ORGANISING TRAIN CREW

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: may/junel 2024 :: RMTnews 14 Delegates attending the union’s packed train crew and shunters organising conference meeting in Penzance welcomed the Labour Party’s announcement to nationalise the train network within five years of coming to power. RMT assistant general secretary John Leach also outlined the long-running national dispute with the train operating companies which was at another crossroads. “It may well be that the union will be balloting for further action in the summer as the employers look to continue to attack pay and conditions,” he said. He said that it was one of the reasons why the union needed to see the back of the Tory government in the upcoming general election. “We welcome the fact that Labour has announced that of one of the first major acts in government will be to bring all passenger rail into national ownership. Richard Westcott, Penzance said that in any future dispute with the train operating companies all grades should be balloted together in order to maintain unity between workers. John Leach agreed and said that employers should not be allowed to divide grades in any dispute. “We are an all-grades union, we must stick together on that basis and we must remain unified,” he said. John Hendy of the Institute of Employment Rights outlined the effects of the Minimum Service Levels legislation of 2023 introduced ORGANISING TRAIN CREW RMT’s train crew and shunters conference discuss organising workers and rail renationalisation Right to left RMT assistant general secretary John Leach, NEC member Dave King and new conference president Darren Piling Delegates meet in Penzance