Union fears over Waverley station project workers' rights

Construction was well under way before the collapse of Carillion

A union has warned that the company taking over from collapsed contractor Carillion at Edinburgh's Waverley station must respect workers' rights.

Unite said the new contractor must not use "umbrella companies", saying they "exploited" workers and calling the practice immoral "wage theft".

The £23m platform extension scheme at Edinburgh Waverley was hit by the Carillion's collapse in January.

Network Rail is expected to announce a contractor to finish the job soon.

Carillion collapsed in January but a skeleton staff continued

The Waverley station project would see changes to a number of platforms

What are umbrella companies?

Umbrella firms process wages on behalf of companies who do not want to employ staff directly.

This can mean workers end up paying excessive administrative fees to get their wages as well as being liable for their employers' national insurance.

An artist's impression of the Edinburgh Waverley Station platform extension

At First Minister's Questions last week, Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said using "umbrella companies", which could include employment agencies, allowed contractors to dodge tax, cut costs and exploit workers.

He claimed one worker for a railway electrification project at Shotts for Carillion had to pay up to £100 week to get paid his wages.

The first minister said it was "absolutely outrageous" and condemned "any company pursuing any practice of that nature".

However, she added that employment law was reserved to Westminster and the Scottish Labour Party had opposed it being devolved.

Steven Dillon of Unite said construction workers were being exploited

The Waverley station improvement scheme currently only has a skeleton staff working on it.

Steven Dillon, Unite's regional coordinating officer for construction, said he was concerned the company taking over the Edinburgh Waverley contract would use the same model as Carillion.

He said the use of umbrella companies and bogus self-employment was endemic in the construction industry.

"The fact that model is still getting used is a disgrace, not just to the workers but for the taxpayers of Scotland who front these projects," he said.

Mr Dillon said construction workers needed full employment rights and "all the benefits that brings, like pensions, holiday pay, sick pay and all the necessities of life".

He said: "Construction workers have been exploited for years through all sorts of models and this is the latest."

Story Contracting is expected to take over the contract

Story Contracting is believed to be the preferred bidder for the contract.

It said it was in "tentative negotiation" with Network Rail over the Waverley Station works and was legally unable to comment.

The contractor, which employs 600 people, said it was a "direct delivery organisation" which had employed ex-Carillion staff for other projects.

It said: "If we are appointed to carry out works on any projects, we would look to deliver the works with in-house staff and key supply chain partners, that we have an established and long-standing relationship with."

Alex Hynes of ScotRail Alliance said they would look after workers

Alex Hynes of ScotRail Alliance told BBC Scotland: "We've done a great job of working with the receivers of Carillion to do two things.

"One is to protect the investment programme for rail customers and secondly make sure the people who work for Carillion get looked after.

"The railway employs 12,500 people in Scotland and we have got to make sure those people are looked after and we build this long-term plan to cope with the doubling of demand that we are forecasting between now and 2040."

A Scottish government spokesman said it expected those who deliver public contracts to adopt ethical business practices.

He said: "As the first minister recently made clear in parliament, employment law is currently reserved and therefore the responsibility of the UK government."

What's happening at Waverley?

The £23m contract to lengthen platforms at Edinburgh Waverley station was awarded to Carillion in February 2016.

A number of existing platforms will be extended (platforms 5, 6 and 12) to accommodate a new generation of longer electric trains on the Edinburgh to Glasgow route and the East Coast mainline.

The work requires repositioning of escalators, demolition of some buildings and a new piece of crossover train track.

The work was to be completed by December 2018.

Carillion went into liquidation in January, after talks between the company, its creditors and the UK government failed.

A new contractor is to take over soon.