BUS FUNDING CUTS BLOCKED

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: january 2016 :: RMTnews 7 T rain driving staff on Arriva Trains Wales took rock solid 24-hour strike action earlier this month over working hours, cancelling all services Rail unions RMT and ASLEF had already postponed previous strike action last month to allow for further meaningful discussions to take place. The pay side of the dispute has already been accepted, but Arriva has been trying to "railroad through" changes to terms and conditions. Both unions had felt a compromise had been reached during talks last year but the wording a subsequent email sent by Arriva claimed that staff would be expected to work beyond an agreed maximum 9 hour 30min working day except for "special circumstances". Unions are concerned that staff could be required to regularly work over that time due to the frequency of such circumstances including engineering works and special events like ferrying fans to big sporting events. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that the strike was about basic workplace justice and decent working conditions and it was down to the company to recognise the anger amongst the workforce and enter genuine and meaningful talks on the issues in dispute. "RMT salutes our driver members who are standing rock solid, shoulder to shoulder with ASLEF colleagues in the action which has closed down all services,” he said. L obby groups including RMT have successfully forced the government to agree not to cut the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) and it will be maintained at its current level of £250 million. The union joined up with Campaign for Better Transport and community groups in writing to the Chancellor setting out why funding should be retained under the Treasury’s recent Spending Review. Bus operators receive a number of different types of grants in support of them providing services on routes and/ or at times which are less profitable. These sources of additional income for the sector include the BSOG and funding distributed via local authorities. Bus worker members’ jobs depend on adequate government financial support to keep these lifeline services going. Without these grants, under the current deregulated system, bus companies would be free to cherry pick their operations much more - which would have a negative impact on the workforce and likely lead to a spiralling decline in passenger patronage. The union has been concerned for some time that the government intended to reduce funds for bus services. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that the move to keep BSOG was good news. “However, local authority budgets continue to be under pressure, so our campaigning will continue. “The connections that we have made with other groups will help us in uniting against this new wave of austerity- inspired funding cuts. “We are now focusing on shaping the government’s new Buses Bill – intended to bring franchising to the sector, as well as regional devolution – which would lump responsibility for funding cuts onto local authorities. “Ultimately RMT believes that the bus industry must be taken into public ownership in order to plan a bus sector that is fit for purpose in the 21st century and not the plaything of giant transport monopolies,” he said. BUS FUNDING CUTS BLOCKED ARRIVA TRAINS WALES STRIKE R MT branded a £1.1 million fine handed out to oil giant Total for North Sea safety failures as “nothing more than a slap on the wrist that will absorbed within the companies petty cash and wholly inadequate when it comes to tackling the fundamental issues of offshore safety”. Total has been fined £1.125 million for serious safety failings that caused one of the biggest ever gas leaks in the North Sea when the Elgin platform, 150 miles east of Aberdeen, was evacuated when the gas began leaking in March 2012. The leak was stopped after 51 days by pumping heavy mud into the well with the leak eventually capped off with cement plugs. Total admitted offshore installation regulation failings at Aberdeen Sheriff Court. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that for a giant global player like Total this fine can be written off as petty cash and a minor inconvenience and does nothing to hold the senior management of the company to real and genuine corporate account. “RMT is also angry that the findings that led to this judgement are not being shared with us and discussed openly so that real lessons can be learnt to prevent a repetition. “RMT will continue to fight for safety in the UK offshore industry against the current background of cuts,” he said. NORTH SEA SAFETY FINE ‘WHOLLY INADEQUATE’