BUSWORKERS STRIKE AT FIRST DEVON AND CORNWALL

july/august 2005 :: RMTnews 7 BUSWORKERS STRIKE AT FIRST DEVON AND CORNWALL STAGECOACH “MINTING IT AT THE TAXPAYER’S EXPENSE” Rail operating group Stagecoach has notched up a 13 per cent increase in group profits thanks largely to an increase of 10.2 per cent in its rail profits to £48.6 million. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said it was no wonder that Stagecoach’s profits are soaring as they received three times the subsidy that British Rail got. “It’s like winning the national lottery every day. Like all the privatised rail operators, Stagecoach are minting it at the public’s expense,” he said. Stagecoach, which runs South West Trains and Island Line on the Isle of Wight and has a 49 per cent stake in Virgin West Coast and Virgin Cross Country, is among the companies shortlisted to run South Eastern Trains if it is re-privatised. However, since Connex was sacked from the franchise, SET has been costing the taxpayer £1 million a month less in subsidy. South West Trains bagged £92 million in public subsidy in 2003-04, and the two Virgin operations, which Stagecoach owns half of, got more than half a billion. But the privateers still want to increase fares, cut lifeline trains and close the stations they can’t squeeze enough out of. “When it comes to the next pay round our members will no doubt remember that Stagecoach’s shareholders are set to receive a 15 per cent dividend rise. “The private sector has cost our railways more than £6 billion since privatisation – it’s time they were brought back into public ownership,” Bob Crow said. R MT members at Transport for London took further 24 hour strike action earlier this month in their continuing dispute over the breakdown in industrial relations. Union members voted by a margin of six to one to strike following failure by the company to resolve a series of disputes affecting members in TfL’s call centre and information centres, the London Transport Museum, as well as office staff, revenue control inspectors, bus controllers and staff instructors. “Despite a meeting with the company, no headway has been made in resolving any of the many problems that exist at TfL and further strike action is our only option,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said. “Our members are not prepared to accept the imposition of the TfL code of conduct, the removal, without consultation, of the Travel Information Centre to West Brompton or job cuts at the London Transport Museum, and their anger has been further inflamed by the vindictive victimisation of RMT reps and activists “Our strike on May 5 was absolutely solid and our members remain determined to achieve a just settlement to this dispute. “We have made it clear that we are prepared to negotiate at any time, but it seems that TfL management prefer to keep their heads buried firmly in the sand,” Bob said. Delegates at the union’s annual general meeting in Exeter also authorised a week-long ban on voluntary overtime. “Our members have voted by more than five to one for strike action and that reflects their enormous frustration at the company’s failure to implement the commitment it made two years ago to eliminate low pay,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said. In 2003 the company agreed that it would take steps to erode pay differentials between big- bus drivers and drivers of smaller vehicles, but have failed to table any proposals to deal with the problem. The busworkers have shown a tremendous loyalty to the travelling public but are no longer prepared to subsidise the company’s profits, and the money on the table so far will only compound the problem of low pay. Many members have to claim tax credits because the pay levels are so poor, and that means that taxpayers are also being asked to subsidise First Group’s enormous profits. There has been a of public support for the strikers, with local businesses donating gas and food for picket line barbecues. “We have been very patient and more than willing to take part in talks at conciliation service Acas, but our members are now fed with being strung along. “The company know they can avoid industrial action by honouring their commitments, sticking to their promises and negotiating seriously,” Bob Crow said. More than 650 RMT busworkers at First Devon and Cornwall took two days of solid strike action in July, in a dispute over pay and conditions, after voting by more than five to one for action. TfL staff strike again over breakdown in relations