Assaults / recognition deal

RMT IS balloting more than 330 signallers and line controllers for strike action after six months of negoti- ations failed to resolve a four- year dispute over pay rates, pay structures, hours and conditions. A year after RMT won a £2,000 interim payment for signalling and service-control grades, and six months after a working party began detailed talks, LUL has demanded a 14 per cent reduction in jobs, lengthening of shifts, a reduction in minimum rest- periods and other “unacceptable” strings. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that the talks were supposed to be about improving conditions, not worsening them. Signalling and control staff have now been waiting for four years to see pay parity with drivers restored, a 35- hour week and other long- standing problems resolved. “After six months of talks we were told that the price of restructuring is 76 jobs, the lengthening of shifts and a host of other strings that are frankly unacceptable,” Bob said. RMT assistant general secretary Pat Sikorski said company demands for 12- hour shifts were simply too long for anyone to be in charge of a signal box or control panel. “Safety critical staff need sufficient guaranteed rest time between shifts, but LUL also wants to cut minimum rest time from 12 to 11 hours and to vary shift start times by up to four hours at short notice,” he said. RMT TOLD train operating companies that pledges to take positive action to stem the rising tide of attacks on rail staff must be backed up with action. Attacks on staff have soared in the wake of cuts in station staff and train guards as a result of the break up of the industry into a host of private operators. Following a massive 18 per cent rise last year in verbal and physical attacks on staff, companies announced a new campaign of “zero tolerance” of assaults. The ‘Hands off our staff’ poster publicity campaign was launched by the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) chairman Keith Ludeman who claimed: “We will not tolerate verbal or physical attacks against rail staff.” RMT assistant general secretary Mick Cash welcomed the initiative by the employers on behalf of the rail unions. “It is an important first step, towards delivering a safer working environment. However, our plea is equally simple, back this initiative with deeds as well as words,” he said. Over 3,500 verbal or physical attacks on rail staff were reported last year and an average of six rail workers were assaulted every day. RMT reiterated the need for adequate uniformed staff on every station all the time they are open, guards on all trains and a properly resourced and responsive transport police. Mick also said that the initiative must be the start of a commitment by the industry to zero tolerance of violence. “Too often, staff are unable to work because of the injuries they suffer or are too traumatised through assaults, threats or abuses,” Mick said. He said that all staff have the right to undertake their work without having to suffer at the hands of the people they are trying to assist. RMT news – Essential reading for today ’s transport worker RMT wins recognition deal at ICE RMT HAS won recognition for workers employed by International Currency Exchange located at Waterloo International, Waterloo BR and Ashford. RMT was awarded recognition having followed legislation that was introduced in 2000. The campaign started last year after ICE workers approached Mick Lynch, branch Secretary at EPS branch. Other unions had tried to recruit ICE workers at Waterloo but the workers decided they would be better off if they were in RMT. Mick started to help organise these workers who work in Bureaux de Change, cash office and the London visitors centre. Management were not happy at all about recognising RMT even after the union had recruited over 50 per cent of the workforce, and they tried to resist up until the CAC ruled in RMT’s favour. Mick Lynch said that it was a landmark victory for the union. “The hard work and determi- nation shown by both our branch and the ICE workers ensured that this campaign was a success. “Our activists did not allow frustrating delays to dampen their spirit and they made a superb effort to recruit and organise their workmates into RMT,” he said. The union’s organising unit was happy to help Mick and other activists steer RMT’s claim through the torturous legislative procedures and eventually all the hard work paid off. National Organising Co- ordinator Alan Pottage said that members should be proud that workers chose RMT. “EPS branch members were exemplary in they way they responded. “If workers are employed on railway premises then they should all be organised by the RMT,” he said. Northern line radio chaos CHAOS reigned on London Underground’s Northern Line earlier this month due to a defective radio system, cutting train services by 40 per cent. In the event of a radio failure a second person is needed in the cab to act as the driver’s emergency means of communi- cation. In desperate attempts to keep the trains running, management asked untrained, sick and heavily pregnant staff to ride in the cab with the driver in case emergencies should arise. Against all LUL procedures, management attempted to put office staff on the front of trains without any operational experience or track certification, putting drivers and passengers at risk. A heavily pregnant member of office staff was also asked to act in this capacity, even though all medical advice and risk assessments prohibit pregnant women from riding in train cabs because of the vibration. RMT regional organiser Bobby Law said that members should be aware of their right to refuse to work on the grounds of health and safety if they believe themselves to be in serious or imminent danger. 4 REMEMBERANCE: National shipping secretary Steve Todd lays a wreath on behalf of the union last month in memory of the over 30,000 merchant seamen who lost their lives during World War Two while serving on the convoys that brought essential supplies to Britain and to the Soviet Union in the fight against Nazism. “I was extremely honoured and deeply moved to represent the union in paying tribute to so many of our fallen comrades who made the ultimate sacrifice in defence of their country,” Steve said. Union tell companies to act on staff assaults LUL signal and line control staff balloted