FIRST GREAT WESTERN JOBS AND SAFETY ACTION

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: july/august 2015 :: RMTnews 7 RMT members at First Great Western took 48-hour strike action in early July over the threat to jobs and safety from the introduction of the new Hitachi Inter-City trains. RMT said that the company was simply playing for time in talks and were going through the motions rather than tackling the fundamental issues at the heart of the dispute and addressing the union’s key points which are: • To keep a safety competent Guard on every train • To keep safety critical station Despatch staff • To keep buffet car facilities on every train • To ensure that the maintenance of new rolling stock remains in-house • No job losses RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that the union had made every effort to secure very basic assurances from FGW over jobs, services and safety as a result of the introduction of the new Hitachi fleet. “RMT is angry and disappointed that the company have ignored the massive vote for action by their staff and have instead opted to plough ahead with a series of actions that will decimate jobs, services and safety. “It is ludicrous that East Coast, who are introducing the same trains, have given us the assurances we are seeking but FGW have ignored us and are crashing on with the ripping out of buffet cars and the threat to safety-critical station and train staff purely to maximise the profits from new trains bought for them by the British taxpayer,” he said. In a motion tabled in parliament Cardiff Central MP Joe Stevens and other MPs expressed “dismay” at the actions of First Great Western and call on the company to “think again” about staffing cuts. The motion expresses concern that despite increases in passenger numbers FGW was planning to use the introduction of the new Super Express Trains to remove the buffet car, abolish the operational role guard and cut safety critical station and train maintenance staff. MPs say that they are “dismayed that passengers are being treated in this way when they are paying the most expensive fares in Europe, while FGW is making huge profits and First Group's chairman has seen his pay rise by 243 per cent in four years to almost £1.6 million a year”. R MT cleaners and maintenance staff working on Merseyrail stations for contractor Lorne Stewart took strike action last month in support of two long-standing colleagues and union activists sacked on trumped-up charges. The two, with some 70 years’ service between them, were dismissed for allegedly claiming pay for hours not worked, despite the lack of any credible evidence to support the charge. The sacked cleaners are the latest in a long list of victims of disciplinary action aimed almost exclusively at RMT members in what the union believes is a crude attempt to weaken and marginalise the union. Particular targets have been workers who retain cherished British Rail ‘Blue Book’ working conditions, regarded as too expensive by the employer. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that despite blatant intimidation members had stood up for their sacked colleagues and given a clear message to Lorne Stewart that these sackings are unfair and unacceptable. “It is time for Lorne Stewart to step back from the brink, recognise the anger of our members over these sackings and re-instate two loyal workers who have done nothing wrong. “Merseyrail and Merseytravel also have a moral responsibility to ensure that their contractors do not behave like 19th-century mill-owners, and they should be making it quite clear that they will not allow their own reputations to be tarnished by these bully-boy tactics,” he said. PICKET FGW picket at Reading FIRST GREAT WESTERN JOBS AND SAFETY ACTION MPs express dismay and call on company to think again about staffing cuts LORNE STEWART MERSEYRAIL STAFF STRIKE OVER SACKINGS