ScotRail outsources complaints team to French firm despite being publicly owned by SNP Government
ScotRail is set to outsource its complaints team to a French-owned conglomerate despite the train operator being brought back under public control.
Passengers chasing a refund for a late or cancelled service must speak with a call centre in Glasgow which is run separately from the railway.
The customer services team, which handles complaints and personal injury claims, was previously operated by Dutch transport giant Abellio under a contract agreed before SNP ministers took charge of ScotRail in 2022.
But it will be run by Teleperformance going forward after a deal was announced to employees last week. The multinational firm runs call centres in 34 countries and has previously been accused of using "union busting" tactics against workers.
Employees at the ScotRail customer services team have now claimed they are being treated as "second-class rail staff".
An insider told the Record: "Despite ScotRail being publicly owned since 2022, its entire Customer Experience operation, the call centre that handles refunds, complaints, personal injury claims, and vulnerable passenger issues, is still outsourced.
"Worse, we've just been told that this vital function is now being handed to Teleperformance. It's a cost-cutting move that puts quality of service, staff welfare, and the principle of nationalisation itself in jeopardy.
"This operation has been running from Glasgow under Abellio since 2015, then continued under Transport UK Group through its subsidiary Solvd. Most people don't even know this is still outsourced.
"We expected, rightly, that a nationalised railway would bring us in-house. Instead, we've lost travel perks, been treated as second-class rail staff, and are now being dumped into a high-turnover, high-pressure private firm with no railway experience.
"Make no mistake, this affects millions of ScotRail passengers and dozens of experienced Glasgow-based staff who are passionate about rail and proud of the work we do. The Scottish Government has outsourced ScotRail's voice, and no one's talking about it."
The Record understands ScotRail's pay roll services are also outsourced to a third party provider.
Gordon Martin, the RMT union's Scottish organiser, said: "We oppose all outsourcing on the railway and want to see all rail workers insourced in Scotland.
"ScotRail is under the control of the Scottish Government so we would expect these workers who provide essential payroll services, to be directly employed by the company, under a collective bargaining agreement like all the other staff. Our insourcing campaign will continue across Britain until we achieve justice for all our outsourced members."
Sarah Boyack, Scottish Labour Net Zero spokesperson, said "The SNP has failed to deliver on the promises of public ownership and ScotRail workers and passengers are paying the price.
"On the SNP's watch, ScotRail services are plagued by cancellations and delays and workers' contracts are being handed off to private companies.
"The SNP cannot dodge responsibility for the treatment of these workers - Ministers must ensure all ScotRail workers have the fair and decent terms and conditions we would expect."
A ScotRail spokesman said: "No contracts have been awarded. We are in the final stages of a competitive procurement exercise for our customer contact centre services, and wouldn't comment on this process while it is live and ongoing."
The Record asked Teleperformance for comment.
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