National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers (RMT)

RMT Network Rail maintenance vote overwhelmingly for action over 1500 safety-critical job cuts

2010-03-11T19:56:16Z

RMT: March 11 2010

RAIL UNION RMT confirmed today that members on Network Rail maintenance have voted by 77% for strike action and by 89% for action short of a strike over plans by the company to axe up to 1500 safety-critical jobs and to rip up national agreements on working practices.

]]> The RMT executive will now discuss the next steps in the dispute at a meeting next Friday – 19th March - in light of the massive mandate for action that has been delivered by the members and to consider the ballot result in sister rail union TSSA. RMT has issued a further call to Network Rail Chairman Rick Haythornthwaite today to re-open talks on the maintenance cuts plans.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

“RMT members were faced with a stark choice in this ballot. They could either sit back and wait for these cash-led maintenance cuts to lead to another major disaster on Britain’s railways or they could vote to take action to stop the attack on rail safety. They have overwhelmingly voted to take action.

“Nobody should be under any illusions about just how determined RMT members are to win this dispute and to stop this reckless gamble with rail safety. Nearly 150 MP’s have signed the Early Day Motion opposing Network Rail’s cuts plans and have urged the Government to intervene to call a halt to this jobs carnage on the tracks. We are reissuing that call today.

“RMT is in no doubt that the cuts programme drawn up by Network Rail would drag us back to the dark days of Railtrack and would make another Hatfield, Potters Bar of Grayrigg disaster an inevitability. That is what this dispute is all about and even the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has had to concede that the botched attempt to bulldoze through these cuts has raised serious safety concerns.”

“RMT remains available for talks with Network Rail and we would hope that in light of the overwhelming mandate for action delivered by our members today that the Chairman will respond to our request for meaningful discussions aimed at ensuring that the staffing levels required to deliver a safe rail system are maintained.”

RMT:

Circular No: IR/79/10
Our Ref: BR4/15/4
11 March 2010

Dear colleagues

REORGANISATION OF NETWORK RAIL MAINTENANCE

The ballot of you and your colleagues has concluded and the result is as follows:

Question: Are you prepared to take strike action?
Total votes cast 7816
Number voting YES 6055
Number voting NO 1709
Spoilt papers 52

Question: Are you prepared to take industrial action short of a strike?
Total votes cast 7816
Number voting YES 6955
Number voting NO 723
Spoilt papers 138

Your union’s Executive Committee will now discuss the next steps in the dispute at a meeting next Friday - 19th March - in light of the massive mandate for action that has been delivered by our members. I can also inform you that I have issued a further call to Network Rail Chairman Rick Haythornthwaite today to re-open talks on the maintenance cuts plans.
You and your colleagues were faced with a stark choice in this ballot. You could have either sat back and waited for these cash-led maintenance cuts to lead to another major disaster on Britain’s railways or voted to take action to stop the attack on rail safety. You and your colleagues have now overwhelmingly voted to take action.

RMT remains available for talks with Network Rail and we would hope that in light of the overwhelming mandate for action delivered by you and your colleagues today that Mr Haythornthwaite will respond to our request for meaningful discussions aimed at ensuring that the staffing levels required to deliver a safe rail system are maintained.

I would like to thank all members for delivering such a magnificent vote for strike action and industrial action short of a strike.

Yours sincerely,

Bob Crow
General Secretary

Transnet President approaches Thai govt over railway workers’ rights

2010-03-09T21:23:16Z

ITF: 25 February 2010

Alexander Kirchner, President of Germany’s Transnet union and ITF Executive Board member, has protested to the Thai government over its treatment of the State Railway Workers’ Union of Thailand (SRUT).

In a letter to Thailand’s Ambassador to Germany he registered his concern over the way the SRUT is being sidelined and its pleas for the reinstatement of sacked members ignored.

