RMT BACK ACTION AT ‘ONE’

9 A ll the rail unions have united to ask the Department of Transport to reject trials of new larger- sized lorries on the UK road network. The letter said that the proposed vehicles range from 25.5 metres to 31 metres long with weights of 60 to 84 tonnes. If introduced, these vehicles are supposed be restricted to motorways and dual carriageways but there is no mechanism to restrict access. Unions are concerned – as happened with a previous concession of 44 tonne vehicles to railheads only – that any restrictions proposed will not be enforceable. There are also safety concerns if these vehicles are involved in an accident. The DfT Focus on Freight stated that because of their size and weight, when they are involved in accidents the level of injury tends to be higher with HGVs. At a time when the government is committed to reducing carbon emissions, it also seems perverse to allow trials of vehicles which will decimate intermodal rail freight when rail freight has a much better environmental record than road haulage. These vehicles will have minimal impact on road congestion whereas an average freight train can remove 50 HGVs from the road. Opinion polls have consistency shown that the public are opposed to larger lorries, find existing HGVs intimidating and would prefer to see freight shifted to the railways. R MT guards, revenue- protection inspectors and retail staff at ‘One’ railway in north Essex have backed strike action over the dismissal of a guard and the company’s failure to support other members involved in an incident with a fare evader. Guards based at Colchester and Clacton, revenue-protection inspectors based at Colchester and retail members between Chelmsford and Manningtree, were balloted. RMT is demanding the immediate re-instatement of Paul Yarwood, who was sacked after the June 7 incident, confirmation that there will be no further disciplinary action connected with it, and a guarantee that the company will fulfil its duty of care towards employees in the future. “It is breathtaking that after our members were left to deal with a violent and abusive fare- evader who refused to stop smoking on a train, assaulted a platform supervisor and threatened a passenger and other staff the company has chosen to turn on its workforce,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said. He said that rather than support its employees the company re-defined a fare- dodger who boasted that he has never traveled with a ticket in his adult life as a ‘customer’ and sacked one loyal member of staff and suspended two others. “Railway staff who face the daily prospect of abuse and violence should be able to count on the support of their employers, but this company has totally failed its workforce. “We have told ‘One’ that we expect our member to be re- instated, that we expect no further disciplinary action arising from this incident and that we expect guarantees that the company will in future honour its duty of care to its workforce,” Bob said. N ational Express posted a 60 per cent increase in its operating profits to £77 million for the six months to June this year. Rail passengers may feel aggrieved by this news as National Express rail profits have ballooned by 40 per cent and the company has siphoned £28 million out of the rail industry in just six months. Members will also note the 7.5 per cent increase in dividends for National Express shareholders, and will no doubt bear it in mind when the time comes to table pay claims. While NatEx is feathering shareholders' nests at the expense of passengers and staff, it is converting public subsidy and over- the-odds fare increases into fat profits. This may well get worse as rail fares are set to soar by 34 per cent after the government announced it plans to slash £1.5 billion off the £4.5 billion paid subsidies to train companies by 2014. It remains unclear how passing the burden of subsidising the train companies from the government to the passenger through huge fare hikes tallies with promises of an environmentally friendly transport policy. Meanwhile, First Group saw profits from its rail franchises raise to nearly £110 million compared to nearly £80 million last year. The transport privateer also saw profits from its bus interests continue to grow to £103 million. Stagecoach profits remain steady, siphoning off the best part of £200 million a year and it has walked off with well over half a billion pounds since 2002(see table). Go-Ahead group’s overall revenue has increased by 12.4 per cent from £1,463 million to £1,302 million and share dividends increased by 16.7 per cent. The group’s rail business saw revenue increase from £617.9 million in 2005 to £744.9 million in 2006, an increase of 20.5 per cent. Operating profits increased by 6.5 per cent from last year to £42.5 million. As a result of ballooning profit levels, RMT has renewed its call for an end to the "rail-franchising rip-off" and for action to stem the "obscene" flow of profits out of the bus industry. As long as franchising stays in place and prices people off the railways, the industry will be unable to play its rightful role in cutting carbon emissions by enticing people out of their cars. COMPANY WATCH RMT MEMBERS BACK ACTION AT ‘ONE’ NO TO ROAD TRAINS