The average earnings index measures changes in gross earnings per person, based on survey returns from around 8,500 employers. It includes basic pay, overtime, shift payments, bonuses and profit-related pay.

Average Earnings
The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2005 published by the Office for National Statistics, records that national median hourly pay, excluding overtime is £8.85 for a private sector worker and £11.22 for a public sector worker. The average for the whole economy is £9.56 per hour.

Recent non-RMT settlements:

* The average pay settlement for the 3 months to the end of January 2006 was 3%. This measures the increase to basic pay only, excluding bonuses or lump sum payments etc.

Company /Sector Award Effective From
Road Haulage West Midlands JIC 6.62% equivalent to £0.55 per hour Effective From January 06;
HM Revenue & Customs 3yr deal, 3.86% on average earnings in each year and 12% for the lowest paid delivering a minimum salary of £12,000 Effective From June 06;
Rolls Royce 3.5% Effective From January 06;
Forestry Commission 3.49% on average earnings and 6.5% for the lowest paid delivering a minimum salary of £12,000 Effective From October 05;
Land Rover 3% or £820, whichever is greater Effective From November 05;
Hilton 3% Effective From January 06;
Channel 4 3% Effective From January 06;
Peugeot Citroen Manual Staff Effective From 3% January 06;
ITV 3% Effective From January 06;
Leigh?s Paints 3% Effective From January 06

Recent RMT settlements:

Infrastructure
Balfour Beatty Rail Infrastructure Services 3%: Effective From January 06
Location supplements increased by £80 per annum to the Outer London and South East areas (latter to include Peterborough and Ipswich) Location supplement payments are 50% of sum in May & November;
Paternity pay 2 days? basic pay to be taken at the time of confinement.

Cleaning
ISS, Northern Rail contract 3%: Effective From April 05
Review of the Night shift Carriage Cleaners? rate of pay

Road Transport
Joint Retail Logistics 3.5%: Effective From January 06
Initial City Link 2.5% Drivers
3% Warehouse staff January 06

Hotel
Britannia Adelphi Hotel 3%: Effective From October 05
Staff on rates above the National Minimum Wage (Housekeepers and Maintenance) will revert back to the normal May pay anniversary in 2006

Bus
Solent Blue Line 3.7% for all grades: Effective From December 05
Drivers weekly deduction removed and to be discussed separately;
New premium of £0.30 for Drivers unsocial hours to apply to all hours 20.00 to 00.30 Monday ? Friday and all hours Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday. Duties working through 00.30 hours will attract double pay for hours after this time;
Rate of pay for rail replacement work is to be formally agreed and that the flat rate equivalent to standard Drivers overtime rate will be payable

Increase in Utility Bills
Recent announcements indicate that utility bills are to increase sharply and therefore members? purchasing power will be constrained. This will be fully documented in RMT pay submissions along with an expectation that any award in 2006 takes full account of these rises.

Gas & Electricity
A number of energy suppliers have announced dramatic increases in their charges in February. The largest increases of 22% at British Gas, which supplies gas to 11 million households and electricity to 6 million, will mean that its customers' average bill will be more than £1,000. It admitted that this is the largest increase in British history. The Company blamed the situation on a 63% rise in the cost of wholesale gas.

British Gas's prices have risen by 70% for gas and by 65% for electricity since 2003.

Allan Asher, Chief Executive of industry watchdog Energywatch, said that energy prices are back to pre-competition levels warned that 3 million households will suffer fuel poverty this year. The average gas bill for British Gas customers will be £628 a year while its average electricity bill will be £391 a year. The table below illustrates the increases in energy bills so far announced and the remaining suppliers are expected to raise prices in the coming weeks.

Company......................Increase in gas bills............Increase in electricity bills
British Gas.................................................22%................................22%
Scottish Power..........................................15%..................................8%
EDF Energy (responsible for London Energy, Seeboard & SWEB) ...................................................................14.7%............................4.7%

Water
Water bills in England & Wales are to increase by an average of 5.5% from April this year taking the average household bill to £294. However, in some regions, increases will be much higher. Further rises are due to take place in the 3 years to 2010.

Areas served by the following companies will see water bills increase by more than the national 5.5% average (Scottish price increases will be kept below inflation):

Company................Increase in water bills
South West Water.....9.5%
Northumbrian Water..7.7%
Hartlepool Water........8.0%
Severn Trent..............5.7%

Increase in Council Tax
Since 1997, Council Tax in Scotland has risen by 40% and by 84% in England. Average Band D bills have risen in England from £688 in 1997/8 to £1,214 in 2005/6. In 2003/4 alone bills rose by more than 4 times the rate of inflation at 12.9%. Now two separate studies by the Local Government Association and The Times newspaper suggest that householders across England will face a 10th successive year of inflation-busting council tax rises.

The studies predicts that bill for the average Band D home in England will increase by between 4 ? 4.3% to around £1,260. In Scotland, it is estimated that bills will increase by 3.2%.

Increase in property prices
The RMT also includes an evaluation of changes in the property market in our pay submissions as evidence of the steep increase in cost of living. According to the Land Registry, property prices increased by 4.6% in England and Wales in the last year (October ? December 2005 measured against the same period in 2004). The average property is now a massive £191,327.

The Registers of Scotland revealed that properties in Scotland have increased by 6.6% in the last year (July ? September 2005 measured against the same period in 2004). The average property is now £125,934.

Executive pay in the transport industry
The London Evening Standard newspaper recently carried information illustrating the inflated salaries of key rail and bus Executives. Please be assured that the Union will document this generosity in all relevant 2006 pay submissions.

Group....................................................Chief Executive...................Salary
Compass...............................................Michael Bailey............. £1,098,000
National Express Group........................Phil White .................. £1,035,000
FirstGroup.............................................Moir Lockhead .............. £937,385
Stagecoach Group................................Brian Souter ................. £840,000
Go-Ahead Group...................................Chris Moyes ................. £681,000
John Laing Group (Chiltern Railways)...Andrew Friend ............. £600,942

Yours sincerely,

Bob Crow
General Secretary