of British Rail to discuss wages and conditions of British Rail staff; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Parkinson

I discuss a variety of railway matters at my regular meetings with the chairman of British Rail. Wages and conditions of BR staff are primarily matters for British Rail management.

Mr. Skinner

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that it is nothing short of a scandal for Sir Bob Reid to receive £200,000 a year—an increase of £88,000 on the salary of the previous chair—when the basic rate for railway workers is £115.10 a week? Why did the management last year receive a 15 per cent. increase across the board, yet the railway workers got a miserly 8 per cent? Why will not the right hon. Gentleman give a guarantee now—some of his colleagues are throwing around promises—that railway workers will be treated in the same way as the management? Let us have no more of these double standards.

Mr. Parkinson

The new chairman of British Rail is one of the outstanding managers in Britain. To accept the job, he took a substantial reduction in salary compared with the salaries offered to him in other jobs. As the hon. Gentleman knows, those 15 per cent. increases were all individually negotiated contracts and were based on performance-related pay. Will the hon. Gentleman use his trade union connections to encourage the unions to start thinking in a modern way and to adopt shorter, more flexible hours and co-operate with the management, so that they can be better paid and work fewer hours?

Mr. Gregory

Does my right hon. Friend agree that there is a pent-up feeling in the railway work force, particularly in great centres such as York, that the work force would like to share in any possible equity participation? The fruits of their endeavours would come through in share ownership. At the next meeting with the chairman of British Rail, will my right hon. Friend look actively at that possibility, which would reduce the demand on wages and hence the pressure on freight and commuter users?

Mr. Parkinson

As the House knows, we are determined to privatise British Rail. As part of that privatisation, we shall make sure that the employees have shareholdings. I am sure that the House is aware that in every privatisation, the trade union leaders opposed privatisation and then urged their members not to take shares. However, 95 per cent. of their members, on average, chose to ignore their advice. I am sure that it will be the same with British Rail.

Mr. Prescott

In view of the connection made by the Hidden inquiry on the Clapham tragedy between the excessive working conditions of the workers and the cause of that tragedy, can the Secretary of State tell us whether he now accepts that the Government's financial policy contributed to that problem? Does he accept that his inspectors should be prosecuting not only British Rail but the Government?

Mr. Parkinson

I heard the hon. Gentleman's half-baked suggestion when the announcement of the prosecution was made. I am sure that he will remember, as he studies those matters carefully, that in their evidence to Hidden both the chairman and the finance director said that they had adequate finance available——

Mr. Prescott

But they were wrong.

Mr. Parkinson

May I remind the hon. Gentleman that the accident arose from additional new investment in signalling that was badly carried out? The hon. Gentleman may not have noticed that British Rail recently came forward with a package offering shorter hours, higher pay and more flexibility. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will encourage the unions to accept that package—they are refusing to do so at the moment.