]]>
Alexander Kirchner stated that he was “aware of the current dispute between the SRUT and State Railway of Thailand in which six trade unionists were dismissed in October 2009. As a member of the ITF I welcomed the decision of the tripartite State Enterprise Labour Relations Committee which voted against such action. Yet again, however, it is reported that the Thai Ministry of Transport has made a statement on the following day to express their objection and instructed the SRT to take the case to court.”

Kirchner’s intervention comes after the ITF last month sent a delegation to Thailand to look into reports of poor rail safety standards and anti-union practices by employers and government. The delegation condemned the poor safety standards they discovered. Ageing rolling stock, lack of safety devices and staff shortages were among the concerns they raised. The latter resulted in railway employees having to work for long periods without weekly rest days, further compromising safety and raising concerns for passengers.

At the time Øystein Aslaksen from the Norwegian Locomotive Drivers Union and Chair of the ITF Railway Workers' Section said the Thai government and the SRT must “develop a new safety culture with the union without delay”.

For more information contact ITF press officer, Sam Dawson.
Direct line: + 44 (0)20 7940 9260.
Email: dawson_sam@itf.org.uk

International Transport Workers' Federation - ITF:
HEAD OFFICE
ITF House, 49 - 60 Borough Road, London SE1 1DS
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7403 2733
Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7375 7871
Email: mail@itf.org.uk
Web: www.itfglobal.org

Britain poised for first national rail strike in 16 years

2010-03-09T18:01:44Z

The Times Online March 9, 2010

Bob Crow said he wasn't Mystic Meg but he wouldn't book rail travel for Easter
Philip Pank, Transport Correspondent

Easter rail travel is under threat from three industrial disputes which could halt trains in the first national rail strike for 16 years.
Signalers, maintenance staff and supervisors are all poised to strike in disputes over job losses, pay and changes to working practices.

]]>
Rail bosses are confident that contingency plans could keep mainline routes open during a prolonged stoppage by maintenance staff, but acknowledge that a nationwide strike by signalers would immediately hit travel.

They fear that the three disputes may all come to a head over the Bank Holiday weekend, a move that would bring parts of the congested motorway network to a standstill.

The results of the maintenance workers ballot tomorrow is expected to give a resounding mandate to strike. Bosses still hope that the signalers’ ballot, which will be disclosed next Friday, may yet avert a stoppage. The results of a third ballot, of supervisors belonging to the TSSA union, will be announced this Friday.

The 5,500 signalers are in dispute over proposed changes to safety routines and work rosters. The 13,000 maintenance workers were balloted over plans by Network Rail, which runs the fixed railway infrastructure, to cut 1,500 jobs. The company claims that 1,100 have already agreed to take voluntary redundancy, but will not rule out the threat of compulsory job losses.

It is also trying to bring about changes to working practices, many of which were inherited from the nationalised British Rail. The company wants to change its maintenance roster so that workers can routinely be brought in on Saturday and Sunday nights, when fewer trains run and access to the tracks is easier, without having to pay overtime. Many maintenance staff are currently contracted to work Monday to Friday.

Robin Gisby, Network Rail’s director of operations, said: “I can’t live with the RMT holding the whole country to ransom. The union wants a cast-iron guarantee there will not be any compulsory redundancies. I cannot give that guarantee.”

He said that trains would keep running on the mainline railway even if maintenance teams down tools. However, smaller branch lines would see services curtailed or have speed restrictions imposed.

A four-day strike 18 months ago had limited impact on services.

Mr Gisby said that the workplace tensions were heightened by the political uncertainty ahead of a General Election. He also said that the RMT felt threatened by the loss of income that a reduced head count would bring. The union insists that proposed changes to the maintenance regime pose a danger to passengers and make a rail disaster “an inevitability”.

The last national rail strike was in 1994, when signalers held a number of stoppages during a three-month period.

