YVONNE RUNS FIFTH MARATHON

www.rmt.org.uk :: april 2006 :: RMTnews 7 R MT member Yvonne Scarrott will be running her fifth London marathon this year for charity. Last year she finished the course in three hours 18mins and Yvonne is hoping this year to achieve her ambition with a time below three hours 15mins. This is the qualifying time for an elite place, and a chance to be on the start line with Paula Radcliffe. “With my training at the moment I am on target, so it is fingers crossed for the right conditions on 23rd April,” said Yvonne, who is a clerical officer on South West Trains. Yvonne, who always runs for a charity, has chosen to raise money for ' Friends of St Anns' a charity in Morden, London that runs a school for children and young adults with disabilities and special needs. She would be grateful for any sponsorship and can be contacted via my e-mail yscarrott@aol.com or on 07976 645022. Yvonne also gave a big thank you to all those at the clerical and supervisory grades conference in Lille this year for their sponsorship donation of just over £220. YVONNE TO RUN FIFTH MARATHON Early Day Motion 1574 That this House is deeply concerned at the ongoing dispute between Virgin Cross Country and RMT; is further concerned at reports that Virgin may be compromising the safety of passengers by the use of untrained and medically restricted personnel on strike days; regrets that Virgin has refused to return to the negotiating table; and therefore calls on Richard Branson to urge his company immediately to re-open negotiations with RMT. RMT calls on Virgin bosses to trade fair with staff RMT has called on Virgin bosses to trade fairly with its own workforce, as more than 300 Virgin Cross Country guards stepped up strike action in a long-running dispute over the erosion of Sunday pay rates. RMT guards have taken 12 days of strike action since the company reneged on a deal to reduce working hours with no loss of pay and refused the union’s offer of talks without preconditions at conciliation service Acas RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that Virgin had trumpeted their decision to sell Fairtrade drinks on their trains, but when it comes to their own staff they renege on deals and refuse to enter talks without unacceptable strings. “The Virgin board has shown contempt for their passengers as well as their workforce by vetoing the deal we had already hammered out, and choosing confrontation instead of talks,” he said. The company has thrown huge sums of money at this dispute that would cost them just £6 per Sunday shift to settle. Around 30 MPs have signed early day motion 1574 calling on Virgin to return to the negotiating table and settle the dispute. “We remain ready for talks, with or without the assistance of Acas, and Virgin know they can avoid further strike action by joining us at the talks table to hammer out a sensible deal,” Bob Crow said.