From the right to resume a break if your manager greets you to paid time off if you use a microwave, some bizarre 'Spanish practices' have emerged on the railways.
Other examples include the extra time employees are given during breaks to walk to the dining area and the time it takes up to nine employees to complete simple tasks like replacing an electrical outlet.
Now, under the new government's offer to end the two-year rail strikes, train drivers will retain the bizarre benefits afforded by the previous Tory the government wanted to abolish.
Ministers said on Wednesday they have struck a deal with union leaders that will see the average driver's pay rise by 14.25 per cent to around £69,000.
The pay rise, which is pensionable, could cost £100m and is more generous than the previous government's offer of 8% over two years.
Aslef General Secretary Mick Whelan on the picket line at London Euston station on April 5
Empty tracks at Clapham Junction in London during an Aslef strike on September 1, 2023
This also included conditions around reforming outdated and costly working regulations, called 'Spanish practices', which the Tory administration wanted and which would have reduced the cost of running the railways. These practices included the following:
SAY NO TO SUNDAY
- Drivers can choose whether to work on Sundays and will receive overtime. The previous government wanted Sundays to be part of the working week.
BAN ON DIGITAL DEVICES
- Train drivers rely on noticeboards for speed limit and safety checks. The Tory government wanted them to use iPad-style tablets instead. But Aslef bosses refused, saying it went beyond the members’ normal working practices – and even demanded higher pay.
ENDLESS MEDICAL CHECKS
- Since 1980, a regulation has been in place that gives employees the right to take paid leave for a medical examination if they use a microwave oven at work.
EMPLOYEES DOUBLE
- Simple tasks like replacing an electrical outlet can take nine workers due to resistance to multi-skilled personnel. Different teams cannot cross boundaries to fix a fault.
WALKING ALLOWANCES
- These stipulate that staff should be given extra time during breaks to cover the process of walking to and from their dining area and a train. For example, at Birmingham New Street station, a worker’s half-hour tea break is actually 40 minutes, with five minutes for the journey there and back.
EXTENDING A BREAK
- Oddly enough, some employees are allowed to restart a break if the manager simply says “hello,” because any conversation with a boss counts as “work.”
MANUAL MAINTENANCE
- Unions are opposing the installation of sensors in trains that monitor the tracks for defects.
Transport Secretary Louise Haigh, pictured arriving at Downing Street in London on July 30
The new offer included a 5 percent increase for 2022/23, 4.75 percent for 2023/24 and 4.5 percent for 2024/25.
However, yesterday Education Minister Bridget Phillipson struggled to explain how the deal for drivers – who work four days a week – would be funded.
While the offer came as a relief to passengers plagued by strikes, Labour was accused of capitulating to the union's 'payers' as no strings attached.
The previous Conservative government believed that reforms such as compulsory Sunday working had to be part of any agreement.
But the offer is even more generous than initially thought, as it also includes drivers who have quit their jobs in the past two years.
Empty platforms at London King's Cross during the Aslef strike on October 4, 2023
This is because the 14 percent salary increase applies to a three-year period, retroactive to April 2022.
According to industry figures, approximately 1,000 drivers leave their jobs each year.
This means that as many as 2,000 people who are now retired or have changed jobs could be eligible for a windfall financed by the taxpayer.
Former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: 'Labour is throwing money at union bosses like confetti.
'The unions have said: 'We've had a Conservative government for 14 years, now we want revenge for all the times we supported you.'
“And it doesn't stop there. Once you give in to one or two on such a large scale, everyone feels like it's Christmas. And taxes have to go up to cover it all.”
An empty train station in Farnborough, Hampshire during an earlier Aslef strike on January 30
Former Transport Secretary Grant Shapps criticised the failure to demand reforms to working practices in return for the pay rise. He added: 'Without real improvements in productivity, this deal with your union payers will fuel inflation, hold back the modernisation of rail and disappoint passengers.'
Yesterday, the Education Secretary was asked five times 'who will pay' by presenter Justin Webb during an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
He said: 'It has to come, hasn't it? Either from the Department for Transport budget – so from other aspects of transport infrastructure – or from the taxpayers or the card payers?'
Ms Phillipson replied: 'Overall, we are planning to deliver major reform of the rail network. This is part of the wider reform we will be delivering across all our railways to ensure we get a better deal for passengers.'
Transport Secretary Louise Haigh defended the deal yesterday, saying: “I promised to act quickly and fix things. That's why we've done a deal with [the Aslef union] which – if the members agree – will put an end to the railway strikes after two long years.'
A nearly deserted London Waterloo train station during an Aslef strike on January 30
Yesterday, Aslef boss Mick Whelan admitted the union had been offered the deal without anything in return.
The union will put the proposal to a vote of 13,000 members and has recommended that they accept it.
It comes after the new Labour government approved a 5.5 per cent pay rise for most other public sector workers, costing the taxpayer an estimated £9.4 billion.
It came as Tory transport spokesperson Helen Whately wrote to Ms Haigh: “This substantial 'no strings' deal looks set to mean higher costs for the taxpayer or the passenger. It is understandable that [they] will worry that the costs will end up on their shoulders.'
A Department for Transport spokesman said: 'Train drivers have not received a pay rise for five years.
'This offer costs significantly less than the economic damage caused by strikes over the past two years, not to mention the impact it has had on the daily lives of hardworking people.
“This government is doing the right thing by ending the strikes and providing much-needed security to travellers across the country.”