EWS STAFF STRIKE AGAINST JOB CUTS

www.rmt.org.uk :: august/september 2007 :: RMTnews 7 R MT groundstaff at the Knuckle Yard EWS depot near the Corus steelworks at Margam in south Wales took solid 24-hour strike action in a dispute over "absurd and highly dangerous" moves to make half of them redundant. Engineering staff at the depot have also voted for industrial action over the cost-cutting redundancy plan, under which arduous and dangerous shunting of heavy steel-wagons is to be imposed on them. EWS is reportedly on the verge of being bought out by the German state-owned Deutsche Bahn for about £300 million. An EWS spokesman admitted there were to be redundancies at the depot, but said they were necessary so the firm could remain competitive. But EWS' claims that the union strike ballot was flawed were dismissed by RMT General Secretary, Bob Crow who confirmed that RMT has complied fully with the relevant legislation. RMT is taking legal advice over the company’s supposed criteria for selecting people for sacking, which included levels of sick-leave, despite the fact that EWS management at Margam are well aware that there is a high level of absence due to injuries sustained at work. Selection benchmarks that include 'dynamism' are almost certainly unlawful and RMT has referred their selection policy to lawyers to mount a legal challenge. "It is time that EWS sat down with us and talked seriously about the issues, including our reps' counter-proposals which would save jobs and keep our members safe," Bob said. "EWS's attitude to all its staff at Margam is nothing short of a disgrace and our members are determined that these jobs will not be lost. "The company's plan to sack ten groundstaff is about cutting costs and maximising profits regardless of the risk, and no misleading business arguments can disguise that reality. "The company intends to force the bulk of the shunting onto engineering grades that already have enough demanding work of their own to do, and they have now asked to be balloted as well to defend their safety and conditions,” he said. R MT has won the guarantees it was seeking from companies covered by the Transport for London Pension Fund that no attempt will be made to undermine the pension rights of people forced to leave their jobs through ill-health. RMT members last month voted by a 15-to-one margin to strike against moves that would affect qualification for ill-health pensions. As a result the principal employers have confirmed that they will not attempt to alter the existing arrangements. Ill-health pensions are granted to workers in the TfL fund whose ill-health makes them unfit to do their particular job. Proposed changes would have meant that anyone capable of earning an income, regardless of how small, would probably not qualify for or retain an ill- health pension. “Our members showed with a massive majority that they were prepared to strike to defend their hard-won ill-health pension rights, and they have won a significant victory,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said. “We still believe that the fund rule that allows annual review of ill-health pensions should be scrapped, but we now have written confirmation that it will remain suspended. “Our members have shown once more that collective strength can successfully defend pension rights when they come under attack,” he said. At present if medical evidence indicates that a member is unfit to do his or her own job, an ill-health pension would be granted. Under the abandoned proposals ill-health pensions would have been split into two parts: a basic pension and an additional ill-health supplement. Crucially, the test for receiving an ill-health pension would have been changed to an ‘all-work’ test rather than the current ‘own-job’ test. This would have left the majority of those leaving employment due to ill-health facing the prospect of their pension being stopped because they would not be totally incapacitated. EWS STAFF STRIKE AGAINST JOB CUTS RMT VICTORY ON TFL PENSIONS