NO TO ENGINEERING CUTS

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: may/junel 2024 :: RMTnews 10 The annual organising conference for engineering grades meeting in Liverpool warned that the Modernising Maintenance agenda being implemented by Network Rail was undermining safety. Steve Conway spoke to conference on behalf of the national executive committee about the campaign to fight cuts to maintenance budgets at Network Rail. He outlined problems being created by the Modernising Maintenance programme which were unsafe as well as having a major impact on rostering. He said that job cuts in the supply chain were also taking place due to Network Rails cuts to renewals. “The union has launched the Rail Cuts Cost Lives campaign to warn about the funding cuts to maintenance and the job cuts that come with it. “We need fatigue-friendly rosters which should mean that nobody should be working over 60 ours in a week cycle. “We also need to make clear that MOMs should not be carrying out maintenance work,” he said. He also outlined the various campaigns in the fleet maintenance sector including pay wins following successful strike action. RMT assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey re- iterated the message of solidarity and unity required in the battles ahead. He warned of dangerous government-driven cuts of over a billion pounds to the Network Rail funding for the next Railway Control Period 7 from 2024 to 2029 for vital safety-critical railway infrastructure work. “These cuts include cuts to renewals expenditure, the abolition of the Track Renewal Service (TRS) organisation within Network Rail supply chain cutting almost 500 highly skilled jobs and outsourcing operations to private infrastructure companies. “We are talking about cuts to maintenance on track, signalling and other assets at a time of increased degradation of railway assets and structures at a time of extreme weather events which caused the Carmont 2020 rail disaster,” he said. In a recent survey of Network Rail maintenance, a vast majority of RMT members also believed that there was an increased risk of a major rail safety incident occurring on the railway within the next two years. Dane Smith, Glasgow and District and Engineering said that the Modernising Maintenance agenda being implemented in Scotland had been a disaster. “Rosters and leave entitlements are being affected because there is just not enough staff to cover the work. “We need to respond to these attacks and the reps need to get out there and discuss the possibility of an industrial response to these cuts,” he said. Eddie Dempsey said that the union had to constantly adapt to a changing landscape in the engineering and renewals sector. NO TO ENGINEERING CUTS Engineering grades conference look at the impact of Network Rail funding cuts