CIRCULAR TO ALL BRANCHES, REGIONAL COUNCILS AND REGIONAL ORGAINSERS
Circular No. IR. 205/05
Our Ref BR3/0247
12th May 2005
 
Dear Colleagues,
 
It has now been made clear why EWS have been so anxious to exclude RMT from negotiations in recent months. The deal that they?ve been left free to negotiate with the CSEU is nothing short of a disgrace. By now EWS Engineering members would have had sight of the document entitled ?Engineering Pay & Conditions Review 2005.? This document was tabled in response to the Confed?s 2005 pay claim. Rather than just agree a simple pay increase, EWS and the Confed have instead agreed a complete restructuring of terms and conditions.
 
I would remind members that Train Drivers are to receive a 41⁄2% no strings increase. How the Confed expect their members to vote in favour of the appalling sweetheart deal they?ve negotiated is beyond me. Worst still, there is an inference that RMT Engineering Staff members would be bound by this agreement in the event that Confed members vote to accept it.
 
Let me make one thing clear. RMT continues to be a recognised Trade Union for Engineering Staff. There is no way that we will accept a position whereby this package will be binding on RMT members. If Confed members want it, that is their concern. I strongly believe we should take this as an opportunity to recruit Engineering Staff into RMT. For the record, we are scheduled to hold our own pay talks with EWS on 26th May and our position is a simple one.
 
What?s good enough for the Drivers is good enough for everybody else. As they have been given a 4.5% increase without strings and without productivity, then why are the majority of Engineering Staff expected to accept a 3.14% increase with massive productivity with a significant number getting only 2.6% or less.
 
The current Engineering Staff package is a con. While some of the top pay rates for new grades such as Maintenance Team Controller and Senior Maintenances Technician seem attractive, the whole thing appears to be a downgrading exercise that stops staff getting the best rates.
 
For a start all non Safety Critical staff won?t even make it to Maintenance Technician. Even if you are safety critical, it would appear you have to be fully competent in 25 disciplines and be fortunate enough to work at a location where you may be actually required to use all of these disciplines. Team Member 2?s and below get reduced to the status of Trainee. 
 
As I said, we reckon the mode average increase to be no more than 3.14% with many members of staff getting 2.6% or less. There is little or no chance of getting into the higher grades. But in exchange for this, EWS are demanding massive productivity. This includes:
 
Salaries
 
This is a three year deal with the 2006 and 2007 increases being capped at 3.5%. 
 
Rosters and Hours of Work
 
The days of being able to make plans for your own free time will be gone as you will be at management?s beck and call. EWS will be able to bank up to 7 hours a week that the Production Manager can call in at any time to meet the needs of the business. EWS say they will take into account the circumstances of the individuals involved, but we have considerable experience of their taking into account individual circumstances and it isn?t good.
 
Rosters will either be agreed at local level or imposed with management having the right to dictate hours of cover following consultation.  Representatives will no longer have the right to fail to agree rosters and refer them to a higher level for negotiation. They will be agreed locally or not at all. Meanwhile meal breaks continue to be unpaid.
 
Pensionable Pay
 
Regardless of your shift pattern and associated rate of pay, your pensionable pay will be based on one shift working for a standard week. This will save the company masses in contributions at your expense.
 
Booking On / Off
 
The 20 minutes booking on and off times go. You must be fully equipped and ready to start work at your Booking-On time and remain so until Book-Off time. This means each shift is increased by 40 minutes unpaid.
 
Completion of Work
 
Again paying their usual lip service to individual?s circumstances, management reserve the right to keep you behind to complete jobs.
 
Peak Workload Management, Flexibility and Rapid Response Teams
 
Once management have used up all your banked hours, they can still get around paying you overtime as the agreement allows them to bring in casual labour and ?Rapid Response? staff.
 
Anyone, it seems, can now be press ganged into being part of a Rapid Response Team as effectively everyone will be expected to work anywhere in the country. Management however, have kindly restricted your requirement to lodge away from home for no more than one week in four!
 
Be quite clear. Management expect maintenance personnel to ?move to the work?. If there are no volunteers they will hand pick. You could be required to move to any EWS location at any time if your skills are required. 
 
Annual Leave Cut
 
Annual Leave entitlement will in effect be slashed with the introduction of an annualised hours scheme. This is a concept that has rigorously opposed by RMT in all industries where we operate. It essentially means that any roster with an average shift in excess of 8 hours will result in you losing a considerable amount of annual leave days.
 
Sick Pay Cut
 
The concept of sick pay according to the roster will go. The first 6 months full pay will be effectively reduced as management will refuse to pay the Unsociable Working Premium. The six months half pay element will be reduced to half the basic one shift rate.
 
Higher Grade Duty
 
This is now in reality restricted to two levels; Senior Maintenance Technicians covering Team Controllers with Maintenance Technicians having an outside chance of getting in on the act. There is no other provision for HGD amongst other grades leaving the majority of staff excluded.
 
Even so, HGD will now have to be undertaken for a full shift before payment is made rather than just 25% of a shift as now. You can envisage wide scale abuse of this arrangement with managers routinely giving out HGD jobs to people knowing they won?t have to pay them.
 
The above represents just some the issues I?ve been able to highlight in the short time I?ve had the EWS document. There may well be other areas of serious concern to members. As I said, I do not believe this agreement to be binding on RMT members whatever way the CSEU vote goes and find it hard to believe that Confed members will accept it in any case. It?s that awful.
 
I will be making our concerns known to management when I meet them on 26th May 2005. I will also be seeking a proper pay increase for Engineering and Groundstaff no less favourable than that awarded to Train Drivers. In the meantime the best way that Engineering Staff can show their strength of feeling to management is to join RMT en mass. 
 
There is no way that this Trade Union would ever put its name to a package as bad as the one on offer.
 
I will keep you informed of developments.
 
Yours sincerely

Bob Crow
GENERAL SECRETARY