PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

President’s column REMEMBER TEBAY I went to Tebay on February 15, the ninth anniversary of the death of four of our members, Colin Buckley, Darren Burgess, Chris Waters, and Gary Tindall, to lay a wreath, on behalf of the union. Accompanying me were Mick Cash, Craig Johnston, Andy Warnock Smith, Kevin Morrison, and Tim Butler. We were there to pay tribute to four men who went to work to do a turn of duty and never returned. They never returned due to the endless pursuit of profit and the cutting of corners to save money. I would like to thank all the members up there, especially Steve Metcalf and Tom Angus, for their tireless work in keeping this issue alive and their continuing efforts to prevent this tragedy happening again. I have been out and about quite a lot in the last few weeks visiting regional councils and branches, and I have been made aware of a lot of issues of concern for our members. One of the first branches I visited was South Devon Bus and I was well looked after by the two Daves, Pete and Paul. The branch meeting was well attended although they thought 25 members was a low tur nout! I know a lot of branches would be very pleased at that level of attendance. It was their annual general meeting and it was interesting to see how the branch functioned. I must say it was very professionally done and in a very friendly manner. They are a united branch and, even though there were all bus workers, they took an interest in issues affecting other grades of transport worker. Another branch I visited was Hull Rail, accompanied by local executive committee member Sean McGowan. This was also well attended and very different to South Devon. The burning issue in Hull is the uncertain future of signallers working for Network Rail. There are genuine fears, but I think we can assure members that the entire leadership of the union would fight to keep the PTR&R and any redundancies would be dealt with under this agreement. The PTR&R is one of the great achievements of this union and we will not give it up without a fight. I also went to Wigan branch with the general secretary and Daren Ireland, EC member for the North West. Bob presented Bill Rigby with a 40-year badge, an achievement which will become more difficult as we face increasing job losses in the industry. The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss the current problems and possible industrial action regarding Northern Rail. Regional organiser for the North East Micky Thompson addressed the meeting and outlined the problems which include lack of promotional opportunities for guards becoming drivers, and the increasing number of agency workers being recruited. We are not opposed to the agency workers themselves but are concerned that they are being used as cheap labour. Our answer is to have all agency workers taken in house and have them put on the same terms and conditions as the Northern staff. This is something we aspire to right across all the industries we represent. Other meetings I have attended include the North East regional council, the South East regional council, Stratford No 1 branch and Crewe branch. All these were very well attended, an encouraging sign for the future. They have all given me a warm welcome and all question and answer sessions were conducted in a friendly and professional manner. If all branches are run in this way, the union will be in good hands. Peter Pinkney RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: march 2013 :: RMTnews 23 right to a decent work/life balance. The end result is that after many long months of struggle, and a whole series of days of strike action stretching back into last year, the management had at last agreed to trial the 12-hour rosters that the staff had been calling for in the first place. Conference joined in the ringing tribute to the solidarity and courage of the Stirling comrades. AJ Yates, South London Rail and safety project co-ordinator, stressed the importance of information from the front line being fed back into the centre that can be used in national discussions and negotiations, a point made by the other national reps throughout the conference. AJ pointed out that on the day of the ninth anniversary of Tebay there had been a near- miss in Sussex, reinforcing the point that the dangers on the railways remain. Garry Abbot, Bristol led a major debate took place on the campaign for a 32-hour week. He said that the only resistance to the measure came from the accountants. “However we must put the case to use the opportunity presented by the introduction of new technology to reduce stress and fatigue on safety critical staff,” he said. Mark Bellenie, North Staffs successfully moved a motion calling for a working party to look at the campaign to protect and improve working conditions as the Rail Operating Centres development is rolled out. This year’s signallers and operations conference developed a fighting agenda and an agreed work programme that will take the union through the challenging year that everyone knows lies ahead. Around 60 delegates attended conference this year and they were joined by a significant number of retired members and visitors, reflecting a growing interest in the annual event.