RMT Report - Outsourcing and racial inequality in rail 0425 by RMT Union

How outsourcing embeds systemic racism on the railway

RMT Report 2025

Executive

summary

• Outsourcing has been a major driver of a general skill-level segregation in the workforce. This process can develop an ethnic and racial dimension when it intersects with and reinforces existing workforce inequalities, particularly ethnic inequalities and particularly acutely among more recent migrant communities.

• The prolific use of outsourcing by private train operating companies, and the failure to challenge this on the part of Network Rail and the publicly owned TOCs has led to a significant level of ethnic and racial segregation in the rail workforce.

• This is concealed by existing rail industry workforce data. Network Rail publishes its workforce ethnicity profile, as do the public sector Train Operating Companies. However, the private sector TOCs are under no obligation to do so. Equally, none of the outsourcing companies employing ‘ancillary’ workers like cleaners, security guards and catering staff publish any workforce data at contract level.

• To expose the effects of outsourcing on work in rail, RMT analysed membership data for its members in the Train Operating Companies, Network Rail and in their outsourced ‘supply chains’.

• BME workers represent 25% of the English TOC workforce in RMT membership but 58% of both cleaning and catering staff working in outsourced contracts for the TOCs.

• The largest ethnic groups represented in both categories are African, Other White (predominantly Eastern European) and Indian. People of African ethnic origin represent 22% of all outsourced cleaners, but the constitute only 5% of the TOC workforce.

• In those TOCs serving London and the South East in particular, however, the effects are significantly more pronounced. For example, on Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern, the TOC workforce has 40% representation among BME workers but 7580% of the outsourced cleaners who work for Churchill on their stations and trains are BME, with 30% or African ethnic origin. By comparison, just 9% of Govia Thameslink Railways staff are of African ethnic origin.

• To uncover how this works in more detail, RMT surveyed its membership among the outsourced rail functions. More than 500 outsourced workers responded to a survey open between 27 February and 6 March.

• This outsourced workforce wants to work in Great British Railways. 82% said that they would like to progress to another role within the new railway.

• 36% revealed that they have worked in their current role for more than 10 years, with 56% having been in their role for more than 6 years.

• 68% reported that they have had no training, beyond the basic ‘toolbox training’ required to operate the tools of their role, in the last three years.

• 77% said that they have never had a conversation with their manager about any career progression, with almost half (48%) saying they had no confidence at all that their manager would support them in trying to progress.

• 83% reported that they perform duties beyond their roles, such as customer service and fault reporting, with a staggering 62% reporting that they often do this.

• Insourcing these workers would be a major step toward eroding a massive barrier to career progression, integrating the workforce and tackling systemic racism on the railway.

• 83% of outsourced rail workers believe that passengers would benefit more if their service was taken in-house and run directly by Great British Railways.

• The creation of Great British Railways and the Labour government’s commitment to oversee ‘the biggest wave of insourcing for a generation’ represent a historic opportunity to deal with a deep injustice and improve services for passengers at the same time.

How outsourcing creates and sustains workforce segregation

Outsourcing has been a major driver of a general skill-level segregation in the workforce. As a recent paper published by the European Trade Union Institute noted, across Europe and the UK, workers are increasingly working with other workers of similar skill levels and those with lower or intermediate skills are at greater risk of being trapped in outsourced jobs associated with lower wages and worse working conditions.1

This process can develop an ethnic and racial dimension when it intersects with and reinforces existing workforce inequalities, particularly ethnic inequalities and particularly acutely among more recent migrant communities. One major study into (mainly outsourced) cleaning in the UK noted the effects of employers’ recruitment practices in generating informal segregation. Recruiting to ‘low skill’ jobs, employers save money and time by recruiting through word of mouth from their existing employers.

