PROGRESS ON TUBE SAFETY

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: february 2016 :: RMTnews 5 R MT has repeated calls for wholesale public ownership of transport services after poor Metro performance led to a Council leader calling for the network’s operator to be stripped of its contract following a catalogue of errors. Last year Nexus said that Deutsche Bahn, the firm that runs the Tyne and Wear Metro service, was acting in a “deliberately misleading” manner over fundamental failures which saw thousands of people delayed ahead of the Great North Run. Newcastle City Council leader Nick Forbes said that the firm’s contract should not be renewed in April 2017 following consistently poor performance. The union said that DB’s repeated failures on the Metro also render them wholly inappropriate for the imminent takeover of the Northern Rail Franchise – another service that RMT says should be returned to public ownership. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that just weeks after Deutsche Bahn was awarded the Northern Rail franchise here we have a senior regional politician demanding that they be kicked off the Metro due to poor performance. “Both services should be placed in public hands, run as public services in the public interest instead of being milked for profits to subsidise transport across Germany. “RMT has long campaigned for the Tyne and Wear Metro to be taken under direct public control and the union will readily work with the Council’s in the area, and Nexus, to arrange an orderly transition that would secure the future for both passengers and staff alike,” he said. D erby-based train manufacturer Bombardier has been snubbed as the deal to build carriages for Northern Rail went to Spanish firm CAF – effectively ruling out using any British steel in the process. The Tory government was yet again accused of sticking the knife into manufacturing for allowing a lucrative £490million train building contract to go to Spain. RMT general secretary Mick Cash accused David Cameron of further betraying struggling British firms, who have already been battered by closures thanks to EU rules that outlaw state support for industries. “This is yet another kick in the teeth to train building, in the nation that gave the railways to the world. “At a time when manufacturing jobs and the steel industry in Britain are under the cosh it is nothing short of scandalous that this contract has been sent overseas.” Britain’s only remaining train maker Bombardier was on the shortlist for the Northern Rail contract but lost out – depriving it of cash to secure its future. S trike action involving around 1,500 maintenance and renewals staff on London Underground and Tube Lines has been suspended after employers put changes to basic safety issues regarding ‘Section 15 possessions’ on hold. Similar action by around 500 Tube track patrol staff in a dispute over the use of private contractors to casualise and undermine jobs has also been suspended on the same basis. All Section 15 Possessions and the training and assessment of non-permanent employees for track patrolling purposes will be suspended for a period of two weeks and both sides will return to ACAS at the completion of the safety review. RMT opposes the introduction of agency workers in the track patrolling function and has proposed that both parties should work together to achieve the necessary roster cover without the need to engage agency workers. RMT has suspended strike action but action short of a strike by doing no working of any kind in a Section 15 Possession and by taking meal breaks as per agreements remains on. The union will also continue with the ballot for action of Service Control Grades over the imposition of Section 15 Protection. The core issue at the heart of the dispute is about safely accessing the track and moves that are leading to the casualisation of staff who are undertaking safety related actions with little to no training, no safety critical license and compromising the entire track safety regime. There have already been numerous incidents where people have been left at risk from moving trains but union’s concerns have been ignored by an agenda more driven by cost- cutting than by desire to make sure workers are safe on the track. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that nobody should underestimate the impact on track safety that the changes bulldozed through have unleashed. “Once everyone knew how to access the track now we have anarchy and uncertainty. “Into this mix we have engineering train movements that we believe will lead to someone being killed and this union will not sit back and wait for a disaster to happen. “The union has made itself available for the safety review and we remain determined to secure a long-term agreement that protects the safety culture across London Underground,” he said. PROGRESS ON TUBE SAFETY TAKE BACK TYNE AND WEAR METRO TORIES SNUB UK TRAIN MANUFACTURING