UNION WELCOMES STEP FORWARD ON BUS POLICY

www.rmt.org.uk :: january 2007 :: RMTnews 5 R MT has called for Network Rail’s track renewals contracts to be brought back in-house after the company announced a reduction in the number of main contractors working on capital contracts this year. "Network Rail are missing a golden opportunity to bring all their renewals contracts back in-house, and we will continue to campaign for that sensible goal," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said. "Simply re-shuffling some of the existing cards will still leave four privateers raking it in at the public's expense and subcontracting work to a dangerous muddle of subbies, agencies and one-man-and-a- dog outfits. "Network Rail could make far greater efficiency savings and help re-establish a world-class safety culture by bringing all renewals contracts back under a single roof, as they already have with track maintenance,” Bob said. The union’s immediate concern will be to ensure that ‘transfer of undertakings’ rules apply and that there is no threat to members' jobs, pay and conditions R MT has welcomed proposals to give local authorities a bigger role in shaping bus provision and called for further steps to return the industry to proper public control. RMT general secretary Bob Crow described the move as a ‘positive step’ which previous Transport Secretaries had shied away from over the last decade. He said that giving local authorities a bigger say on timetabling, bus frequency and fares would help make a start towards unravelling the chaos brought about by bus deregulation. "However, this should be one of a number of steps, which must include action to reverse the long-term decline in bus- workers' pay and worsening of conditions, together with action to cut fares and reverse the decline in bus use,” he said. The union has called for a national bus strategy to encourage bus use and that does not permit a two-tier system to emerge where local authorities do not prioritise good bus services - social exclusion and climate change do not stop at local authority boundaries. RMT has maintained that the fact that the measure will be brought before parliament alongside planned road-pricing pilots in the draft Road Transport Bill also underlines the importance of ensuring that all road-pricing revenue is ring-fenced for investment in transport. "Ultimately ministers must take steps to stop the continual drain of public money from the bus industry by the privateers, who last year alone pocketed nearly £275 million in profits between them, despite the continued fall in passenger numbers outside London. "The only people to benefit from deregulation and privatisation have been the privateers, and they remain a barrier to the bus industry playing its full role in an integrated transport network that encourages people out of cars. "If the government wants to see the bus industry play its full economic and environmental role it must take further steps to bring the industry back under public control," Bob Crow said UNION WELCOMES STEP FORWARD ON BUS POLICY BRING TRACK RENEWALS BACK IN-HOUSE