FIRST GREAT WESTERN STRIKE BALLOT

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: october 2013 :: RMTnews 4 R MT is balloting all grades at First Great Western for industrial action following the complete breakdown of industrial relations. The ballot was launched after First Group secured a multi- million pound, two year roll- over of its Great Western franchise. For months RMT has been in dispute on a range of issues impacting on FGW members including unfair dismissals, abuse of the disciplinary procedures, bullying, casualisation and the continued use of agency staff. The extended use of both agency and contractor staff such as MITIE, G4S and Rail Gourmet is becoming an ever common objective of First Great Western in its continuous pursuit of profits. The union believes that casualisation of the workforce cannot be allowed to spread throughout all grades of the industry and the union will resist casualisation at all levels. The reality of doing nothing would allow both First Great Western and its agency/contractors to implement the wholesale erosion of terms and conditions, less job security and ever diminishing safety levels. As a result of the failure to reach any sort of agreement due to management intransigence, RMT’ is now balloting all FGW members. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that members had had enough of being kicked from pillar to post and management should be under no illusion that unless a satisfactory agreement is reached the union would continue with a campaign of industrial and political action. “With First securing a highly lucrative extension to their Great Western contract there is no excuse for them to blame the failure to reach agreement on the uncertainty over the franchise. “It is also clear that they have the money available now to employ adequate numbers of permanent staff and to treat them with dignity and respect in every workplace,” he said. R MT has launched a fight to defend an estimated 500 jobs threatened by the new merged Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise due to come into operation later next year. The Invitation To Tender document produced by the government is designed to follow the McNulty Rail Review cuts recommendations and axe all guards from the new combined franchise and move the entire operation over to Driver Only Operation. There are also unspecified cuts to ticket offices and station staffing that will only be quantified fully in the confidential tender submissions from approved bidders and which are impossible to calculate. However, there are 400 guard’s jobs immediately at risk with scores more jobs certain to come into the firing line on the stations and platforms as the bidders seek to cut the headcount and exploit the lucrative London commuter routes for every penny that they can regardless of the implications for service quality and public safety. The combined Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise is due to come into operation in September 2014 having been delayed following the West Coast franchising fiasco. The approved bidders, who will now be making secret submissions to the government, are Abellio, FirstGroup, Govia, MTR and Stagecoach. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that it was clear that guards are to be thrown off all the services with the whole lot moved over to Driver Only Operation, threatening jobs, safety and quality of service purely in the interests of private greed. “The services covered by this new franchise charge some of the highest fares and both trains and platforms are constantly rammed solid, reinforcing the critical safety role of the train and station staff in preventing accidents, crushing and the lethal prospect of passengers being squeezed onto the tracks. “Axing guards and station staff is a lethal gamble with public safety on some of the busiest commuter routes where demand continues to grow forcing more and more people into a system which is already bursting at the seams. “The axing of these posts would not only compromise safety but would lead to more delays and disruption as passengers are left to fend for themselves and services grind to a halt. “RMT will work with passenger groups and our sister unions to fight these outrageous proposals,” he said. FIRST GREAT WESTERN STRIKE BALLOT THAMESLINK JOB FIGHT