SOLID STRIKE ACTION

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: october 2017 :: RMTnews 4 S trike action over rail safety and the role of the guard in four separate disputes on Northern, Southern, Merseyrail and Greater Anglia earlier this month was absolutely rock solid right across the country. Members on South Western Railway and Island Line have also voted overwhelmingly for action on the same issue with over 80 per cent of members voting to strike on a turnout of over 76 per cent with even higher numbers voting for action short of a strike. RMT is calling on the Tory government to end its sabotaging of rail strike talks and allow the union and employers to reach settlements over the role of the guards as in Scotland and Wales which protects the safety, security and access to services of the travelling public. In a letter to the Prime Minister Theresa May RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that the union was alarmed that her government was sabotaging deals with the RMT on Southern, Northern and Anglia Trains and also South Western Railway. “A number of train operating companies are privately indicating to me that that it is the government that are preventing the deals that in normal circumstances they would be able to make with the RMT,” the letter said. RMT also called for full disclosure of all Greater Anglia’s safety breaches after it emerged that strike breaking members of staff had opened the train doors on the wrong side resulting in passengers going onto the tracks. RMT also submitted to Merseyrail’s joint owners - Dutch government-owned Abellio, and SERCO –and Mayor Steve Rotheram a “realistic and fair” proposal to resolve the dispute. Rail bosses have alleged that the annual cost of keeping the guard is £5 million. Yet Merseyrail’s owners have already paid out an eye watering £108.2 million in dividends and in the future they can expect to pay out an additional £142 - 215.3 million by the end of the franchise in 2028. RMT has named 330 unstaffed stations on Northern which will become crime hot spots and no-go areas for vulnerable and disabled passengers if rail bosses get away with their attack on the guards. Northern is also planning to axe guards on at least half of services with many lines and routes completely unstaffed. SOLID STRIKE ACTION Wickford Huddersfield London, Victoria York Blackpool