STATION GRADES CONFERENCE

RMTnews :: june 2005 16 Delegates braced themselves for battles over a range of issues and the imposition of changes without agreement, and demanded that employers mount a serious national campaign to reduce assaults on staff. Conditions were under attack across the train operating companies, noted assistant general secretary Pat Sikorski. C2C had contracted out sickness management, without agreement, to Active Health Partners, an ‘absence management’ contractor to whom employees were now supposed to report when sick. C2C had also raised the victimisation of those who suffered workplace assaults to new heights, by imposing a ‘three strikes and you’re out’ policy – not on the perpetrators of assaults but on their victims, who faced being moved from their posts if assaulted three times. Pat warned that C2C’s attacks would be resisted, and that any attempt by National Express to impose them across its subsidiaries would be met by co-ordinated ballots for industrial action. Delegates savaged C2C’s attempts to ignore its own negotiating machinery and called for an urgent campaign to end the outsourcing of its sickness monitoring, referring the matter to the union’s AGM. “If C2C are allowed to contract out their own duty of care to their workforce it will spread to every other national Express subsidiary and then to every other TOC , warned Mary Dwyer, North Thames. “The policy, from a company already intent on penalising workers for being attacked at work, was an invasion of privacy and a further attack on the hard-won right to paid sick- leave,” she said. STOP ASSAULTS A nationwide campaign against assaults on staff should be undertaken by all train operators, PTEs and London Underground, delegate agreed. The campaign should highlight both physical and verbal attacks, and should employ the same materials, regardless of employer, said Nick Quirk, Plymouth No 1. One-off isolated campaigns had failed to stop an alarming increase in assaults. “We need to tackle the increase in lone working as well,” said Graham Bentley, Manchester Victoria – station supervisors working alone late at night were vulnerable and isolated, he said. Failure to get to grips with the problem of assaults reflected the contempt that employers had for their staff, said Glen Burrows, Bristol Rail. “Let’s take this up and get more respect,” she said. “We have to put this on the agenda at every company council meeting and demand that our employers back us properly,” said Dennis James, Birmingham Rail. BTP IN THE DOCK Station staff have no confidence in the British Transport Police, delegates agreed, calling for an inquiry into the operation and effectiveness of the force and the exploration of alternative ways of ensuring effective policing. “Far too often the BTP fail to respond to real emergency calls, yet they are far too keen to pursue members of staff for minor or non-existent offences,” said Jason Humphreys, Jubilee South and East London. The ‘us and them’ attitude had, however, been largely broken down in the west of England, where there was now a closer working atmosphere, said Phil Boston, Bristol Rail. NEW RECRUITS Employers attempting to deny RMT access to new recruits to the industry were given a warning by delegates. “We will always find a way to reach new entrants, and management attempts to keep us away from induction courses will rebound on them,” said Jason Humphreys. Resistance to attacks on jobs and conditions was top of the agenda at RMT’s station grades’ conference in Weymouth STATION GRADES RESOLVE TO RESIST ATTACKS