“Employersperceivedarecommendationfromatrustedemployeeastheeasiest, lowestcostandlowestriskoptionforrecruitment.Insomecases,workersleavinga jobwouldsimplyhanditontosomeonetheyknew,withtheemployer‘rubber stamping’thearrangement.Inothercases,employersmightaskcandidatesto provideaCVandproofoftheireligibilitytoworkintheUK,aswellasundergoan interview.Theevidencefromworkersandcleaningfirmssuggestedthatwordof mouthrecruitmentcanleadtotensionbetweendifferentgroupsofworkersdefined bytheirnationality.Workerstendedtorecruitfromtheirsocialnetworks,andfor migrantworkers,thismeantpeoplewiththesamenationality.Thisledtowholly Portuguese,GhanaianorColumbianteamsforexample.”2

Once recruited, these workers are then subjected to a serious structural disadvantage through low pay and worse working conditions.

Outsourced workers’ pay is typically anchored to the minimum wage or Foundation living wage at best. They typically do not have occupational sick pay and they are locked out of decent occupational pension schemes, with pension arrangements that are likely to leave them in poverty in old age.

The ‘unbundling’ of ‘ancillary’ workers’ roles means that they are designated low skilled, elementary occupations. There is little to no training or development and no expectation of progression into a role with a wholly different employer.

In rail, this means that outsourced workers who practically work alongside their colleagues in the train operating companies and Network Rail on a daily basis are effectively segregated from each other.

1 https://www.etui.org/sites/default/files/2023-03/Working%20apartPolarisation%20driven%20by%20widening%20firm%20gaps%20and%20outsourcing_2023.pdf

2 https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/the_invisible_workforce_full_report_08-0814.pdf

The prolific use of outsourcing by private train operating companies, and the failure to challenge this on the part of Network Rail and the publicly owned TOCs has led to a significant level of ethnic and racial segregation in the rail workforce.

Outsourcing and the racial and ethnic segregation in the rail workforce

Outsourcing runs as a fault line through the rail workforce and there is clear evidence that it has a significant racial and ethnic dimension.

This is concealed by existing rail industry workforce data. Network Rail publishes its workforce ethnicity profile, as do the public sector Train Operating Companies. However, the private sector TOCs are under no obligation to do so. Equally, none of the outsourcing companies employing ‘ancillary’ workers like cleaners, security guards and catering staff publish any workforce data at contract level.

The National Skills Agency for Rail publishes national level workforce data showing that ethnic minority staff comprise 14% of the workforce, but it is unclear whether cleaners and security guards, for example, are counted in the NSAR data. They are not listed anywhere in the occupations3 .

To expose the effects of outsourcing on work in rail, RMT analysed membership data for its members in the Train Operating Companies, Network Rail and in their outsourced ‘supply chains’.

There are limitations with this data. Firstly, membership does not map precisely onto workforce. Secondly, the ethnic categories the union uses probably entail a level of underreporting of ethnic minority status. These limitations are mitigated by the fact that where we can compare membership data with what we know from public sector TOCs, RMT’s data compares well. Secondly, the effects of the categories used are likely to result in a small measure of underreporting in BME categories rather than overreporting, so the effects demonstrated here can be viewed as a ‘minimum scenario’. RMT’s analysis uses the term Black and Minority Ethnic in order to capture the effects on ‘Other White’ groups, such as East European migrant workers.45

However, for all its limitations of the data, the complete failure of the rail industry to provide transparent workforce data that includes outsourced workers means that RMT’s membership data provides the best available picture of the rail workforce.

Viewed at an aggregate level, the picture is stark enough.

3 NSAR Annual Workforce Survey 2024, p. 24.

4 As the ONS note, based on the returns from the 2021 census, “The largest ethnic groups specified within "White: Other White" included "White: Polish", with 614,000 (1.0%) of the overall population identifying this way, and "White: Romanian", with 343,000 people (0.6%) identifying this way.”

5https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/bulletins/ethnicgro upenglandandwales/census2021

BME workers represent 25% of the English TOC workforce in RMT membership. The picture is markedly different once we examine their outsourced cleaners and catering staff.

