KEEP THE LEGENDS

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: september 2017 :: RMTnews 8 The failure by South Western Railway franchise holder First MTR to give clear assurances over the future of guards has triggered a ballot now underway on South Western Railway and Island Line. RMT will be balloting for industrial action in the form of ban on overtime and a rest day working ban. Guards and driver members on South Western Railway and Island Line will be included in the ballot. RMT has spent months since First MTR won the SWR franchise from Stagecoach trying to get a water-tight pledge out of the new owners on guards but it has been met with a barrage of spin and prevarication. A final attempt to pin the company down to a straight answer to a straight question has failed leaving RMT with no choice but to take the issue into dispute. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that the union had given repeated opportunities for First MTR to give assurances over the future role of the guards on their trains throughout the length of the new South Western franchise. “They have refused to give us KEEP THE ‘LEGENDS’ South Western Railway sparks ballot for action after refusing to give basic assurances over guards