RMT STEPS UP CAMPAIGN TO END SEWAGE DUMPING

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: november/december 2014 :: RMTnews 12 RMT has put rail privateers across Britain on notice that it will not tolerate the filthy and disgusting practice of dumping raw sewage onto railway tracks after it was revealed that vegetables are growing on tracks in this fertile environment. As part of the nationwide campaign the union held a protest at Transport Scotland to demand for a new timetable for ending the practice which is putting the health of track workers at risk. RMT has told Transport Scotland and Network Rail to put pressure on Scotrail’s new operators, Abellio, to bring forward the proposed date for the fitting of retention tanks across the fleet from December 2017 to April 2016 to eradicate this scandal. The franchise documentation talked of 2020 as the target date for ending the dumping of effluent. Since then, following the RMT campaign, the Transport Minister has moved that date to December 2017 but RMT believes that April 2016 is an achievable target and would represent significant further progress. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that Abellio were set to make a fortune out of the Scotrail franchise and the very least they should be forced to do is to dip in their pockets and retro-fit the retention tanks. “This union intends to keep the pressure on Transport Scotland for the earliest possible end to this scandal on Scotland’s railways and that is why we are taking our case right to their doorstep on Tuesday. “If it was wealthy bankers getting sprayed with sewage rather than rail workers then this scandal would be ended overnight. RMT’s campaign goes on,” he said. Abellio is also under pressure on its Essex/ Greater Anglia franchise after tomatoes were found to be growing on tracks at stations around Southend and Norwich. In a recent article in the Daily Mirror highlighting the problem the union said that the Southend to London line had become known for discharged human excrement and workers carrying out maintenance on the tracks were at risk of being sprayed with human waste. Mick Cash said that the tomatoes were a clear indication of just how bad the problem was, particularly on Greater Anglia. RMT STEPS UP CAMPAIGN TO END SEWAGE DUMPING Union tells rail privateers across the country stop dumping raw human waste onto rail tracks