RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: april 2021 :: RMTnews

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: april 2021 :: RMTnews 18 R MT’s disabled members' advisory committee member James Denny joined colleagues from Network Rail, Great Western Railway and Splash Projects recently to help out the NHS in Exeter fighting Covid 19. Following on assisting the Nightingale Hospital and Exeter Vaccine Centre, a team of industry colleagues were asked to provide a garden area for them. The building is a former DIY store with no windows, and the hospital needed somewhere for people to get fresh air and exercise to help their recovery. Taking a corner that was partly a large, muddy, sinkhole and mostly unloved, the team constructed and painted a raised decking area with sail canopy, planters and seating. Fencing was used to make the area feel like a garden and screen the heavy air conditioning units. The corner was finished off with a brand- new railway wheelchair ramp provided by GWR. The has government announced that the Nightingale hospitals were now being wound up but the Exeter one might have a future, as it has equipment including a CT scanner that can be used to help other areas of the NHS in the area. This project was undertaken by railway volunteers, with the help of local businesses who provided many of the materials. It was a really positive example of collaboration, taught many of the team new skills, and thoroughly enjoyed by everyone who took part. T he shocking rising level of hate crime toward disabled people travelling on Britain’s railways is a wake-up call to the industry to stop the cost-cutting that has emptied staff from trains and stations the union has said. New figures published by the Department for Transport have shown that hate crimes toward disabled people traveling on the rail network have risen by 24 per cent in the last three years. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that the figures revealed a growing problem with hate crimes toward disabled people on the railways. “It is frankly disgraceful that disabled people, who already take far fewer trips by rail, are being increasingly subjected to hate crimes when they do travel. The Department’s own research tells us that the answer to this is more staff. “If we’re going to build back better after the pandemic so that disabled passengers feel safe to travel and the rail network is truly accessible, we need to stop the profit-driven cost-cutting and put more trained and skilled human beings back on our trains and at stations,” he said. Surveys of disabled passengers also reveal that action to reduce staffing levels makes them less likely to travel by train, while research commissioned by the Department itself has revealed that disabled passengers ‘report feeling vulnerable without on-board assistance being available’ and believe that more staff on trains and at stations are the most important measures that could be taken to make them feel safer. RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: april 2021 :: RMTnews FIGHTING COVID ATTACKS INCREASE ON DISABLED Shocking rise in hate crimes on the rail network shows we need for more staff