FIGHTING THE EUROSTAR SELL OFF

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: january 2014 :: RMTnews 4 C leaners working on the Rentokil Initial contract on East Midlands Trains kicked off a rock-solid 48-hours of strike action last month in a fight for workplace justice and a living wage. This latest phase of action has come about despite attempts by RMT to negotiate a settlement to the long-running dispute. The company has refused to budge and even tried to impose a freeze that would leave staff locked into poverty pay on the spurious grounds of “trading conditions”. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that it was a blatant attempt to enforce savage economic hardship on some of the most exploited groups of staff anywhere on the rail network, all in the name of private profit and greed. “Initial Rentokil is a wealthy company that can afford to pay cleaners on East Midlands trains a living wage. “East Midlands Trains will not be allowed to duck this issue either and their excuses for not getting involved are frankly pathetic. “They have a duty to ensure that their contractors aren’t exploiting staff and they should be intervening now to help force a solution. “RMT remains available for meaningful talks to address the basic issue of pay justice and a living wage at the core of this dispute,” he said. T he Tory/Lib Dem government has announced plans to sell off its 40-per cent stake in Eurostar, the high-speed rail service connecting London with Paris and Brussels, as part of a £20 billion privatisation drive. Right wing Lib Dem Treasury chief secretary Danny Alexander said that the government had not made a final decision but made clear that he favoured this direction. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that it was typical of this right wing government that they are prepared to flog off the valuable public stake in Eurostar just as this expanding and important service is moving into a new period of growth. Eurostar has recorded operating profits of £91 million last year - boosted by the London Olympics -compared with £20.8 million in 2011, and it saw passenger numbers rise two per cent to 9.9 million in the same period. “This has parallels with the planned sell off of the publicly owned East Coast and proves that the Tory-led administration will do anything to dump popular, publicly owned rail services,” he said. The Eurostar project was a successful joint venture between the French and Belgian state- owned railways and the now publicly owned London and Continental Railways which was bailed out with public money in 1998. “You can bet that the French government will hold onto their stake in Eurostar and may even now bid for a total takeover using the profits to invest in their own transport services while we flog off the last of the family silver,” he said. The train service is currently 55-per cent owned by French rail operator SNCF with the British government holding 40 per cent and Belgian train operator SNCB the remaining five per cent. “RMT will fight these plans and any threat to our Eurostar members’ jobs and conditions," said Bob Crow. R MT is balloting staff on Greater Anglia’s West Anglia route for both strike action and action short of a strike in a dispute over the ripping up of agreed procedures as the company try to bulldoze through the removal of station cleaners posts. Greater Anglia has been endeavouring to scrap cleaners on the West Anglia stations and has been attempting to rush through these proposals, consequently bypassing procedures agreed with the union. As a result of their actions they have forced RMT into a dispute situation and the union is conducting a ballot of all platform and station members on the West Anglia Route for strike action and industrial action short of a strike. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that RMT would not tolerate a situation where Greater Anglia tries to bulldoze through changes that have serious implications for members and the quality of service offered to the travelling public. “Greater Anglia has been informed that RMT remains available for talks and we hope that management will see sense and take the necessary steps to resolve this dispute. “We are urging our members to vote ‘YES’ for industrial action in this ballot to send out the clearest message to the company that we will not tolerate them riding roughshod over their own procedures,” he said. FIGHTING THE EUROSTAR SELL OFF EAST MIDLANDS CLEANERS STRIKE FOR LIVING WAGE WEST ANGLIA BALLOT JOBS