WALES WIN FOR RMT TRAIN DRIVERS

www.rmt.org.uk :: may 2007 :: RMTnews 7 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION WIN RMT has finally won the right to see invitations to tender for rail franchises after the government dropped its appeal against an Information Commission ruling in the union’s favour. The victory was a step towards ensuring that planned cuts to franchised rail services are not hidden from the public under the pretext of ‘commercial sensitivity’. In November last year the Information Commissioner ruled that the former Strategic Rail Authority had breached the 2000 Freedom of Information Act in by refusing to disclose the contents of the ‘final invitation to tender’ for the Integrated Kent Franchise. RMT requested disclosure of the invitations to tender (ITTs) for the West Midlands, East Midlands, New Cross Country and East Coast Mainline franchises but, despite the earlier ruling, the government refused to do so. However, the government will now undertake an ‘urgent review’ of the four current ITTs with a view to publishing them ‘as soon as possible’. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that publishing the invitations to tender would not compromise anyone’s commercial interests. “We have never asked to see anyone’s bids, but simply to know what the bidders were bidding for. “The only sensitivity involved was the potential political embarrassment over service cuts, fare increases and subsidy levels buried in the documents. “In the case of the Kent franchise our fears were well founded, but those cuts were kept from us until after the deal was done. “The franchising system has been thoroughly discredited and must ultimately give way to a publicly owned and accountable railway,” Bob said. The Future of Rail Wednesday June 20 2007 2-5pm Committee Room 9, House of Commons Speakers Tom Harris MP, Rail Minister Bob Crow, RMT general secretary The government publishes its five-year programme for rail capacity in July and its 30-year strategy for the railways. A new Rail White Paper could have huge implications for the rail industry and rail workers. The RMT Parliamentary group has organised this seminar for members to discuss the future of rail. Have your say, but don't delay as there are only a limited number of places. Attendance is by registration - email: j.croy@rmt.org.uk or call 020 7387 4771. R MT train drivers at Arriva Trains Wales won seats in Company Council and LDC elections last month after all drivers were finally given the opportunity to vote in an open election following a long campaign by RMT. RMT fielded a strong team in Alison Langton for Crewe and Shrewsbury, Stewart Pritchard at Cardiff Mainline for both LDC and Company Council seats, Brian Curtis and Steve Richards for the Cardiff Valleys LDC and Steve Richards for the Cardiff Valleys, Rhymney and Treherbert Company Council seat. Arriva Trains Wales offered to oversee the elections jointly with both the recognised trade unions RMT and Aslef with a full postal ballot. In a high turn-out, over 75 per cent of ballot papers were returned. RMT’s biggest success came at Cardiff (Valleys) where the union gained all of the seats that were up for election. In the Cardiff LDC elections Brian Curtis - son of RMT regional organiser Brian Curtis - came top of the poll to win one seat while Steve Richards won the other to make a clean sweep of the LDC posts. Steve Richards also topped the poll to win the Drivers' Company Council seat to represent all Drivers employed by ATW at Cardiff, St Davids House depot on Valley lines and at Rhymney and Treherbert depots. This victory shows the great strides that RMT has made representing Driver members. Much of Steve's support came from Aslef members who trusted him to represent all drivers equally. “I am very pleased that the union has done so well as a team” said Steve. “There is a lot of work to be done in conjunction with our colleagues in ASLEF including the integration of the two constituent parts of the Cardiff St David’s depot, Main Line and Valleys,” he said. WALES WIN FOR RMT TRAIN DRIVERS RMT Parliamentary Seminar VICTORIOUS: ATW Drivers Company Council Rep Steve Richards with RMT Regional Council Secretary, Steve Skelly.