RMT WINS RECOGNITION AT GRANT RAIL

RMTnews :: july/august 2006 :: www.rmt.org.uk 4 F ollowing a lengthy dispute, including strike action, rail infrastructure company Grant Rail has agreed to recognise RMT. RMT general secretary Bob Crow congratulated Grant Rail members for their resolve and urged them to recruit workers in the company to the union to strengthen RMT’s bargaining power. “Following this acrimonious dispute it would be more productive to look forward and build good industrial relations with the company in order to achieve much-needed improvements in pay and conditions,” he said. The company has agreed that no employee will be discriminated against on account of RMT membership and to time off for staff for trade union activities. It is committed to agreeing the number of union reps required and the groups for which each rep is responsible. Following an overwhelmingly yes vote in a ballot, Grant Rail members took 24-hour strike action in June and suspended further action pending talks regarding recognition. Assistant general secretary Mick Cash said that over 50 per cent of employees are RMT members and the union deserved to be recognised by the company. “This is a very positive development which means we can get down to what we do best, representing the interests of our members,” he said. S ix days of strike action at Central Trains services were suspended recently after emergency talks yielded breakthroughs in two separate disputes involving more than 1,000 members. The RMT executive agreed to accept a revised offer to more than 570 senior conductors on a range of issues including the introduction of a 35-hour week and disciplinary and new technology matters. It also agreed to accept in principle a separate offer to more than 500 supervisory, station, clerical and retail workers, pending the outcome of a further meeting with the company. “After extensive talks with Central Trains our negotiating team concluded that sufficient progress had been made in both disputes to recommend them lifting the strike action,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow. Senior conductors voted overwhelmingly for strike action and six days of action were scheduled over three consecutive weekends. More than 500 supervisory, station, clerical and retail grades members also voted to strike in a separate dispute over disciplinary and new- technology issues. Victory at Central Trains RMT WINS RECOGNITION AT GRANT RAIL