TEBAY SUB-CONTRACTORS FOUND GUILTY

It’s a pleasure to be able to write my first column as a new member of the RMT parliamentary group when the combined efforts of the union and MPs have helped save Northern Rail services. It was astonishing that the now defunct Strategic Rail Authority had even commissioned a review which considered widespread services cuts. This review sparked a concerted campaign from the unions and sympathetic MPs who raised the issue in parliamentary debates, through questions, parliamentary motions and meetings with the Ministers. The government should be congratulated for concluding that Northern Rail services should be protected and I know this is will be welcome news for rail workers. The announcement came shortly after Alistair Darling announced that the government was planning a major expansion of the railway capacity to meet Britain’s social economic and environmental needs. It is in this context that RMT is on the ball with its decision to hold a parliamentary seminar on the sustainable case for rail in June that will be addressed by Rail Minister Derek Twigg and Environment Minister Elliot Morley. However, there are causes for concern and I know that a number of my parliamentary colleagues in the South West are worried about the future of Great Western Services and I am sure they will be working with RMT to protect them. It is clear that if the government does wish to save money on the railways then they could start by carrying out Labour Party policy and bring the railways back into public ownership. That is why it is even more disappointing that the government has chosen to re-privatise South Eastern Trains when all the evidence showed a service that had made massive improvements whilst in the public sector. It is welcome that about 1.3 million workers will be guaranteed higher pay when the minimum wage rises in October. The adult rate of the minimum wage will rise from £5.05 to £5.35 an hour and the youth rate for workers aged 18 to 21 will be increased from £4.25 to £4.45. The government has also accepted recommendations from the Low Pay Commission that the rate for workers aged 16-17 years should increase from £3.00 to £3.30. However, seafarers are presently only covered by the minimum wage while employed on a UK-registered vessel serving in UK ‘internal waters’, which effectively excludes most ratings from minimum-wage protection. It is entirely wrong that even UK-registered vessels, whose owners benefit from Tonnage Tax relief, can pay wages below the UK national minimum wage. We should be working for equal pay regardless of nationality as cheap migrant labour should not be used to drive down wages. The only people to benefit from such disparities would be the far- right and the likes of the BNP who want to stir up hatred for their own ends. Our message should be hope not hate and prosperity not poverty. Linda Riordan MP for Halifax Parliamentary column A WELCOME NORTHERN RAIL VICTORY 9 RMT renewed its call for an end to the lethal fragmentation of rail privatisation after a Newcastle jury found sub-contractor Mark Connolly guilty of the manslaughter of four rail workers at Tebay, Cumbria, two years ago. Chris Waters, Gary Tindall, Colin Buckley and Darren Burgess were killed on the morning of February 15, 2004 when a runaway three-ton flatbed trailer laden with 16 tons of scrap rail struck them after careering downhill for three miles. Nine other workers were injured. The vehicle, owned by Connolly, had been secured only by a length of two-inch fence-post. The trial heard evidence that the hydraulic brakes had been disconnected deliberately and doctored to avoid their faulty condition being discovered if tested. The victims all worked for main contractor Carillion, which quickly accepted its civil liability for the deaths and injuries caused by defective equipment. “We should remember those who were killed and injured at Tebay, but we should also pledge to end the ludicrous set-up that caused the disaster,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said. “Tebay was not an accident. It was the direct result of the privatisation and fragmentation of our railways, and the time has come to stop safety taking second place to profit. “Two years after Tebay, we still have a confusion of contractors, subcontractors, one-man-and-a-dog owner-operator plant-hire outfits, and a host of labour-only agencies. “That means there is no consistent application of safety standards and no central line of command and communication,” he said. Network Rail brought rail maintenance back in- house for safety and efficiency reasons and the union declared that it should finish that job and bring renewals work back in-house too. RMT also pointed out that that Connolly was charged as an individual, not with corporate manslaughter. “We are still seeing too many corporate killers let off the hook, and we still need the government to keep its promise to change the law so that profit- hungry bosses responsible for workers’ deaths end up behind bars where they belong,” Bob Crow said. www.rmt.org.uk :: april 2006 :: RMTnews Tebay sub- contractors found guilty