LETTERS

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: november/december 2024 :: RMTnews 23 Dear editor, I am autistic and I have recently been through a very difficult time with my employer Thameslink.My employer did not understand my needs and had not implemented adaptations to support my needs even though they had requested an OH assessment to understand them. As a result of this lack of support, I was charged with gross misconduct.The whole experience caused me to experience low self-esteem and very high anxiety. There were many days where I could not get out of bed. I was really fearful that I would lose my job. Fortunately, my union representative Nathan Shickle helped me to understand that I could appeal this charge. I am so grateful to Nathan as I know that, without his support, I would not have had the confidence to fight this charge.With his help, I am now back at work and I could not be more grateful to him. I hope that my story helps others with disabilities to contact their reps should they experience similar issues. Regards, James Taylor VISIT: RMT assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey congratulates James on the platform Dear editor, After reading the last issue of RMT News (The Great Rail Reset page 8,9) I amazed that the very union that ‘fights for its workers/members’ thinks so little of the Delay Attribution Teams which I am a member of. We work hard every day proving to all departments and colleagues that we aren’t trying to blame anyone. The information we gather is essential in showing where and what needs improving and areas that need attention including infrastructure, protecting colleagues and commuter's with tackling disorders and criminal activity and if units need updating. Without this information how will GBR become what it needs to be and what staff and commuters want it to be. More importantly, as you know more than your 400 Delay Attribution members and you’ve literally told them that they will no longer have a job and seem to celebrate that. What happens to us under GBR? Regards Steven Cole LETTERS DISABILITY AT WORK WHAT ABOUT DELAY ATTRIBUTION TEAMS? Editor’s note: The union would like to apologise if they was any perception that it believed in removing Delay Attribution staff from the railway. In fact, the union believes that the skills and knowledge of people who undertake Train Delay Attribution are an invaluable asset to the railway. These roles require and develop immense knowledge of train operation, signalling systems and general rail systems knowledge. The issue that RMT has is not the existence of these roles or this accumulation of knowledge, it is the fact that the roles are put in service of a fragmented compensation culture that is ultimately designed to minimise commercial risk and support profiteering by private companies. This imports perverse incentives into delay attribution and creates commercial and time pressures that are unnecessary in a rationally planned system. An integrated publicly owned railway will need people who are able to investigate, establish and attribute the causes of delays and should value people with system knowledge. But it will not require them to work to the needs of profit- oriented companies or sustain a compensation culture in a fragmented railway. RMT’s view is that train delay attribution and its staff will still be needed and should be put at the service of continuous improvement in a single, integrated, publicly owned railway.