NATIONALISE SCOTRAIL

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: october 2019 :: RMTnews 4 R MT held protests outside the Scottish Parliament earlier this month to call for the immediate termination of privateer Abellio ScotRail’s contract and for the essential public service to be brought immediately and permanently back into public ownership. Abellio has been failing so badly that the Scottish government already has a plan in place for an operator of last resort to take over the running of the ScotRail service. However, the Scottish National Party and the Tories united to vote down a Labour motion demanding that the SNP government strip Abellio of the franchise. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that RMT members working for ScotRail and Scotland’s passengers were paying the price of privatisation. “Scotrail is in crisis – Abellio it is not fit to run the franchise and this mismanagement has led to a serious deterioration in working conditions across the organisation and the whole operation should be taken into public ownership,” he said. 4 8 hours of strike action on the SERCO-operated Caledonian Sleeper services last month was solid as a rock with members united and determined from Inverness to London in a fight for basic workplace justice. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that RMT members were in a fight for basic workplace justice on the Caledonian Sleeper service while the company, SERCO, ignore their duty of care to their staff, wreck the talks process and focus solely on profiteering at our members expense. “The shutdown of services is entirely due to SERCO and their cavalier approach to staff. " Every effort RMT has made to settle this dispute with SERCO has been kicked back in our faces. There was a chance to reach an agreement that would address the matters at the heart of the dispute but once again SERCO chose instead to string us along. RMT has also demanded that the Scottish government start taking some responsibility and apply political pressure on the company to reach a fair settlement with the trade union. MT held protests outside the Abellio has been fa f iling so motion demanding that the SNP Abellio it is not fit to run the NATIONALISE SCOTRAIL SCOTTISH SLEEPER STRIKE Euston Inverness Aberdeen