THE PRIVATEER operators of Merseyrail are guilty of “pandemic profiteering” while leaving key workers without support, the RMT union said today.

Franchisees Serco and Dutch state-owned Abelio handed themselves a £3 million dividend in March last year, but they have told “heroic” key workers who ran services throughout the pandemic that they must accept a two-year pay freeze.

While shareholders kept their snouts in the trough, the network’s cleaners, subcontracted to Mitie, are denied the real living wage and sick pay beyond the statutory minimum, the union said.