PARLIAMENTARY COLUMN

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: april 2019 :: RMTnews 9 Parliamentary Column It’s been a busy but successful few months for RMT’s Parliamentary group continuing to support the Guards on Trains campaign and delighted that we have had the breakthrough on Northern and South Western. The members there, as with all the DOO disputes, have been absolutely fantastic and a credit to the trade union movement. A further positive development in respect of the campaign for Guards on Trains was correspondence between the Parliamentary Transport Select Committee and Equality & Human Rights Commission (EHRC). The EHRC stated that driver only trains could potentially be a breach of the Equality Act for disabled people which could be an important issue for the union’s legal and campaigning work in this area. We also need to staff our stations and I was glad to table a Parliamentary motion in support of RMT’s Staff Our Stations (SOS) campaign and the vital role station staff play for a safe, secure and accessible railway. My colleague and Shadow Rail Minister Rachael Maskell also tabled a number of questions to ministers on this issue. Labour’s frontbench, including Jeremy, used Prime Minister’s Questions to wear RMT badges for the Save Springburn Campaign and it is an absolute scandal that the fragmentation and short- termism of the privatised railway means that rail workers’ skills and the service they provide are not protected – another reason why we need a nationally integrated railway under public ownership. We welcome the victory on DHL where, coupled the threat of strike action, the threat of Parliamentary action also seemed to have the desired effect in getting members a decent pay rise. We continue to oppose outsourcing on the railway – a concern reinforced by the precarious state of Interserve – and we have tabled a Parliamentary motion on poor pay and poor industrial relations at Rail Gourmet. We have also had a victory for another group of outsourced workers – our tube cleaners – who were threatened with hundreds of job cuts. The union was to hold a rally in Parliament and planned a demonstration in support of the cleaners. The threat of these planned events helped leverage pressure to ensure job cuts were scrapped. On buses, you will see from previous editions of RMT News that we have been engaged in a lot of activity around Matt Western’s Ten Minute Rule Bill to promote a reduction in bus workers’ hours, and the issue was raised directly with the Buses Minister by my colleague Grahame Morris at the Transport Select Committee. On taxis we are also hoping to produce a Bill to highlight the need for a legal definition of plying for hire, which we know is a key demand of your taxi members. In the maritime sector we have continued to press the case for UK seafarer jobs and employment rights, and as I write the government has agreed to meet with the RMT Parliamentary Group to discuss these concerns. On offshore – with the support of the RMT my colleague Alex Cunningham secured a full Parliamentary debate on offshore helicopter safety to press the case for a public inquiry into offshore safety. We have also held a successful RMT Political School where RMT members were able to discuss transport policy with the Shadow Secretary of State Andy McDonald, followed by more discussions with MPs members as to how we can use Parliament to support RMT campaigns. These are just some of the activities the RMT Parliamentary group has been engaged in. The employers and government should know that when we fight we fight to win. Ian Mearns is Labour MP for Gateshead and chair of the RMT Parliamentary group of MPs FIGHTING TO WIN INER and congratulated them on behalf of RMT on the magnificent result. “Freightliner members had delivered an overwhelming mandate in a magnificent show of solidarity in a ballot to defend their valuable pension scheme as it currently operates. “With strike action looming the company had to take notice and has now come to its senses and committed to maintaining the scheme. “RMT mounted a great campaign, with members meetings across the country addressed by union officers on the proposals and calling for the members to fight. “This is an important lesson for our members and the employers – RMT is ready to take action to defend our pension schemes,” he said.