FIGHTING FOR SIGNALLING WORKERS

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: march/april 2024 :: RMTnews 10 RMT senior assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey warned signal workers meeting in Torquay that the Tory government had brought in new anti-union laws specifically to target rail workers. “The Tory minimum service levels legislation is designed to force workers to break strike action which they may well have voted for. “As a result, this vicious legislation will have consequences and amounts to a direct attack on the health and safety of rail workers. “What could be more stressful than being handed a work notice demanding that you break a strike that your friends and workmates are taking? “That is dangerous and undermines the right to withdraw your labour and threatens the safety of rail workers and the general travelling public,” he said. He explained that Network Rail planned to make £1.2 billion worth of cuts over the next five years to renewals expenditure which would also have a negative effect on safety and performance. “The government intends to abolish the Track Renewal Service (TRS) within Network Rail, cut maintenance work on track, signalling and other assets at a time of extreme weather events such as the one which caused the Carmont 2020 rail disaster,” he warned. He also outlined how FIGHTING FOR SIGNALLING WORKERS RMT signalling and operating grades meeting in Devon vow to resist anti-union laws TRIBUNAL: Eddie Dempsey presents Alexander Seal with a tankard following his long battle for justice after being sacked by Network Rail (see page 26). Alex recently won an employment tribunal after a two-year struggle. He now works on the award-winning South Devon Railway, a heritage line which runs along the stunning valley of the River Dart between Buckfastleigh and Totnes.