LETTERS

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: november/december 2012 :: RMTnews 33 R MT general secretary Bob Crow welcomed the release of Said Elhairech, the Moroccan dockers's union leader (left), from prison in October following a high profile ITF campaign. “When I was in jail I knew the whole world was behind me. “As well as publicising my case the ITF made embassy contacts and rattled the government, in fact I was told they waited until after the Maritime Round Table meeting in Casablanca to release me in the hope of avoiding embarrassment. “The ITF women’s delegation that visited my family inspired them and I have no words for it except thank you,” he said. Saed was jailed for organising port workers in transnational companies like APMT, based in Denmark. The government accused him of threatening national security by organising strike action. “We are supposed to have the right to strike in Morocco, but it’s like being given an apple that you’re punished if you eat it,” he said. At the ITF meeting in Denmark where he met Bob Saed announced a new collective agreement with APMT. “We still have some issues – but we are working on them,” said Saed. SOCIAL DUMPING GROWS Dear editor, The September issue of RMT News highlighted the practice of many shipping companies of excluding British ratings from the workforce. As a merchant seaman I recently spoke briefly to crews working on two ships operated by Atlantic Marine in Great Yarmouth. They explained that the company’s policy was to only employ foreign ratings. The company has ships based in the port and they sail under the flags of Belize and Liberia but appear to be well-found vessels. There is not even a token gesture of employing one or two British ratings nor do they employ ratings from those two flag states. Name supplied The September issue of RMT News made a claim that “Agency workers employed by Trainpeople.co.uk engaged on Grand Central Railways and London Underground’s Bakerloo Line contracts are not protected by EU Agency Worker Regulations (AWR) as the company is using the so-called Swedish derogation”. The article goes on to say “Under this model (the Swedish derogation) if an agency worker is made into a permanent employee of the recruitment agency, they do not gain the same basic rights of employees of the organisation where they are placed after 12 weeks work.” This is not the view of the Bakerloo branch who are organising the workers employed by Trainpeople nor the view of our officials representing the members concerned. Unfortunately the facts have got in the way of a good anti-European story. Our members on the Bakerloo Line have not been made into permanent employees of Trainpeople and our negotiators are pursuing a positive agenda to bring these workers in house. Our officials recently met LU’s Director of Human Resources, Gerry Duffy, to force the issues concerned and to raise the following breaches of the AWR, which the Bakerloo Branch and our officials believe are taking place. RMT officials advised London Underground that many Trainpeople staff had applied for permanent employment, but their applications had been variously dismissed as ineligible, ‘lost’, or unsuccessful without reason or feedback being given. This is not the ‘same opportunity’ as an LUL employee would have. The union therefore believes that these staff have been denied their legal rights, and demands that LUL allow them to reapply and ensure that their applications are dealt with appropriately. If the response is unsatisfactory the Bakerloo branch will support our members in seeking legal redress, ie that they are being denied their rights under the AWR. The Bakerloo branch will continue to organise these workers and campaign on their behalf. It would be useful if RMT News did likewise. Brian Munro Bakerloo branch secretary Editor’s note: RMT is deeply concerned with the increasing use of agency staff by employers to carry work normally carried out by directly employed staff. The policy of the union is to campaign constantly to bring agency staff in-house. The so-called Swedish derogation is being used by employers against these workers. A full explanation of this derogation to the Agency Workers Directive appears on page 16. BRING AGENCY WORKERS IN-HOUSE MOROCCAN DOCKERS' UNION LEADER RELEASED Letters... I am writing to express my concern over the number of proposed ticket office closures and the cuts to opening hours and positions. It is quite clear that the travelling public want to see their stations manned and to be able to take advantage of the knowledge and experience of trained railway personnel. It is difficult to organise opposition within these grades as they are often working alone or within small groups and are easily swayed by management. As a Union we have to build a concerted campaign and instil confidence in our members. While we need to be addressing this now, next March will see the annual Clerical and Supervisory conference take place in Great Yarmouth. It would be good to see as many active and motivated delegates as possible. I would ask if all Branches and Regional councils could promote this conference at your meetings as a matter of urgency and encourage as many delegates as possible to attend - it will be a great opportunity to review where we are in the ongoing campaign to ‘Save our Stations’ and ‘Save our Ticket offices!’ The details of the Conference are as below. Hotel Victoria, 2 Kings Road in Great Yarmouth Date of Conference Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th March 2013. Kind Regards Deborah Alonso Rios, Conference Secretary TICKET OFFICE CLOSURES All letters must be no longer than 320 words