JARVIS ONE YEAR ON: ANNIVERSARY OF A NATIONAL SCANDAL

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: april 2011 :: RMTnews 7 F ormer Jarvis workers held a public meeting in York last month to mark the first anniversary of the collapse of the rail contractor Jarvis - a collapse that has ripped apart the lives of 1,200 skilled rail workers and their families. When Jarvis went bankrupt Network Rail refused a rescue plan and the workers’ pensions were slashed. A majority of Jarvis workers are still on the dole, while Network Rail has re-let former Jarvis contracts to agency labour paying low wages. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that the skills of these workers were vital in ensuring the highest standards of rail safety and their loss would inhibit future major infrastructure projects such as High Speed 2. “These people deserve better than the appalling treatment they have suffered for the past year. “RMT is pursuing legal claims and the union’s parliamentary group is pushing to safeguard skills in danger of being lost,” he said. RMT Parliamentary group convenor John McDonnell MP secured an adjournment debate and told minister Norman Baker MP that the treatment of Jarvis workers was a national scandal. He had earlier met with a delegation of former Jarvis workers, together with RMT group member Katy Clark MP and other MPs. He used the powerful testimonies to graphically illustrate the human tragedy of the Jarvis collapse. “These are tales of broken marriages and of men separated from their families because of the strain of the loss of their jobs and no income, of losing homes and the family car,” he said. He told the minister that other contractors had taken advantage of sacked engineers desperate to find work, enforcing low wages, poor terms and conditions, long hours, zero hours working and long driving times. He was told by one worker there was “a culture of keeping quiet about safety for fear of not being picked for contracts are happening right now, I hope my fears about accidents and death on a railway prove to be untrue”. John urged the minister to convene an urgent industry- wide jobs seminar to examine rail engineering employment needs now and the importance of safeguarding and enhancing skills for the future. RMT members watched from the gallery as the minister promised to provide a full written response to these demands. RMT’s Parliamentary group also met with Transport Minister Theresa Villiers and Network Rail has agreed to hold a round- table discussion on Jarvis with MPs and RMT. A new Early Day Motion number 1678 has been tabled demanding that all former Jarvis employees are transferred to new contractors with former terms and conditions respected, make sure your MP has signed up. R ail contractor Thales announced plans to sack 80 staff by the end of June adding to hundreds of jobs already slashed from the tracks - making a mockery of government claims to be investing in rail infrastructure. RMT slammed the job cuts that the company blames on a “number of business challenges” and a cut back in orders. The company has identified 220 members of staff who are at risk across the country taking in depots at Waterloo, Cheadle, Crawley, York, Ashford, Glasgow and Edinburgh. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that it was the latest hammer blow to the UK rail industry. “These are skilled workers who face the prospect of being dumped on the dole because of the shambolic and disjointed management of the UK’s rail infrastructure. “RMT will be doing everything that we can to protect our members interests but t many more rail workers jobs remain under threat as budget cuts start to bite. “These cuts will mean that essential works required to deliver a safe railway are shelved or scrapped with potentially dire consequences for the travelling public,” he said. THALES JOB CUTS ‘HAMMER BLOW TO RAIL INDUSTRY’ JARVIS ONE YEAR ON: ANNIVERSARY OF A NATIONAL SCANDAL