February 2025
Covid-19 Public Inquiry Module 10 Evidence paper – The experience of keyworkers Introduction RMT welcomes the Covid-19 Inquiry and in particular, Module 10’s focus on the experience of keyworkers. RMT represents over 80,000 workers in the public transport and logistics systems of the UK. The experience of these workers during the pandemic was strongly determined by public policy and the preparedness, the resilience of society and the economy and the structure of the transport system. On March 20, 2020, transport was deemed an essential service, which reflected its importance in keeping supplies and other essential workers moving and this was a point stressed by the Secretary of State for Transport, who called transport workers ‘true heroes’. The flow of food supplies depended on aviation, ferry, logistics and rail workers, the movement of other essential workers into hospitals and schools depended on public transport workers. But it was also recognised, including in the government’s own prepandemic exercises, that transport systems were and are key vectors of transmission, both for workers and passengers, so that developing safe systems of operating them would be essential.
Exposure to Covid-19 and excess mortality For those who work in public transport, their essential status meant that had to keep coming into work while others worked from home and send their children into education. Staff were in the public-serving frontline alongside other keyworkers such as health, education and retail workers. Data from the Annual Population Survey showed that, during 2020 over 80% of full-time workers in transport and storage reported never working at home (ONS, 2021).1 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/occupational-impact-of-covid-19-in-the-transport-andeducation-sectors/occupational-impact-of-covid-19-in-the-transport-and-education1