PARLIAMENTARY COLUMN

Parliamentary column Liverpool Walton Labour MP Dan Carden recently secured a parliamentary debate in support of Merseyrail guards. Below are some of the extracts. “It is worth remembering that when workers want to raise issues as important as public safety and protecting decent jobs, they too often have to take industrial action, putting their livelihoods at risk—something I do not have to do by making this speech. “Guards are so important for safety, security, service and accessibility and to highlight the level of public support for retaining guards on trains” “There is not, a binary choice between having our new trains and keeping a fully-staffed service. The two are not mutually exclusive. The new carriageless trains, with their more open structure, allow a guard to pass more easily through the length of a train. “In fact, Merseytravel originally said that it wanted to have a second member of staff on every train. “Figures obtained under a freedom of information request submitted by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers showed that in the past five years there were more than 1,200 on-train crimes on Merseyrail. “The figures also show that almost 900 crimes, or 72 per cent, took place before 8 pm, which was the time at which Merseyrail indicated that it would seek to keep a second, non-safety- critical person on the train. That begs the question that if Merseyrail acknowledges the need for a second person on the train after 8 pm, why not before?” “Too much of the debate so far has focused on issues such as who will operate the doors and whether DOO can safely dispatch a train. I am afraid that these arguments are disingenuous and completely miss the point. “Neither the government nor the train company-financed rail regulators have made any assessment of the additional risk to passengers once the train has left the platform, with or without a guard on board. How can any decision on extending DOO claim to take passenger safety seriously before such an assessment has been made? “Despite several days of strike action, the public still overwhelmingly back the guards. The entire trade union movement and the north-west TUC support the guards and Labour Party policy is clear: to oppose any extension of DOO. “The Welsh government has now guaranteed a guard on every train for future franchises, and Scotland has made similar long-term arrangements. The shadow Secretary of State wrote to train operators last week to tell them that a Labour government would halt any plans to extend DOO. Merseytravel former chairman Mark Dowd remains fully opposed to removing the guards, saying that “common sense should prevail”. “It has never been clearer that we need a new structure for our railways. Labour would take back control by bringing our rail network into public ownership. By reinvesting the revenues that are currently disappearing into shareholders’ pockets, a Labour government would ensure that we have affordable fares, state-of-the-art trains, safe staffing levels and an end to DOO. We would embrace technology while preserving good, skilled jobs,” he said. Responding to the debate RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that the union is seeking a meeting with Liverpool’s Metro Mayor and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority leaders to resolve the dispute and await any proposal on independent conciliation. “We are also prepared to respond constructively to proposals from MPs and examine how agreements we have reached elsewhere can also be applied to Merseyrail. “It is also important to note that the Welsh Labour government recently agreed with RMT to keep a guard on all new trains, including metro services and we cannot see any reason why Labour leaders in Liverpool cannot also do the same,” he said. MPS BACK MERSEYRAIL GUARDS RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: october 2017 :: RMTnews 9 wooden escalator and set fire to material beneath the steps. London Underground was strongly criticised in the Fennell report produced following the disaster for underestimating the hazard. For example staff were expected to send for the Fire Brigade only if the fire was out of control, dealing with it themselves if possible. The publication of the report led to the introduction of The Fire Precautions (Sub-surface Railway Stations) Regulations 1989 which, among other things, laid out minimum staffing levels and other safety standards. In 2004 the union successfully fought off attempts by the government to water down these regulations and abolishing the ‘Section 12' regulations that prescribe safety standards for sub-surface stations all over Britain. The regulations stipulate minimum safe staffing levels, means of detecting fires and means of escape and fire- fighting, as well as standards of fire-resistant construction, training and various other precautions. Today the union is fighting over £5 billion worth of planned cuts and over 1,400 job losses being lined up by Transport for London. All the Tube and TfL unions have been sent written details of the next phase in the wrongly named ‘transformation’ process. “As part of the Mayor’s efforts to slash spending by £5.5 billion by 2021 we are now being told that the company plan to cut up to 1,400 jobs in engineering in TfL and in some areas of LU. “RMT demands that no cuts take place, so close to the King’s Cross fire anniversary and it would be appalling if there was any hacking back on safety. “The Mayor needs to stand up for TfL and demand restoration of the full capital grant and proper central government funding for the Tube,” said Mick Cash.