PARLIAMENTARY COLUMN

Parliamentary column The following are extracts from a speech made by shadow secretary of state Andy McDonald during the Parliamentary debate covering the Gibb report into Southern Rail and other disputes against driver-only operation. “I do not recall the transport secretary doing anything but oppose every single piece of industrial action. It is wrong of him to attack the men and women who operate our railways while washing his hands entirely of the collapse in industrial relations. “The handling of industrial relations in the case of Southern has been especially appalling, and relations are not helped by the antagonistic behaviour of GTR, the Department for Transport and Ministers. “The transport secretary has repeatedly attempted to distance himself from industrial action, claiming that it was a matter for the company, despite the unusually close relationship between him, his officials and Govia Thameslink Railway. “That has never been a credible claim and the Gibb report confirmed the suspicions that the transport secretary was deeply involved in the industrial dispute despite his claims otherwise. Gibb said that the Secretary of State is ‘already determining the strategic direction of this dispute’. “In similar disputes on the TransPennine Express and Scotrail agreements were reached that avoided further disruption. Where there is a willingness to talk on all sides as it is clear that agreements can be reached that benefit passengers? To put it simply, the Secretary of State’s militant anti- worker, anti-trade union stance has significantly worsened industrial relations and had a devastating impact on passenger services. “Labour, like the staff who understand and operate our rail network, the passenger groups who have been protesting and have been motivated to take legal action, and disability charities, simply do not agree with the assumption that destaffing and deskilling our railways is a positive step. “Despite being first introduced more than 30 years ago, DOO is only in use on a third of the national rail network. In the past 15 years, passenger numbers on Southern have increased by 64 per cent, from 116 million to 191 million a year. That enormous rise in numbers means that at the platform-train interface there are inevitably increased risks to passenger safety, as anyone who travels on Southern services can see “Labour believes that passengers are more at risk if they no longer have the guarantee of a safety-critical member of staff on the train to prevent something from going wrong or assist when something does go wrong. “Labour party policy is: it is to ensure that there is a second safety-critical trained member of staff on that train. It means that they have the appropriate training and are not outsourced or sold short on training, which is exactly what the government want to do. “The changes proposed by the secretary of state would be retrograde for disabled passengers, whose independence would be wound back. Without a guaranteed second member of staff on board, the ability of passengers with accessibility requirements to turn up and go is severely restricted, requiring passengers to make arrangements 24 hours in advance. Southern passengers have been left stranded on station platforms because, as there is no on-board supervisor on DOO services, there was no one to assist them so that they could get on the train. “There is no need for the government to prolong the suffering of passengers any longer—this industrial dispute is but one part of an unedifying scene—as basic managerial inefficiency characterises this woeful service. “It is within the secretary of state’s power to end the industrial dispute tomorrow. He can do it by calling off his plans to expand driver- only operation and by guaranteeing a second safety-critical crew member on every train. The privatised, franchised railway system, which allows all comers, including state- owned rail companies from across the globe—with the bizarre exception of the UK itself—to extract profits from passengers and taxpayers alike has had its day. The government should do the right thing and bring our railways back under public control and ownership. If they don’t, a Labour government will.” LABOUR BACKS THE GUARD RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: september 2017 :: RMTnews 9 those guarantees and it is that failure which leaves RMT with no option but to declare a dispute with the company and to move towards a ballot for action. “This dispute can be easily resolved if the company was prepared to stick to existing agreements, give staff and passengers alike a guarantee of a second, safety-critical member of staff on all current services and an assurance that safety and access are the absolute priority. “Guards on SWR have been hailed as “legends” in company publicity material and it is time for First MTR to stand by those legends and to withdraw the threat to throw them off the trains,” he said. The union is urging members to not waste their chance to vote as the new anti-union laws threaten its ability to defend members in the absence of a high turnout of members in the voting period. Under new anti-union laws they have to meet minimum thresholds and are required to have a minimum of at least 50 per cent of the number of individuals who are entitled to vote returning their voting papers. Additionally a minimum of 40 per cent of individuals entitled to vote in the ballot have to answer ‘yes’ to both questions for any action to be lawful. As a result members need to show their intentions clearly as failing to do so will allow the company to push through driver-only operation and will weaken the position of guards. To guarantee a swift ballot, RMT membership checks are currently underway to ensure members’ details are correct in preparation for the ballot for industrial action. If a members job title, address or workplace has recently changed, then please contact the RMT Freephone Helpline number on 0800 376 3706, the RMT switchboard on 0207 387 4771 or e-mail info@rmt.org.uk.