Rostering, Compliance with PTR&R and Delivery of T3 Possessions

2010-03-05T23:31:50Z

RMT: March 1 2010
Letter to RMT Members

Dear Colleague,
Further to previous correspondence I write to advise members that we have given Network Rail notice of our intention to ballot all signalling and associated supervisory grade members for strike action and action short of a strike. The dispute centres on the following issues:-

]]> Rosters

Network Rail’s interpretation of our agreed National Rostering Principles appears to be that if agreement on rosters cannot be reached locally then they have the right to impose them. One clear example is the situation in South Wales, where RMT members are in the middle of a long-running dispute against the imposition of rosters at the new Control Centre. Rosters have also been imposed on our members in New Cross.

The company is quite candid that flexibility and cost are two of the main criteria behind their attempts to manipulate rostering. Neither of these terms are specified in any part of the national agreement. If the company gets away with this be in no doubt that they will take it as carte blanche to continue to spread it to other areas across the country. RMT has sought an unconditional assurance that in the event of disagreement between the staff representatives and management, the status quo will prevail and that new rosters will not be imposed. We are yet to receive that assurance.

PTR&R

The Promotion, Transfer, Redundancy and Resettlement Agreement (PTR&R) is one of the most important agreements ever negotiated by this union. It is there to protect members who, through no fault of their own, are unfortunate enough to find themselves without a job and gives clear rules to follow during displacement and redundancy situations. Network Rail wrongly assert that Signaler’s conditions were changed in 1994 by the introduction of the restructuring agreement. This is simply not the case. They have made no secret that they would love to see it disappear as it frustrates their ability to do what they like regardless of long established procedures which have worked effectively for decades.

The main criteria for redundancy selection and slotting into vacancies has always been seniority, and the union has also sought an unconditional assurance that this will continue to be the case. It is vital for the future security of members that the agreement is protected and remains in place especially with all the new signaling schemes on the horizon.

Over the past few years Network Rail has essentially torn up the part of the agreement that allows displaced staff, if no other positions are available, to apply for positions more than one grade below their substantive grade whilst retaining their rate of pay. The union even has examples of management blatantly manipulating the agreement in attempts to avoid paying travel expenses to staff that have been displaced.

Furthermore it has been a long standing position that Area Councils must be the custodians of the PTR&R Agreement and that all changes would be discussed first at area level. Network Rail wish to keep area councils out of the PTR&R process and this can only be regarded as an attempt to bulldoze through proposals at local level.

RMT has requested an unconditional assurance that consultation on all closures and re-signalling schemes will take place at area level. Yet again we are yet to receive that assurance.

T3 Possessions

The company is trying to make 1,500 rail maintenance workers redundant. It is our firm belief that this is an unnecessary and potentially dangerous move and your RMT Maintenance colleagues are already in dispute with the company.

As part of its cost-cutting plan, Network Rail has proposed making changes to the way in which T3 possessions are carried out. They want to do away with the tried-and-tested safety measure of placing detonators at either end of a possession to protect the track workers in it. This isn’t about increasing safety, its nothing more than a way of saving time and money on setting up possessions. Inevitably, such a proposal would lead to the onus for the safety of such possessions being transferred to signalers- and it would mean that if anything went wrong, it would be the signaler who would end up in Court on a Manslaughter charge. The union has told the company their proposals would be potentially unsafe and totally unacceptable and RMT’s opposition to this plan has forced NR to withdraw the proposal for the moment. However they have failed to give an unequivocal guarantee that it will not rear its head again.

In the absence of the guarantees we have sought I urge members to return the biggest possible YES vote for industrial action. A strong ’Yes’ vote will give us the strong mandate needed to defend your safety and working conditions.

Ballot papers will be sent to members on Thursday 4th March, and completed papers must be returned by Friday 19th March 2010.

PROTECT YOUR AGREEMENTS, DEFEND YOUR SAFETY

VOTE ‘YES’ FOR INDUSTRIAL ACTION

Yours Sincerely

Bob Crow
General Secretary

If you haven’t received a ballot paper by Thursday 11th March contact RMT’s Freephone Helpline on 0800 376 3706 and one will be urgently sent to you.

