RMT demonstration against work visa rule changes affecting rail staff

Rail union, RMT held a demonstration on Wednesday against the Home Office’s reckless changes to work visa rules which threaten the jobs and futures of hundreds of rail staff including on London Underground.

The Government has stripped whole categories of jobs from the Skilled Worker Visa scheme, including the Rail Travel Assistant role carried out by many RMT members.

These changes were rushed through with no consultation, brought in by statutory instrument with almost no parliamentary scrutiny, and imposed within weeks.

The union says this has left long-standing Tube staff, many of them younger workers recruited in good faith with the understanding that sponsorship would be available when their current visas expired, facing the loss of their jobs and any right to stay in the UK workforce.

RMT warns the policy is short-sighted and will worsen the rail industry’s growing skills crisis, creating needless costs for TfL and leaving gaps in employment across the network.

Research by the National Skills Academy for Rail has already highlighted how large sections of the workforce are approaching retirement and how younger roles such as Customer Service Assistants are critical to the future of the industry.

RMT General Secretary Eddie Dempsey said:

Our members joined rail industry in good faith, with the clear understanding that they could build careers and futures here. The Government’s sudden rule changes have torn that up, putting dedicated transport staff at risk of losing their jobs and creating gaps in the workforce.

Britain needs a fair and workable immigration system. But this policy will lead to an unjust outcome for our members, and treats vital public transport workers with contempt. RMT will fight for a just outcome and stand by every member affected.”