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www.rmt.org.uk :: october 2006 :: RMTnews 27 HAMMERSMITH & CITY BRANCH NOMINATE PETE SKELLY FOR RELIEF REGIONAL ORGANISER SOUTH HAMMERSMITH & CITY BRANCH NOMINATE JOHN LEACH FOR PRESIDENT EAST HAM BRANCH NOMINATE JOHN LEACH FOR PRESIDENT EAST KENT BRANCH NOMINATES PETER SKELLY FOR RELIEF REGIONAL ORGANISER SOUTH AND URGES ALL BRANCHES TO RALLY BEHIND THIS VERY CREDIBLE CANDIDATE EAST KENT BRANCH NOMINATES MICHELLE ROGERS FOR PRESIDENT MICHELLE OFFERS THIS UNION THE BEST WAY FORWARD EAST KENT BRANCH IS PROUD TO NOMINATE KEN SLADE AND ALAN PIERSON FOR THE LONDON SOUTH EAST RAIL DRIVERS COMPANY COUNCIL. STANDING FOR DEMOCRACY IN THE DRIVING GRADE TEESSIDE BRANCH NOMINATES JOHN LEACH FOR PRESIDENT TAKING THE UNION FORWARD FOR THE MEMBERS TEESSIDE BRANCH NOMINATES PETER TREND FOR RELIEF ORGANISER (NORTH) THE BEST MAN FOR THE JOB TEESSIDE BRANCH IS PROUD TO NOMINATE KEN SHARPE FOR COUNCIL OF EXECUTIVES (NORTH EAST) SURREY & HANTS BRANCH NOMINATES RAY KNIGHT FOR PRESIDENT AND SEEKS SUPPORTING NOMINATIONS SURREY & HANTS BRANCH NOMINATES PAUL COX FOR RELIEF REGIONAL ORGANISER SOUTH AND SEEKS SUPPORT NOMINATIONS STRATFORD NO 1 BRANCH NOMINATES JOHN LEACH FOR PRESIDENT THE BEST CANDIDATE FOR THE POST MANCHESTER SOUTH BRANCH NOMINATES SISTER MICHELLE RODGERS FOR PRESIDENT AND SEEK SUPPORTING NOMINATIONS FROM OTHER BRANCHES MANCHESTER SOUTH BRANCH SUPPORT BROTHER PETER TREND FOR RELIEF REGIONAL ORGANISER NORTH FRENCH UNIONS CONSIDER ACTION OVER PENSIONS French rail unions are considering strong action to save their hard-won retirement provisions. Interior minister Nicholas Sarkozy said the long-standing system would be ‘reformed’ if the governing conservative UMP party wins next spring’s general election. The CGT, France’s biggest rail union, is discussing with other unions to save the specific retirement arrangements for SNCF employees. Paris area transport workers (RATP) and Post Office and electricity employees share these concerns as they also have special arrangements. Workers in the national gas company (GDF) are also threatened by a privatisation measure currently going through parliament. GERMAN RAIL UNIONS THREATEN PRIVATISATION STRIKE German rail unions have threatened possible strike action to save their conditions laid down in a spring 2005 agreement with the national rail operator Deutsche Bahn. Mindful of the mess of British rail privatisation, a huge row has erupted within the ruling conservative/social democratic coalition of how to carry out the sell-off. An initial sale of 20-25 per cent of DB is earmarked for 2008 when it is estimated that 60,000 – 80,000 jobs could go. EMERAUDE FERRIES EMPLOYEES DEMONSTRATE The employees of France – Channel Islands operator Emeraude Ferries that has gone into liquidation demonstrated outside the offices of Sogestran, the operator’s parent company in Le Havre. About 30 employees who are now unemployed, demanded a meeting with management to learn the details of the redundancy plan. The Saint Malo-based workers have received no information on their future but a meeting has been arranged with the group chairman. 14 CANDIDATES FOR DIEPPE- NEWHAVEN PUBIC SERVICE ROUTE France’s Seine-Maritime District Council this month takes delivery of the new French- flagged Seven Sisters ferry for the Newhaven – Dieppe route, joining its sister ship Côte d’Albâtre, delivered in February. Meanwhile, 14 candidates have applied to operate the public service route. These include Corsica Ferries, which currently operates the service; LD Lines, which 12 months ago took over the Portsmouth-Le Havre route abandoned by P&O; western Channel specialist Brittany Ferries and Veolia Transport, which recently became the main shareholder of SNCM following the Marseilles-based operator’s privatisation. Norfolk line also features among the leading would-be operators. HUNGARIAN RAIL UNION CONCERNED AT EU RULES Hungarian rail trade unionists are concerned that 1,000km of track are to be closed by the end of the year and that sections of the network are to be privatised following the country’s entry into the European Union in 2004. At the same time, 500km of motorway have been opened in the last four years. EU rail directives demands that MAV, the rail network, is broken up into several business sections to prepare for privatisation. MAV Cargo, the only profitable section of the railway operation, is to be sold off within a year. The government claims that while the track will remain state- controlled, MAV-owned buildings and even stations could be privatised. ERIKA TRIAL PUT BACK TO FEBRUARY 2007 Seven years after the Malta- flagged Erika broke up off the Brittany coast, polluting the sea and 400km of France’s Atlantic coast with almost 31,000 tonnes of fuel, the trial of oil major Total and others accused of involvement in the 1999 disaster begins in Paris next February 2007 and earmarked to last until June. Among the 11 individuals involved are Erika’s owner and operator, the ship’s master and Total’s maritime security manager. INTERNATIONAL FOCUS