Arriva calls off talks over French merger

2010-03-05T17:01:34Z

Times Online: March 5, 2010
Robert Lea Industrial Editor

Shares in Arriva, the train and bus group, went into reverse today, down 14.5p to 555.5p, after talks over a merger with Keolis, the French group, were called off.

]]> Arriva, which runs the CrossCountry long distance intercity network, trains in Wales and has about one fifth of the London bus market, admitted five weeks ago that it was in discussions with the French state-controlled national rail network SNCF, the parent company of Keolis.

In a statement to the Stock Exchange today however, Arriva said: "Arriva confirms that exploratory preliminary discussions took place with Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français (SNCF) regarding the possible contribution of all or part of the Keolis transport business into Arriva. No agreement was reached and all discussions have now ceased."

Arriva has expanded aggressively throughout Europe. The plan had been to merge those businesses with Keolis's regional trains and bus operations mainly in France where Arriva has no presence.

The talks had caused consternation among some of Arriva's rivals. Go-Ahead runs the Southern, Southeastern and London Midland train franchises in a joint ventire with Keolis called Govia. Keolis has a similar joint venture with FirstGroup to run the TransPennine Express in the north of England. If Keolis had merged with Arriva, that would have triggered change of control clauses on all the franchises affected, potentially leading to them being re-tendered by the Department for Transport.

The word in the City, however, is that bid chatter around Arriva is not going away. Arriva is said to be on the radar of Comfort Delgro, the Singaporean owner of Metroline buses in London. Deutsche Bahn may also be taking a look. The German railway group already owns the Chiltern Line commuter route between London and Birmingham and is looking at running trains through the Channel Tunnel to rival Eurostar.

RMT calls for immediate halt to rail maintenance job cuts as regulator raises fears over safety

2010-03-05T16:44:54Z

RMT: March 3 2010

RAIL UNION RMT today demanded an immediate halt to plans to axe up to 1500 safety-critical rail maintenance jobs as the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) issued a damning report highlighting four major areas of concern over the plans and calling for a suspension of their implementation.

]]> ORR have focussed on:

* Failure to carry out practical tests on the cuts plans

* Specific concerns on the continued problems on the West Coast Mainline where the bulk of the job cuts are targeted

* Reductions in safety-critical working hours

* Cutting back on safety lookouts and safety briefings.

ORR also highlight “inadequate employee engagement” and warn that they will have “no hesitation in taking immediate action if safety to passengers and employees is put at risk.”

RMT is currently balloting staff for strike action over the job cuts plans.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

“Coming from the ORR this is nothing short of condemnation of Network Rail’s dangerous cost-cutting plans. If even the ORR says the plans are untested, being implemented in haste and will put pressure on managers to cut back on safety-critical lookouts and briefings, it is clear that they must be stopped and that is why we are demanding an immediate halt.

“RMT has said from the start that Network Rail’s plans, which include the sacking of 1,500 front-line maintenance workers, can only undermine rail safety with lethal consequences, and this news completely justifies the union’s decision to ballot members for strike action to defend rail safety and their jobs.”

ends

Rail watchdog raises safety fears over maintenance plans

2010-03-05T15:31:24Z

The Guardian: 4 March 2010

Office of Rail Regulation criticises Network Rail's recent performance, saying too many passengers were left in the dark about services during the prolonged cold snap in January

]]> The rail regulator has raised safety concerns about the network, after warning that senior managers could be overworked under untested maintenance proposals that could threaten more delays on the troubled west coast main line.

The Office of Rail Regulation also criticised Network Rail's recent performance, saying too many passengers were left in the dark about services during the prolonged cold snap in January, and threatening further disciplinary action over problems with the west coast route.

However, the concerns over a transformation in the maintenance programme due to start next month dominated the ORR's latest Network Rail bulletin.

It outlined four issues: that the changes are untested; that the west coast line could be severely affected; that section managers, who monitor sections of track, might be overworked; and that the changes could encourage staff to curtail planning and safety briefings.

