SOUTH WEST TRAINS THREATEN GUARDS’ JOBS

RMTnews :: february 2007 :: www.rmt.org.uk 4 M ore than 550 RMT senior conductors in dispute over the imposition of a centralised rostering system at Central Trains are to be balloted for further industrial action. The conductors struck solidly for three days over Christmas and New Year and their ballot for strike action remains valid. Despite some subsequent progress at talks through Acas, the dispute remains unresolved and the conductors are voting on action short of strike to enable members to refuse to undertake revenue duties. The company has agreed not to introduce the disputed rostering system any further without agreement, but refused to withdraw it from the nine depots where it has already been imposed. They have also made it next to impossible for the union to talk to members about the progress of negotiations by obstructing RMT reps from going about their business, including the bizarre decision not to pay those who attended the recent talks at Acas. "Strangest of all they have made an absurd attempt to hold the union to ransom by saying they will drop disciplinary charges arising out of the dispute against one of our members if we drop the dispute," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said. R MT renewed its call for the elimination of level crossings with public roads following a tragic accident at Delny near Invergordon. "It is tragic that there has been another death and serious injuries in another collision between a train and a road vehicle at a level crossing," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said. "It is fortunate that the train was not derailed and that serious injury to the train's passengers and crew appears to have been avoided. "But the tragic fact is that every level-crossing collision is avoidable, and the time is long overdue for a programme to eliminate level crossings from Britain's railway network,” he said. Every year there are scores of level crossing incidents, including a number of collisions between trains and road vehicles, and the Railways Inspectorate has long identified level crossings as the biggest single danger on today's railway network. On Network Rail's own figures it would cost an average of £1 million to replace each level crossing with an underpass or road-bridge - that's about half the cost of a mile of motorway. A ten-year programme to replace the 1,700 crossings where the railway interfaces with public roads would cost less than £2 billion - that's about £200 million a year. I n a clear breach of existing agreements, South West Trains wants to remove the guards’ responsibility for opening train doors during station stops by transferring the task to drivers by the end of the year. Presented as a measure to improve performance and safety, it is, in fact, anything but. It is a creeping attempt to ultimately introduce driver-only operation (DOO) onto the franchise and transform the guard’s role into a more commercially-oriented one, concentrating on revenue-collection and the like. In addition, drivers will be burdened with an extra responsibility when they should be concentrating solely on their task at hand – namely, driving the train. SWT reps met at RMT head office in London earlier this month for a full briefing on the issue and to discuss a strategy to defeat the plans. “The company has stated that drivers will now be responsible for opening train doors at stations and guards will now only close them,” said RMT general secretary Bob Crow. “There can be no doubt that such an arrangement will be a breach of current agreements the union has made with the company and will, if implemented, further diminish the operational role of the guard, putting members’ jobs and safety at risk,” he added. RMT has made clear it will not accept any dilution of the guards’ responsibility or role on the train, as this will be a further attack on jobs. The union is initiating a campaign, with the co-operation of regional councils, branches and the wider membership, in order to defend the role and responsibility of guard members. “These moves represents the thin end of the wedge and if unopposed will certainly lead to the imposition of DOO. “That’s why RMT advice to our members at South West Trains must be: Keep your key – keep your job. Let the driver drive and the guard guard. Say no to driver-only operation,” he said. SOUTH WEST TRAINS THREATEN GUARDS’ JOBS LEVEL CROSSING CALL AFTER DELNY COLLISION CENTRAL TRAINS BALLOT