Drivers strike over tax bills

South West Trains: Drivers strike over tax bills

TWO HUNDRED train drivers, members of ASLEF based at Waterloo station
in London, were on strike on 30 May. This was the first of a series of
one-day strikes over the removal of tax benefits in kind by their
employer South West Trains, concerning the use of taxis.

Chris Newby

As ASLEF regional organiser Graham Morris explained, this goes back to
the time of privatisation. Under the previously nationalised British
Railways, staff trains were run so that workers could get in for the
start of the first shift of the day. In some cases this is around 4am.

Following privatisation these trains were withdrawn and an agreement
was negotiated between ASLEF and the train operator to provide taxis.
This service is particularly important at Waterloo where there are no
parking facilities for the staff, leaving night bus services the only
other option but these take a lot longer

South West Trains are owned by Stagecoach and make £ millions of
profits a year. They have now told the drivers that they will no longer
pay the tax on this, which means in effect a significant pay cut for
these drivers.

Up to now the payment for the taxis, including the tax, was paid
directly by South West Trains. Many drivers were not aware that they were
paying tax on this and are shocked by the tax bills they have now been
landed with.

There is a determined mood amongst the drivers, particularly when they
found out that managers were driving trains on the strike day. Some of
these managers have not driven a train for years and have had minimal
retraining.