The ORR's chief executive, Bill Emery, said he supported the changes in principle but was concerned about their implementation.

"We will have no hesitation in taking immediate action if safety to passengers or employees is put at risk. I now urge Network Rail to resolve all identified issues before it commits to implementing this maintenance restructuring," he said.

The rail network's safety record has improved significantly since the government-backed Network Rail took over tracks, stations and signals from Railtrack in October 2002.

The crash at Potters Bar in May that year, which killed seven people, and the one at Hatfield in 2000, which killed four passengers, were caused by track and points problems. Track safety failures last caused a fatal accident on 23 February 2007, when a Glasgow-bound Pendolino train derailed at 95mph in Grayrigg, Cumbria, killing one passenger.

The rail union RMT said the ORR report confirmed that the maintenance changes would undermine rail safety "with lethal consequences".

The union is balloting members for industrial action over plans to cut 1,500 jobs as part of the changes.

"This news completely justifies the union's decision to ballot members for strike action to defend rail safety and their jobs," said Bob Crow, the RMT general secretary. The cuts are part of a Network Rail cost-cutting drive that was implemented after the ORR ordered the company to find efficiency savings in its £35bn budget over the next five years.

A Network Rail spokesperson said it was committed to a safe railway and would deal with the ORR's concerns. "The ORR has done a thorough job on auditing our proposals and where they have raised concerns we are addressing them."

However, Emery said the ORR would keep a close watch on the company's response. The changes are due to be introduced "as soon as possible" from April, according to Network Rail.

"We would have very serious issues if they press the go button having not satisfied these concerns," said Emery.

Network Rail said it would continue to tackle problems with the west coast line, after ORR officials warned that a recent deterioration in performance on that line was "not good enough".

ORR said the poor installation of signalling equipment on the London to Glasgow route was still haunting the company.

Network Rail was fined £14m for engineering overruns on the line in January 2008. The company added that it had "worked tirelessly" with train operators to help passengers through the cold weather in January.

SEE ALSO:

Network Rail shake-up ‘could risk passengers’

The Times: March 4, 2010
Ian King Deputy Business Editor

Britain’s railway watchdog warned yesterday that plans to change the way the network is maintained could have safety implications.

The Office of Rail Regulation said that it had serious concerns about Network Rail’s restructuring of its maintenance operations, described by the company as “the most significant change in a generation”.

Its warning came less than a week after the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers started a strike ballot in response to the plans. Bob Crow, the RMT’s general secretary, has argued that the reorganisation will make a disaster such as those that occurred at Hatfield, Potters Bar and Grayrigg “inevitable”.

Network Rail, which employs 33,000 people, said in September last year that it was reorganising its maintenance operations. The shake-up, which will result in almost 2,500 job cuts, was ordered by the operator of Britain’s railway lines, stations and signals after its budget for the next five years was cut by £4 billion.

However, the regulator said yesterday that, while the principles of the restructuring were sound and appropriate, it was concerned at the speed with which Network Rail was trying to implement changes. It was also worried that Network Rail had yet to put in place guidance for staff on the proposals and had failed adequately to engage with them on the issue.

The ORR highlighted the West Coast Main Line, where it said that technology needed to support the changes was not yet in place. It expressed concern that Network Rail appeared to have classified vital safety roles and tasks as “non-productive”, which, it said, increased the risk of local managers cutting back on site lookouts and safety briefings.

The regulator said that the restructuring would increase the workload of some managers within Network Rail while, at the same time, reducing the support they would enjoy from assistants and engineers. It said that this would raise the risk of some managers, carrying out work critical to the safety of rail users, being tired while on duty.

Bill Emery, chief executive of the ORR, said: “We fully support the changes proposed in Network Rail’s maintenance restructuring plans.

“However, our extensive review of the company’s proposals led to a number of concerns about the way it plans to implement the changes. We will have no hesitation in taking immediate action if safety to passengers or employees is put at risk.”

