BUS SERVICES FACE CRIPPLING CUTS

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: march 2014 :: RMTnews 6 The Campaign for Better Transport has warned that vital bus services face a wave of crippling cuts while millions of pounds earmarked for transport schemes is handed back to the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne. Transport officials are returning more than £100 m in savings to the Chancellor as part of the government’s “fiscal consolidation” programme despite the looming cutbacks. Campaigners believe the much-needed cash should be spent on maintaining under- threat bus services, mending pothole-filled roads and other transport projects. The move comes as cash strapped councils are forced to trim their transport budgets to cope with falling subsidies, threatening hundreds of bus services.. Town hall budgets for buses have already been slashed by £17.5m over the past year, with another £48 million of cuts announced for future years, said the CBT. CBT public transport campaigner Martin Abrams said that the huge underspend by the Department for Transport should be immediately set aside for repairing our storm damaged roads and funding vital local bus services. “This year looks set to be a terrible 12 months for buses as cuts to local authority budgets really start to bite. “There is real public anger about the large number of bus services under threat, leaving many thousands without vital transport links. “We need immediate action from the government and this money could provide a timely reprieve for many bus services while also repairing many of the potholes caused by the recent storms,” he said. More than 1,000 East Dorset residents in protest at cuts to key bus services has been handed to the county council. A number of bus services in the Wimborne and Colehill area will change or be lost altogether from April 1 as the council aims to save over £850,000 from the £2.8 million it spends on its bus subsidy. Furious residents have vowed to fight the plans, and 1,300 added their names to the petition. S taff working for Rail Gourmet at Euston, servicing the Virgin West Coast trains, are being balloted for both strike action and action short of a strike in a dispute over a culture of bullying and aggression within the company. RMT has identified a number of issues which must be resolved including abuse of the disciplinary and grievance procedures, bullying and management not honouring staff annual leave entitlements. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that despite the efforts of RMT representatives to tackle a growing catalogue of abuse, bullying and harassment these issues remained unresolved. “The company has shown no signs whatsoever that they are prepared to make progress on these serious issues and as a result we have now informed Rail Gourmet that a dispute situation exists between our two organisations and that we will remain in dispute until all these matters are resolved to our satisfaction,” he said. The ballot will close on April 1 2014. D esperately-needed trains are being moved from the north to the south of England in a manoeuvre that exposes the critical shortage of rail rolling stock due to years of underinvestment. It has emerged that nine trains currently used by Trans Pennine Express will be moved to Chiltern Railways due to the crisis. The trains, currently used between Manchester and Hull, will move from April 2015 in a lease agreement despite the fact that the stock is desperately needed on the northern routes. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that the move was nothing short of a scandal which ignored the fact that First Trans Pennine Express is already the most overcrowded train service in Britain. “As a result of this move, which is supported by the Government and the Transport Department, the route will now lose 13 per cent of its train units which our members have made clear will lead to absolute chaos and dangerous overcrowding. "Once again the failure to invest in new rolling stock and capacity, combined with the fragmentation and profiteering of privatisation, leaves a trail of wreckage in its wake. “Not only that but the North loses again and rail passengers and staff have nothing to look forward to other than continuing overcrowding and chaos. “The only solution is public ownership and an end to the expensive nonsense of privatisation,” he said. BUS SERVICES FACE CRIPPLING CUTS Campaign warns of huge bus cuts despite transport bosses handing millions back to government RAIL GOURMET BALLOT OVER BULLYING ROLLING STOCK SCANDAL