RAIL STAFF IN SCOTLAND SACKED AS FARES RISE

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: january 2015 :: RMTnews 12 R MT has called on Network Rail and Scotrail’s new operator Abellio to end to the filthy and disgusting practice of dumping raw sewage onto Scotland’s railway tracks from train toilets by next year. Workers whose jobs take them trackside end up being sprayed with human excrement, yet the problem can be eradicated easily by fitting retention tanks on older trains. RMT is calling on Transport Scotland and Network Rail to bring forward the proposed target date for the fitting of retention tanks across the Scotrail fleet from December 2017 to April 2016. The union is calling for both organisations to put pressure on Abellio, which set to make a fortune out of the Scotrail franchise, to dip in their pockets and retro-fit the retention tanks. The franchise documentation talked of 2020 as the target date for ending the dumping of effluent. Since then, following a campaign of political and public pressure organised by RMT, the Transport Minister has moved that date to December 2017 but RMT believes that the date can be brought further forward. RMT general secretary Mick Cash made clear that the union would not rule out an industrial response to bring a halt to the discharge of human waste onto the tracks if there is any dragging of heels. “RMT has already made significant progress in bringing forward the date when the scandal of dumping raw sewage on Scotland’s railway tracks is brought to an end. “But we believe that April 2016 is a perfectly realistic and achievable target for halting this filthy and disgusting practice. “RMT has said all along that if it was wealthy bankers getting sprayed with sewage rather than rail workers then this scandal would be ended overnight,” he said. J ust days after the imposition of more exorbitant rail fare rises, Scottish railway staff are to be sacked as a result of a ‘turf war’ between First and Scotrail operators Abellio. Eight on-board hosts working for contractors Skytrac, based in Edinburgh Waverley and working on First TransPennine Express (TPE) services, have been issued with redundancy notices. They have been told that they were being made redundant over what amounts to the simple issue of access to hot water and would now have to find new jobs. Their employer, Skytrac Rail Solutions – who have paid no rent to ScotRail for using their catering depot for the last seven years – have now been asked to leave the premises by the ScotRail operators. Skytrac is the catering provider for First TransPennine Express, which runs services from Edinburgh and Glasgow to Manchester Airport. A Standard Class ‘Anytime’ return on this route costs £131.80 – a First Class equivalent costs a whopping £253.60 Skytrac says that redundancies were unavoidable, as there’s nowhere for them to get hot water for the tea and coffee service – a point which the union fundamentally disputes and which could easily be sorted out between First and the company. However, Skytrac now plan to use Manchester-based staff who will stay in hotels in Edinburgh at a cost of between £50-£500 per night, which over the course of a year would work out at three members of staff wages for one person. These staff will need exactly the same facilities as they do now, making a mockery of the whole justification for the redundancies. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that staff had lost their jobs because of what amounts to a penny-pinching row between First, Abellio and Skytrac. “It defies belief that a hard- working group of staff were issued redundancy notices whilst they were working. “First Transpennine Express has sat idly by and watched hard working individuals be thrown onto the employment scrapheap without any intervention. “These staff members have repeatedly gone way beyond our job description- from helping during break downs, to helping during medical emergencies. “They have been caught in the middle of a turf war and that is disgraceful. “This situation has clear parallels with the way that Skytrac sacked staff when they closed their Glasgow depot at the end of 2012. “RMT is demanding urgent talks with Skytrac and will also be applying pressure on Network Rail, Scotrail and Abellio to resolve this scandalous situation,” he said. The union will also ensure that the matter is raised in both the Scottish and Westminster Parliaments. STOP DUMPING SEWAGE ON SCOTLAND’S RAILWAYS RAIL STAFF IN SCOTLAND SACKED AS FARES RISE