Mr Crow described the report as “damning”. He said: “Coming from the ORR, this is nothing short of condemnation of Network Rail’s dangerous cost-cutting plans . . . If even the ORR says the plans are untested, being implemented in haste and will put pressure on managers to cut back on safety-critical lookouts and briefings, it is clear that they must be stopped.

“RMT has said from the start that Network Rail’s plans, which include the sacking of 1,500 frontline maintenance workers, can only undermine rail safety, and this news completely justifies the union’s decision to ballot members for strike action.”

Network Rail insisted that it had taken on board the ORR’s concerns.

Reorganisation of Network Rail

2010-03-05T15:14:41Z

RMT: March 2, 2010
Personal Letter to RMT Members at Network Rail

Dear Colleague,
I have received disturbing reports from a number of members that Network Rail is cancelling annual leave over March and April 2010. I have written to Network Rail expressing my disgust at this policy and asking that annual leave be reinstated over this period.

]]> I have also taken legal advice. Our solicitors have told me that Network Rail’s actions could potentially amount to a breach of s146 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. This sections states that a worker has the right not to be subjected to any detriment as an individual, by any act, or any deliberate failure to act, by his employer if the act or failure takes place for the sole or main purpose of, amongst other things, preventing or deterring a worker from taking part in the activities of an independent trade union at any appropriate time.

If you, or any other members, have been affected by this situation I advise that you put a grievance into Network Rail as quickly as possible and let your union know.

Yours sincerely

Bob Crow
General Secretary

Build Our Trains At Home, Say Rail Workers

2010-02-28T10:36:26Z

New Zealand Rail And Maritime Transport Union: 28 February 2010

The Rail and Maritime Transport Union (RMTU) is using an open day at Hutt Rail workshops today to urge KiwiRail to back the New Zealand workforce and ‘buy kiwi made’ in its upcoming locomotive and wagon procurement.

]]> “New Zealand workshops have the skills and the equipment needed to undertake a large number of railway and other heavy engineering jobs, and are being underutilised,” Wayne Butson, RMTU General Secretary said.

“KiwiRail is in the market for new locomotives and wagons, and rail workers in New Zealand want the company to commit to building new locomotives and wagons here, rather than only upgrading older stock from overseas.”

“An Open Day is being held at Hutt Workshops in Woburn this Sunday, to highlight the work they currently do and what they are capable of doing. As well as rebuilding and repair work, New Zealand rail workshops have the skills and expertise to build locomotives from scratch.”

“We want KiwiRail and the government to back Kiwi workers, and get our trains built at home,” Wayne Butson said.

The Hutt Workshops Open Day is this Sunday 28 February 2010, from 11am until 4pm, entrance via the Bell Road gate.

ENDS

ITF signals further breakdown on Thai Railways

2010-02-07T10:31:20Z

ITF: 5 February 2010

The head of a delegation that investigated problems for workers’ on Thailand’s state railways has reacted angrily to news that conditions and morale have deteriorated further

]]> Øystein Aslaksen, ITF Railway Workers’ Section Chair and President of the Norwegian Locomotive Drivers’ Union today wrote to the head of the State Railway of Thailand to register his and the ITF’s dissatisfaction with the deteriorating situation on the country’s railways. Aslaksen headed an international delegation of railway trade unionists who went to the country last month to investigate reports of poor rail safety standards and anti-union practices by employers and the government (see www.itfglobal.org/press-area/index.cfm/pressdetail/4075 for details.)

Writing to Yutthana Thapcharoen of the State Railway of Thailand, Øystein Aslaksen stated:

“I am writing to you on behalf of the ITF Safety Mission that we organised in Thailand in January 2010 and as the Chair of the ITF Railway Workers' Section, representing 1.2 million workers in 92 countries globally, to express our serious concern over the attitude of the SRT towards the State Railway Workers’ Union of Thailand (SRUT).

