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RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: march 2018 :: RMTnews 4 RMT members took strike action this month in separate disputes with train operating companies across the country over attacks on the role of the guard and the extension of driver-only operation. Members took action on Northern, Merseyrail, South Western Railway and on Southern Rail, which has now been running for two years one of Britain's longest-running industrial disputes with 40 days of strike action. The campaign against DOO on Greater Anglia was also continuing. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that the determination of members on Southern to put public safety before private sprofit over the past two years was a credit to the trade union movement. " We are now receiving regular reports of trains running without a guard or OBS on board on Southern Rail and of disabled passengers being denied support and access and the routine safety of passengers being compromised,” he said. Instead of seeking a solution to the disputes, transport secretary Chris Grayling thanked the private train companies for their actions during the recent adverse weather, the same companies who are set to scoop a bail-out jackpot from the public purse as they are compensated for any loss of income under the rail franchising racket. “Mr Grayling has of course said nothing about the guard who put in a 22 hour shift, calming and dealing with the appalling situation on the train that was stuck overnight between Sway and New Milton in the New Forest or the guard who evacuated a train that ran into a snowdrift in Cumbria. “Those guards were the communications point in those horrific circumstances, not the company bosses and the Rail Delivery Group Mr Grayling is buttering up who were, of course, well insulated from that harsh reality. “Chris Grayling is happy to heap praise on the private train companies and their shareholders but he could not give a damn about the front- line guards out there at the sharp end that he is actively encouraging the train operators to axe,” he said. Protestors also lobbied the SOLID GUARD STRIKE ACTION Guards working on four train operating companies take strike action in defence of safety