PARLIAMENT DEBATES RAIL

RMTnews :: march 2006 :: www.rmt.org.uk 10 J ohn McDonnell opened the debate by criticising the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) for its refusal to meet the rail unions. “ATOC regularly meets the government and other stakeholders in the industry but it does not meet representatives of the staff – the rail unions. “Indeed, it has refused to meet the unions to discuss anything – not only industrial relations,” he said. John secured a concession from the rail minister, Derek Twigg, that the government would host a meeting to discuss security issues, something the union has been demanding for some time. He also attacked the government policy of providing millions of pounds of compensation to rail firms involved in industrial action as “an astonishing use of public funds”. John said the government “was practically bankrolling private train operating companies in disputes”. With regards to the RMT Guards dispute with Virgin Cross-Country, John attacked the “barmy situation of Virgin bosses blocking a settlement that would cost them no more than £6 per guard per Sunday to settle”. John was also able to obtain an assurance from the rail minister that the government were not supporting the company in their dispute. RMT group member David Drew Labour MP for Stroud said the government should “insist that rail franchises include right and proper processes for trade union officials and members to engage in industrial relations”. David Taylor, Labour MP for North West Leicestershire, pointed out that privatisation had damaged industrial relations saying “the number of strikes quintupled between 1997 and 2004, not least because negotiations involve 73 different bodies, including 25 train operating companies and 10 infrastructure companies”. RMT group member and Labour MP for North Ayrshire and Arran Katy Clark sought assurances that it was in the Scottish Executive’s powers to decide whether or not to subsidise companies during industrial action. Ian Davidson, Labour MP for Glasgow South West, urged the minister to provide detailed written answers to the questions raised. Finally, John McDonnell used the parliamentary debate to raise the threat to the rail pension fund. “The threat to the Railways Pension Scheme has been significantly compounded by the fragmentation and privatisation of the railways, specifically by railway employers enjoying surpluses built up during the latter years of British Rail when thousands of railway staff left the industry in preparation for privatisation,” he said. John also said pensions were under threat because “the unified pension scheme was fragmented into 100 different sections, which has meant the loss of economies of scale and financial stability provided by the scheme”. In response to the debate, Derek Twigg, said on pensions that he was “hopeful there was a way forward… obviously people are working together to find a way forward”. John concluded the debate by arguing “the private companies are getting favours and the workers are getting no fairness”. “This is the start of a long campaign that will not go away,” John said. *A full transcript of this debate can be found and the supporting parliamentary motions can be found in the “events and campaigns” section of the new RMT website. R MT train-crew members and supporters from Plymouth and Bristol heard that their dispute with Virgin Cross Country Trains over Sunday working remains solid, at a packed and lively meeting in Bristol last month. RMT assistant general secretary Pat Sikorski congratulated the strikers on their solid support during the previous eight strike days of the dispute. He said that Virgin Cross Country's Chris Gibb’s refusal to negotiate suggested a political motive to undermine the union’s organisation on Virgin trains. The claim for Sunday working amounts to less than 70p an hour, and it would be cheaper for Virgin to settle, were it not for the government providing taxpayers' money to subsidise employers' losses during disputes. RMT has asked ACAS to intervene, but Virgin has scuppered this by setting pre- conditions to the talks which undermines the basic purpose of ACAS. Huge safety risks are being taken by Virgin X-Country. This includes running trains on the Settle/Carlisle route, with no training or route knowledge. RMT relief organiser John MacDonald has asked HMRI to intervene. HMRI has merely consulted Virgin and glossed over safety breaches. “When it comes to a strike, the TOCs tear up the rule book and throw it out the window” said Pat. RMT’s parliamentary group put down early day motion 1574 condemning safety breaches and the waste of taxpayers’ money in subsidising Virgin to prolong the strike. Please write to your MP to ask them to sign up and ask why the government is prepared to waste taxpayers' money on encouraging Virgin X-Country to perpetuate this dispute. PARLIAMENT DEBATES RAIL RMT Parliamentary Convenor John McDonnell MP recently forced a special parliamentary debate on industrial relations on the railway Solid strike at Virgin