• 58% of both cleaning and catering staff working in outsourced contracts for the TOCs are from a BME background. The largest ethnic groups represented in both categories are African, Other White and Indian.

• People of African ethnic origin represent 22% of all outsourced cleaners, but the constitute only 5% of the TOC workforce.

English TOC workforce

Outsourced TOC and Network Rail cleaning

Outsourced TOC catering staff

Variation by Company and Region

This aggregate figure conceals significant regional variations. As we would expect the rail workforce reflects regional ethnic populations and the ethnic effects of outsourcing are less visible in some regions than others. In those TOCs serving London and the South East in particular, however, the effects are significantly more pronounced.

• For example, on Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern, the TOC workforce has 40% representation among BME workers but 75-80% of the outsourced cleaners who work for Churchill on their stations and trains are BME, with 30% or African ethnic origin. By comparison, just 9% of Govia Thameslink Railways staff are of African ethnic origin.

• Similarly, on Great Western, BME staff account for just 19% of the TOC workforce but 74% of their outsourced cleaners, employed by OCS. Indian, African and Other White groups make up the largest minority ethnic groups within this workforce.

• On publicly owned Southeastern, BME staff represent 22% of the TOC workforce and 57% of its cleaners, outsourced to Churchill. Staff of African ethnic origin represent 5% of the TOC workforce but 26% of its outsourced cleaners.

• Similarly, publicly owned LNER’s BME workforce is 18% but BME staff make up 43% of its outsourced cleaners, employed by OCS and 57% of the catering staff outsourced to Rail Gourmet. 24% of its catering staff are of African ethnic origin.

While there is clearly a pattern reflecting local populations, the problem is not confined to London, the South East and South West.

• Publicly owned Northern Trains has a BME workforce of 9% among its directly employed staff but 52% of the outsourced gateline staff who work for Carlisle are BME, with 18% of the workforce of African ethnic origin, compared with 1% of the TOC workforce.

How outsourcing sustains occupational segregation in rail

As we saw above, the ‘unbundling’ of ‘ancillary’ workers’ roles and their specialisation into ‘cleaning’ ‘security’ or ‘catering’ roles means that they are designated low skilled, elementary occupations. In addition to low pay, poor working conditions and a total lack of decent pension provision, these roles typically contain little to no training or development and no expectation of progression into a role with a wholly different employer.

To uncover how this works in more detail, RMT surveyed its membership among the outsourced rail functions.

More than 500 outsourced workers responded to a survey open between 27 February and 6 March.

The results shed light on how outsourcing creates occupational segregation works in practice, creating and reproducing systemic racism.

The first key result to highlight is that this workforce wants to work in Great British Railways. 82% said that they would like to progress to another role within the new railway.

Would you be interested in progressing to another job and building a career in Great British Railways?

Yet the road for them to do so is blocked. 36% revealed that they have worked in their current role for more than 10 years, with 56% having been in their role for more than 6 years. Yes No

68% reported that they have had no training, beyond the basic ‘toolbox training’ required to operate the tools of their role, in the last three years.

“Ihaveworkedfor3differentcontractorsover18yearsandhaveonlyhadtoolbox talkswhichoftenputstheonusonustoquicklyreadandsign.”

“Wegetzerotrainingonanything,thenewHitachitrainsIwastrainedupbymy teamleaderwhohehimselfhadzerotraining.”

77% said that they have never had a conversation with their manager about any career progression, with almost half (48%) saying they had no confidence at all that their manager would support them in trying to progress.

“Iwouldlovetogettrainingonworkingonplatformbutwouldlikesoutheasternto takeusinhouse.”

“Inourlineofworkthereisnochancetoprogress”

“65nownearingretirementhopefullyificanaffordto,whichisunlikely.”

“TheonlytimethemanagertalkstohisemployeesistodisciplinethemI'dprobably getthesackforasking.”

“Nochancewiththiscompany.”

