A TRADE union has slammed a railway catering firm over plans to axe its Edinburgh Waverley staff because they had "no hot water to make tea and coffee".
Eight onboard hosts who are based at the Edinburgh railway station and work on the cross-Border TransPennine Express (TPE) services have been issued with redundancy notices from their employer, Skytrac Rail Solutions.
Skytrac provides the catering service on TPE trains but has been asked by to leave their Waverley premises after failing to pay any rent to First Group for using the Scotrail catering depot for the past seven years.
As a result, staff would have no access to vital catering facilities such as hot water for making passengers tea and coffee, which Skytrac say means they have no choice but to axe their Edinburgh staff. TPE run services between Glasgow and Edinburgh and north-west England, as far as Manchester Airport.
Skytrac now plan to use Manchester-based staff who will be accommodated during layovers at hotels in Edinburgh at a cost of up to £500 per night.
RMT, the trade union representing the eight workers affected, said this "made a mockery" of Skytrac's justification for the redundancies as exactly the same catering facilities will still be needed.
RMT said the staff had lost their jobs as a result of "a penny-pinching row between First and Skytrac" and insisted that the situation could have been resolved without redundancies.
Mick Cash, RMT General Secretary said: "It defies belief that this hard-working group of staff were issued redundancy notices whilst they were working. First TransPennine Express have sat idly by and watched 8 hard working individuals be thrown onto the employment scrapheap without any intervention. These staff members have repeatedly gone way beyond our job description- from helping during break downs, to helping during medical emergencies. They have been caught in the middle of a turf war between First and their contractors and that is disgraceful.
"Catering services on TransPennine Express will now be provided by Manchester based staff who will lodge in a hotel at a cost of £50-£500 per person per night for 363 days per year - one person lodging in Edinburgh would cost the equivalent of three Edinburgh based staff wages. That makes a nonsense of the justification for the redundancies."
RMT is demanding urgent talks with Skytrac over the situation.
Skytrac could not be reached for comment.
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