NETWORK RAIL CUTS SLAMMED

RMT helpline 0800 3763706 :: march 2010 :: RMTnews 8 RMT has demanded an immediate halt to plans to axe up to 1,500 safety-critical rail maintenance jobs after the Office of Rail Regulation called for a suspension in the cuts in a damning report. The call came after RMT members working on maintenance for Network Rail voted overwhelmingly for strike action. The ORR reported highlighted: * Failures to carry out practical tests on the cuts plans * Specific concerns on the continued problems on the West Coast Mainline where the bulk of the job cuts are targeted * Reductions in safety-critical working hours * Cutting back on safety lookouts and safety briefings. ORR also highlighted “inadequate employee engagement” and warned that it will have “no hesitation in taking immediate action if safety to passengers and employees is put at risk”. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that the ORR report was nothing short of condemnation of Network Rail’s dangerous cost-cutting plans. “If even the ORR says the plans are untested, being implemented in haste and will put pressure on managers to cut back on safety-critical lookouts and briefings, it is clear that they must be stopped and that is why we are demanding an immediate halt. “RMT has said from the start that Network Rail’s plans, which include the sacking of 1,500 front-line maintenance workers, can only undermine rail safety with lethal consequences, and this news completely justifies the union’s decision to ballot members for strike action to defend rail safety and their jobs,” he said. IMPROVEMENT NOTICE An improvement notice has also been served on Network Rail which highlighted “systemic” failings in its track-work safety regime which could affect all routes. Improvement notice number 1/302466657, issued by Railways Inspector Liesel von Metz, concerns lines between Cardiff Central and the Valleys and fleshes out an earlier prohibition notice. It says that NR has contravened the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, the Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (safety) Regulations 2006 and the Health and Safety at Work Act. The notice also raised the prospect that “similar failings may be present in other Maintenance Delivery Units across all routes”, pinpointing a shortage of lookouts to ensure safe track working. “Network Rail bosses are presiding over a cost-driven dismantling of railway safety culture,” Bob Crow said. “We know that maintenance teams are already overstretched and that the inspection regime was slated by the inquiry into the Grayrigg crash, yet they want to sack 1,500 track workers and water down safety systems. “When the Inspectorate is finding such fundamental faults it is time to call Network Rail’s management to account, and if there are breaches of the law they should be in court facing charges,” he said. NETWORK RAIL CUTS SLAMMED RMT calls for immediate halt to rail maintenance job cuts as regulator raises fears over safety AROUND 150 MPS HAVE SIGNED EARLY DAY MOTION 80, TABLED BY LINDA RIORDAN MP, WHICH SAYS: That this House notes the decision of Network Rail to announce the loss of thousands of frontline maintenance jobs by spring 2010; believes that this will mean that in a matter of months there will be a drop of up to20 per cent. in the number of rail workers carrying out essential inspection and maintenance work; further believes that these deep and rapid cuts raise genuine and urgent concerns as to whether Network Rail will be able to ensure the safe and efficient running of the railway, including the adequate inspection and repair of track, signals, overhead lines and other infrastructure; is deeply concerned that Network Rail is failing to consult the trade unions on the safety implications of the proposals; further notes that the cuts are in part due to the fact that the economic rail regulator, the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR), has asked Network Rail to make efficiency savings of 21 per cent. over the next five years; is further concerned that because the ORR is both the safety and economic regulator it will be difficult for an objective view to be taken as to whether the safety of passengers and workers will be put at risk; believes the cuts cannot be justified.