WOMEN IN SCOTLAND

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: november/december 2016 :: RMTnews 15 I n a Scotland-wide day of action RMT called on the Scottish government to set out an immediate timetable for the stripping of Abellio of its Scotrail franchise. The call was made as performance at Scotrail had slumped while profiteering had risen – draining away key funds that could be invested in staffing, services and safety. The Scottish government is examining options for returning Scotland’s railways to public ownership after more than 19,000 people have signed a petition calling on Transport Minister Humza Yousaf to “make ScotRail bosses improve Scotland’s trains or strip them of their contract”. It is now reported that, far from investing in improved services, the Dutch-state owned outfit is plundering £1 million a month in profits that railways across Scotland desperately need. Dutch firm Abellio was awarded the franchise in 2015 for 10 years – a move that RMT warned at the time was a massive betrayal of the Scottish people that would have severe and damaging consequences. Those warnings have now come home to roost with a vengeance. RMT campaigners turned out in over a dozen key locations across Scotland, signing up supporters to the union’s campaign through postcards to politicians and taking the message that public ownership and control is the only way forward. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that the union was campaigning to make Scotland’s trains safer, more secure and accessible. “This can only be done with a publicly owned service where profit isn’t the main motive of the operator. “The million pounds a month that is being stripped out by Abellio, and shipped across the North Sea to Holland, would go a long way to addressing the staffing, safety and performance issues that are dragging Scotrail down. “RMT calls on the Scottish government to set out a timetable for bringing Scotrail under public ownership and with the current level of anger that’s reinforced in the petition there can be no excuse for the dragging of heels,” he said. Left to right, Mandie Walton is the RMT delegate on the STUC Women’s Committee and WTUC delegates Ann Mooney, Mary Jane Herbison, Ann Joss, Alison Fernandez Douglas. R MT delegates joined other female trade unionists in Perth last month for the Women’s Scottish Trade Union Congress. This year's theme was Women: Many Roles, Many Barriers. RMT presented two successful resolutions, one on women and economic poverty due to oil and gas companies and another on the staffing of trains and stations and the impact on women's safety. The delegation also supported a resolution asking the STUC women's committee to arrange a National Woman in Engineering Day, targeting women in Scotland. Mary Jane Herbison was successfully elected to represent the union in the STUC woman's committee. WOMEN IN SCOTLAND