The Mission made it very clear in our meeting with your Deputy Governor, Prachak Manodham and later at our press conference on 15 January in Bangkok that the SRT management must cease its current anti-union stance towards SRUT and establish a co-operative industrial relationship with the SRUT and its members. The goal should be for SRT and SRUT to both strive to improve the safety standards within the Thai railways. In this regard, the ITF General Secretary, David Cockroft, wrote to the Thai Prime Minister on 18 January requesting your organisation to stop its anti-union activities and respect and fully implement the decision of the Tripartite Panel on 15 January, which voted against the dismissal of the six Branch officials of the SRUT in Hat Yai.

Despite the requests of the ITF Safety Mission and the ITF General Secretary, the SRT, with the suspected involvement of your Transport Minister, has continued with further actions against the union. On 21 January, your organisation suddenly submitted a charter of 65 demands to the SRUT designed to revoke the important aspects of the collective bargaining agreements pertaining to rail safety. It was then withdrawn on 25 January as the employees of your organisation correctly expressed their deep concern with regards the possible and potential consequences that such demands, if implemented, could bring to the workplaces.

We also have reason to believe that some union members were influenced by your senior management to sign a petition against the current SRUT leadership in November 2009. This resulted in an extra-ordinary meeting of the union being held on 3 February 2010.

History demonstrates that all attempts by management to interfere with the democratic procedures of a genuine trade union are bound to fail. SRT’s attempts were in fact defeated firmly by the members at the union’s extra-ordinary meeting.

The ITF, once again, calls upon the SRT to stop its anti-union policies towards the SRUT and to start building a sound industrial relationship. We will condemn your move to take the dismissal case to court, and as we have repeatedly expressed explicitly and publicly, such action will be met by stronger protest from trade unions around the world and the ITF will submit a complaint to the ILO's Freedom of Association Committee where your government and your organisation will be subject to further scrutiny from the ILO.

Should you cease your hostility and aggression towards the SRUT, the ITF is prepared to assist your organisation in rebuilding a better industrial relationship and social dialogue with the union and to restore and improve the reputation of your organisation globally.”.

ENDS

For more information contact ITF press officer, Sam Dawson.
Direct line: + 44 (0)20 7940 9260.
Email: dawson_sam@itf.org.uk

HR boss put tracking device on workers' cars, court told

2010-01-16T15:34:45Z

Irish Independent: January 16 2010
By Tim Healy

Irish Rail claimed yesterday its human resources director was a "law unto himself" amid new claims he had placed tracking devices on employees' cars to see where they went.

]]> Differences over the level of fraudulent practices in the company, allegedly costing up to €8.7m, formed the background to the suspension of the company's human resources director John Keenan, the High Court heard yesterday.

Mr Keenan, who has been HR boss at the rail company for 15 years, sought an injunction to lift the suspension imposed on him on December 3.

Irish Rail said it was entitled to suspend Mr Keenan as he delayed for 10 days before informing chief executive Richard Fearn about an equality tribunal award of €189,000 to a woman who alleged gender discrimination over promotion in the company. Mr Fearn had lost confidence in Mr Keenan as a result, it was claimed.

The company said Mr Keenan's suspension should continue as a holding position pending investigations.

It is now also alleged Mr Keenan was involved in 32 instances of surveillance of employee computer records, incorrect accessing of sensitive medical records and the placing of tracking devices on employees' cars to see where they went.

The company claimed yesterday that Mr Keenan used his office as a "personal fiefdom" and was a law unto himself.

Mr Keenan denied the claims and said the new allegations could be explained in terms of his role in an internal cost audit unit in Irish Rail. He added that the company could conduct its investigation without suspension and his summary suspension was in breach of all normal procedures.

Counsel for Mr Keenan said his suspension was not based on any rational or reasonable basis and he had not delayed in informing the chief executive of the equality tribunal decision. There was also no basis for claiming he ran a personal fiefdom within the company.

In affidavits from Mr Keenan, the court heard that there was a lengthy and controversial series of events within Irish Rail over fraudulent practices involving collusion between certain company personnel and third-party contractors. Mr Keenan said he was responsible for the company's cost audit committee and had recommended engaging forensic accountants to look into the matter.