“FromcleaningindustrytogetajobasaTSOorRevenue[inspector]it’shardlet alonenoteventotalkaboutgettingintotraincaptainrole.”

“Onceateamleadercameup,Iappliedforthepositionbutdidn’tgetit.Onlychance in11years.”

I'veappliedforCSAwith[TOC]9timesnowandhadinterviewsbutneveranyfeed back.

Not all of these outsourced workers want to move to a different role. Some are happy to remain in their current roles, but want to be properly paid and recognised for the work that they do.

“I'mhappybeingacleaner,butwouldbehappierworkingforLNER,tobethesame astheotherstationemployees”.

In spite of this, 83% reported that they perform duties beyond their roles, such as customer service and fault reporting, with a staggering 62% reporting that they often do this.

Have you ever had a discussion with your manager about possible promotion?

Within your current company?

Within a client company (Train operating company or Network Rail)?

I have never had a discussion with my manager about possible promotion.

How often do you perform duties of directly employed staff that go beyond your role, such as customer service, fault reporting etc.?

“Iprovidepassengerassistanceandinformation,I'vealsoassisteddisabledand wheelchairboundcustomersingettingoffthetrainonnumerousoccasionswhen pre-bookedassistancehasnotshownup.”

“Customersjustseeauniformandwillaskusquestionsthatarecustomerservice related.Wearefrontlineandhighlyvisibletoallpassengers.”

“Givingcustomersdirectionstootherlocations,traintimesandplatformsforother services. Reportingfaults. Reportingsecurityissues.”

“We’realwaysapproachedbythecustomersforinformation.Oftentepublicwill assumethatyou’rerailwaystaffandcanbeabusive.We’renotinsuredtoassistand

havetoexplainthatwearecontractorsandcanbedisciplinedifwecarryanything forthemevenifitiselderlypeople.”

“Majorityofthetimewearethefirstmemberstaffthatpassengerssee.”

“It'saneverydayon-shiftoccurrence,weareH&S,faultreporting,customerservice, cleaner,wearejackofalltradesbutbarelygetpaidforthejobwearepaidtodo, 20yearandOCSisbyfartheworstcompanyI'veworkedforwithingtheindustry.”

“Helpingcustomerswithtrainconnectiontimes.Assistingcustomerswhoare vulnerablemakingsurepeopleinfirstclasshave1stclassticketsassistingwheel chairuserswiththeramp.”

This is work for which outsourced cleaning, catering, security and gateline staff are not paid. The industry is gaining substantial amounts of unpaid labour from these workers on the back of their outsourced status.

Great British Railways is an opportunity for change

The creation of Great British Railways and the Labour government’s commitment to oversee ‘the biggest wave of insourcing for a generation’ represent a historic opportunity.

In its policy document, Getting Britain Moving, published in April 2024, ahead of the election, the Labour Party said:

“LabourwillrequireandsupportGreatBritishRailwaystocreateanintegrated industrialrelationsframeworkandaworkforcestrategytotacklelonger-termissues proactively,withafocusontherailwayworkforceasanassettobenurturedrather thanacosttobecut,minimisingtheriskofdisputesacrosstheentirenetwork. Labourwillalsoensureindividualandcollectiverightsatworkareprotectedand strengthenedthroughourNewDealforWorkingPeople.

Thiswillhelptoensurethatallrailworkersbenefitfrompositivechangestothe networkandfromtheircontributiontoagrowingeconomy.Wewanttorestoretheir prideinworkingforGreatBritishRailwaysasanew,singleemployer.

Wewillalsoworktobreakdownbarrierstoentryandprogressionwithintherail industry,sothatmorewomen,ethnicminorities,andunderrepresentedgroupssee railasapositivecareerchoiceforthem.Inthis,wewillseektolearnfrombest practicetodateandworkwithtradeunions.6”

As we’ve seen, probably the single biggest barrier to career progression is the massive seam of outsourcing that cuts through rail workers, sustaining structural inequality on the lines of skill, race and ethnicity.

