BUS PAY WIN

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: october 2015 :: RMTnews 7 R MT has stepped up its campaign to save the buffet car on the new Great Western Railway (GWR) Intercity Express Trains due to arrive in May 2017. During a meeting with RMT the Department for Transport (DfT), claimed that any movement on the placing of buffet cars on the sets would have an impact on the delivery timetable given the way the contract is constructed. They also claimed that a buffet facility will remove 16 seats per set. The DfT further claimed that if GWR want to add a buffet car facility they would have to apply to the DfT via a business proposal which would have to be evaluated to ensure it is feasible against current plans and contract provisions. GWR is claiming that the decision is solely down to the DfT. RMT believes that a buffet car facility provides a necessary service to the travelling public, who will be taking journeys as far as London Paddington to Swansea. It gives the passengers their own choice when they want to obtain refreshments rather than relying on a standard class trolley to come through the train. The buffet car also serves as a regular point for information. For RMT members, it provides an area of safety, more space to provide a better service and a place for safe handling of money. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that after a similar RMT-led campaign over the introduction of the same Hitachi high speed rail stock on East Coast, buffet cars are being introduced by that company. “Rather than blame each other for the lack of resolution to the problem the DfT and GWR need work together to ensure that there are buffet cars on these trains, as will be the case on East Coast. “A commitment to keep the buffet cars on these trains would end a long-standing dispute that our union has with GWR over safety and jobs on the new trains,” he said. RMT has called for the £ 18,813,455 million windfall handed to GWR by Network Rail – as compensation for delays to its services – to be used for modifications to buffet cars and door controls on the new trains. The new Hitachi trains are modular in design and can easily be refitted to include buffet cars and new door controls. However, the company has insisted that the funds are not there for the work to be carried out. Following an overwhelming vote for strike action by bus members at Stagecoach South West in Devon the company returned to the negotiating table and made an improved pay offer. The revised offer backdated to May is a two-year deal that will take drivers pay to £10 an hour by next November. The percentage increase of over three per cent also applies to all pay grades with the exception of the cleaners and the clerks on lower rates of pay whose increase would be based on the monetary increases. With the exception of apprentices, all grades will be paid no less than the Living Wage. The probationary rate of pay will be renamed New Starter Rate and will apply for three months after a driver has completed their training. RMT members at Norfolk Green, operated by Stagecoach East, are also being balloted for strike action and action short of in a dispute over the latest pay offer which does not even reach £10 hour by the end of the three-year deal. The company’s proposed three-year pay offer clearly does not take into account the dramatic rise in the cost of living. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that once Stagecoach Devon realised the strength of feeling among the workforce the company tabled a new offer which would give staff £10 an hour by next year. “The offer that Stagecoach in Norfolk is offering is far inferior and does not give parity to their colleagues in Devon even after three years. “The action in Devon proves that if you stand together we can achieve an offer that bus workers deserve,” he said. BUS PAY WIN Strike threat wins £10 an hour for Devon bus drivers by next year GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY BUFFET THREAT