UNION WINS COMPENSATION FOR TAMPING MACHINE OPERATOR

www.rmt.org.uk :: march 2007 :: RMTnews 25 R MT member Frank Keltie from Tyneside in the north east has been awarded compensation for the condition of ‘whole body vibration syndrome’. Frank received the award in an out of court settlement from Jarvis Rail. Frank has worked in the rail industry since 1970 and most of that time was spent working on tamping machines. These delivered high levels of vibration to the operator, particularly during his earlier years. One of the problems was the seat, which was not sprung, meaning that the vibrations caused by the machine were delivered directly to the operator. Newer seats were eventually introduced in the last 10 years or so, but by that time the damage had been done. The condition of ‘whole body vibration syndrome’ is one in which medical knowledge and research is still at a very early stage and proving a connection between Mr Keltie’s work and his symptoms was always going to prove difficult. The claim was pursued on behalf of RMT by union solicitors, Thompsons. The medical evidence obtained confirmed that the vibration exposure had worsened a pre- existing back condition. Although Jarvis denied liability throughout they opted to settle the claim out of court. The compensation was paid by Jarvis both in respect of their own post-privatisation period of employment, and on behalf of British Rail to cover the earlier years of exposure. Frank worked the tamping machines on nightshifts, putting in up to 72 hours a week, spread across six shifts. During an average shift he would spend up to seven hours actually operating the machine. He operated these machines from the start of his time in the rail industry in 1970 right up to about 1999 when his job as a supervisor meant a reduction in his exposure to vibration. Even after that, however, he continued to have occasional exposure. Frank said that he was very grateful to the union for the support it had given to his claim which he would not have been able to pursue without RMT assistance. “I imagine there must be many other tamper operators up and down the country who have done the same sort of work as I did and many of them might have similar problems. “I hope my settlement encourages more of them to come forward to seek the compensation they are entitled to. “It is only if more members decide to pursue these claims that this condition will become more generally accepted,” he said. Frank’s solicitor, Keith Patten, of Thompsons’ Newcastle office said that it was a novel claim as there had been very few made for this condition in the rail industry. “Jarvis denied liability all the way but decided to settle the claim and must have accepted that the company was at risk of losing if the claim went to trial. “As always every claim will depend upon its own facts, but this outcome shows that these claims can be successful if they are pursued vigorously,” he said. T he RMT Credit Union has launched a new RMT Advance account for union members. The account acts like a Christmas or summer holiday club account by allowing members to make a regular premium payment which will payout a guaranteed lump sum each year. But unlike a traditional Christmas club, your savings are not wiped out each year when you take your cash. Instead, your savings continue to grow over the years. So while you have a source of cash just when you need it most, your savings continue to accumulate. Each year at Christmas or summer (or both if you wish) the Credit Union will make you an advance of the guaranteed lump sum. This is a one-year loan for the amount advanced and over the next 12 months the loan will be repaid, which means that the following year you can have another advance loan. The interest that you pay on the loan is incredibly low – only £5.48 per year for each £100 that you borrow (9.9%APR). But you also continue to save at least £5 per month as part of your premium is added to your savings (shareholding). DIVIDEND These savings continue to attract the credit union dividend, the equivalent to interest, which in the past two years has been three per cent. As this further offsets the interest paid on the Advance, you can see that the new account is a very cost effective way of gaining access to a guaranteed cash sum just when you need, it but also of building up a useful amount of savings over time. For example, if you open an RMT Advance account with premium G, you would pay £93 per month. You would get a yearly Advance loan payout of £1000. Provided you had paid 12 premiums before the first advance, after 3 years you would also accumulate savings (shareholdings) of at least £1,235. And to this amount we would add the yearly Credit Union dividend. Each year you have access to cash, you have paid off your Advance loan, and your savings have grown. If you wish to pay extra savings on top of your premiums let us know and we can set up an individual premium for you. NOT FOR PROFIT The RMT Credit Union is able to offer this cost effective product because unlike the banks and loan companies we exist to serve RMT members not to make a profit and is run by RMT members. For full details and application for the RMT Advance account please see the information at the back of this RMT News. If you have any questions or need to know more, please telephone the RMT Credit Union office on 020 7529 8835. Please remember you will need verification of your identity and address as per FSA regulations before you can open your account. UNION WINS COMPENSATION FOR TAMPING MACHINE OPERATOR CREDIT UNION LAUNCHES NEW RMT ADVANCE ACCOUNT