Tackling outsourcing would also improve services for passengers.

83% of outsourced rail workers believe that passengers would benefit more if their service was taken in-house and run directly by Great British Railways.

“Wewouldbegivingpropertrainingonhowtodealwiththecustomerandgivethe customersmuchbetteradvice.”

“Thegovernmentwillgainmoneybynotgivingthecontracttothecompanies.All canbebenefitedbythegovernmentandpaymoretotheworkers.Aretheprivate companiesdoingagoodservice?”

“RightnowthemoraleforstaffunderChurchillisnon-existent.SobeingunderGreat BritishRailwaysstaffwouldhavemoreprideinwhattheyaredoing.Alsothe potentialbenefitswouldvastlyoutdoanythingChurchillhastooffer.”

6 https://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GETTING-BRITAIN-MOVING-Labours-Plan-toFix-Britains-Railways.pdf

Thinking about the service you provide as a whole, do you believe that passengers would benefit more if your service was taken in-house and run directly by Great British Railways?

“Asstatedearlier,weprovidecustomerservice,howeverthatissometimeslimited duetoalackofknowledgeaboutcertainproceduresoroperationsasnoinformation ortrainingisgiventousasweare‘justcleaners’.Wearepaidacleanersrateand notofficiallyexpectedtoprovidecustomerservicehoweverthisisnotbeneficialto customersintherealworld..saying‘Idon’tknow’toaqueryishardlyagoodlookfor anyoneemployedonthecontract.”

“Wecanprovidemoreprofessionalcustomerserviceontrainaswehaveproper trainingorganiseddirectlybyrailwaycompanysuchastrainoperations.Atthe momentwedon’thaveanytrainingsabouthowtohandleonboardpassengersif havinganyincidentssuchasevacuationontrainormedicalissues.”

“Wewouldhaveonebosstobeanswerableto. Currently,wehaveCarlislewanting onethingandAvanti,theclient,askingforothers.Ifit'snotintheremit...Carlisletell thecleanersnottodoit,unlessit'sbeenpaidfor.Ifwearetakeninhouse,the railwaywon'tbepayingforalltheseextramanagers,areamanagersetcetc.”

Full data by Company and Outsourcing contract

Avanti West Coast

OCS (Depot train cleaners) Avanti

Carlisle Station cleaners (Avanti)

Carlisle (Avanti WC Station Cleaning Contract)

c2c Rail Ltd

c2c Rail Ltd

Amulet (gateline security c2c)

(c2c Gateline Security Contract)

Bidvest Noonan (cleaning c2c)

Cari bbea

Great Western

OCS (GWR Cleaning Contract)

OCS (GWR / HItachi cleaning )

OCS (GWR/Hitachi Facilities Cleaning)

Thameslink Southern and Great Northern

GTR (Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern)

Churchill station cleaning (GTR)

(GTR Station Cleaning)

Churchill train cleaning (GTR)

LNER

OCS Group (LNER)

OCS cleaners (LNER)

Gate Gourmet (catering) LNER

Northern Trains

Northern Trains Ltd

Carlisle gateline (Northern Trains Ltd)

Carlisle (Northern Trains Revenue & Gateline)

Southeastern Trains

South Eastern Trains

Southeastern

Churchill Cleaners (Southeastern)

English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British

South Western Railways

OCS cleaners - SWR contract

(South Western Railway)

English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British

Transpennine Trains

Rail Gourmet (Transpennine Trains)

English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British

Rail Gourmet (TransPennine Trains)

Bidvest Noonan (Tanspennine Trains)

Bidvest Noonan (TransPennine Trains Cleaning)

West Midlands Trains

Carlisle (WM Trains)

Carlisle (Cleaning, West Midlands Trains)

Network Rail

Source: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Ethnicity-Pay-Gap-2023.pdf

Mitie cleaning - Network Rail contract

Mitie Cleaning (Network Rail