LEOMINSTER AND HEREFORD CALLING

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: march 2012 :: RMTnews 13 L eominster and Hereford branch secretary and signal worker Sian Champken visited RMT headquarters recently with fellow signal worker Iain Burgoyne. Sian was Leominster branch secretary when it merged with Hereford in 2002. “We currently have 65 members who are predominantly signallers, P-way, S&T workers and Arriva Trains Wales Station staff. “Whilst this seems a small number, the area has seen a huge decline in staffing levels due the change in the railway structure over the last 30 years or so and on closer examination, we actually have a very high proportion of the local workforce as members,” she said. Sian and Iain have increased activity around the branch as both feel strongly about the importance of keeping the local branch going to maintain a union presence in the area. “We are a close-knit rural area and felt that having local people representing the union was of benefit to both the union and members as it made the union more approachable and not just a bunch of faceless names,” she said. It can be difficult for the branch to meet regularly due the nature of the shift patterns and the geographical spread of the membership. They meet in the Hereford GWRSA railway club regularly for an update and a few pints. “The vast majority of information from the branch is distributed electronically and Iain and myself are readily contactable if anyone needs any help from the branch. “We feel this present structure works well in an area such as ours,” said Sian. LEOMINSTER AND HEREFORD CALLING are utilised,” he said. Kelvin Eastham, warned that it was important that certain local conditions applicable in some areas were not lost in the process of collating a single rulebook. ONE PERSON, ONE JOB Tim Breed, North Staffs, called for ‘one person, one job’ following the announcement by Network Rail of a 30 year plan to decimate signalling and operation grades jobs. “Only fully qualified signalling staff should carry out signalling duties otherwise we will towards multi-skilling and job sharing. “If we don’t put a stop to this, people will be taken off the street to do the work,” said Dave Crawford, Three Bridges. Gary Abbott said that as a mobile operations manager (MOM) he supported the concept of only signalling staff carrying out the work. MOMS ON CALL Conference was “alarmed” at Network Rail’s use and interpretation of the current “on call procedure”, especially towards MOMs. Jim Taylor, Newcastle Rail and Catering, said that the ‘on call’ arrangements were unsafe due to the lack of a sufficient rest periods afforded to MOMs between their rostered day to day safety critical shift patterns. Alan Rogerson, Newcastle Rail and Catering, said that the company was using on-call procedures to save money. “It’s got to be illegal and dangerous to call out MOMs time and again on any given night,” he said. Conference called on the union to seek legal advice as to whether or not the Network Rail “on call procedure” is legal and meets the requirements of current terms and conditions and appropriate legislation. VOLUNTARY SEVERANCE PACKAGES Conference called on the union to insist that all voluntary severance terms and conditions meet with current national agreements. Gary Abbott said he was proposing the motion in the light of Network Rail Scotland’s recent attempt to offer sub- standard voluntary severance terms in the initial précis document. “The package is not very good at best but to actually cut it down further is not on,” he said. He warned that the concentration of signalling into fewer locations was displacing signalling members and could lead to the undermining of standard voluntary severance terms. Paul Kemp, Surrey and Hants, said that Network Rail was seeking to save money by not allowing those who want to go to leave the industry. Conference agreed that it was wrong that some were being forced to stay, whilst others who wish to stay in their area, were being forced to move away or leave the industry. Ian McKellar, Glasgow, warned members not to sign up to voluntary redundancies until it was clear a better deal could not be gained. ANNUAL LEAVE EQUALITY Conference called for the annual leave matrix to be either abolished or amended to allow for equality between staff who work ‘office hours’ and shift workers. Kelvin Eastham said that at present all workers had a starting point of 28 days under 10 years service increasing to 30 days . “However we have to work the majority of weekends/bank holidays etc and we are penalized with fewer days leave and lose days pro-rata under the matrix system. “Surely there must be a case for a fairer system, not least to compensate and acknowledge the fact that we work anti-social shifts 24/7 365 days a year. Paul Hooper, North Staffs, pointed out that signallers only attain 28 days when managers get more. “It’s high time we had equality,” he said. ELECTED REPS Conference called for the creation of two full time co- ordinator positions covering all grades represented by the conference. Mark Bellinie said that full- time co-ordinators were currently in position within Network Rail maintenance and operations staff should be afforded the same level of representation. Qualification for election to these positions should be from the current serving national lay council representatives and should be elected on the same basis.