Losses

In the accountants' report in 2007, it was found the company had made estimated losses from the fraud of around €8.7m over a three-year period.

Mr Keenan claimed Mr Fearn argued the estimate was outside the terms of reference of the report and wanted it removed but he (Mr Keenan) advised against this. The figure was later reduced down to €2.5m.

Mr Keenan said he got an irate phone call from John Lynch, chairman of the CIE group of which Irish Rail is a subsidiary, in which he berated Mr Keenan for reporting the loss at such a high level. Mr Lynch again told him to "button" his lip after accusing him of leaking the information to a newspaper.

Mr Justice John MacMenamin reserved judgment until next week.

DB Schenker Rail takes majority stake in NordCargo

2010-01-13T13:56:28Z

IFW: 13-01-2010
By Damian Brett

DB Schenker Rail has acquired a majority stake in Italian rail freight operator NordCargo.

]]> The German firm has increased its share in the NordCargo by a further 11% giving it a total stake of 60%.

As a result of the share increase, DB Schenker Rail Italia will transfer its current business to NordCargo and the activities of both companies will merge under the umbrella of NordCargo.

Alexander Hedderich, chairman of DB Schenker Rail, said: “The amalgamation of these two companies will enable us to improve our product portfolio in Italy and along the north-south-bound corridors, thus laying the basis for attracting more transport onto rail in both the international and the Italian domestic markets.”

NordCargo has a workforce of about 200 and generated revenues of roughly €40m (US$58m) from international and domestic transports.

The company is licensed to operate on the Italian rail network, runs 7,000 trains, 1.4m train km per annum, and provides traction on routes along the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian coasts between Milan and Naples.

Italy is one of DB Schenker Rail’s most important foreign markets, with transports to and from Italy accounting for roughly one quarter of the company’s total international revenues in 2008.

Alex Gordon is elected as RMT President

2009-12-31T09:43:40Z

RMT NEWS RELEASE: December 21, 2009

TRAIN DRIVER Alex Gordon has been elected to serve as the President of RMT, Britain’s biggest specialist transport union, for the coming three years.

]]> In the postal ballot that closed today Bristol-based Alex, who will take up office in January, beat four other candidates and replaces John Leach, a London Underground worker whose term of office ends at the close of the year.

RMT’s President is the most senior lay official in the union, whose responsibility is to uphold the union’s rulebook and to preside over meetings of the union’s executive bodies, including the sovereign annual general meeting.

“Alex Gordon is a highly respected RMT activist who has served his union at all levels, from the all-important local rep to the union’s executive, and I know he will make an excellent President,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

ends

'Rip-off ' rail firms accused of hiding 15% fare increases

2009-12-31T01:42:05Z

Daily Mail: 31st December 2009
By Ray Massey

'Highway robbery': Train fares are to increase by 15 per cent

]]> Rail passengers are facing inflation-busting fare rises of up to 15 per cent in the New Year, sparking accusations that 'rip-off ' increases are being disguised.

Tomorrow annual fare increases come into force which train company chiefs say will see passengers paying an average of 1.1 per cent more for their tickets.

This is largely thanks to a 0.4 per cent fall in the cost of regulated fares – including season tickets, savers and standard day returns – which are capped by the Government.

But passenger groups and rail unions say the average figure masks the full extent of the New Year rises.

Some passengers will see rises of up to 15 per cent in unregulated fares, which include most cheap day returns, long distance open, leisure and advance fare tickets.

These prices are set by the train companies themselves, with the average rise being around 5 per cent.

However the TSSA rail union said some advance purchase tickets would rise much more.

It highlighted a supersaver fare from London to Swindon rising from £20 to £23, an increase of 15 per cent.

TSSA general secretary Gerry Doherty said: 'These people have no shame. 'If there is a chance of legally ripping off the passenger they will take it. This is modern highway robbery.'

The RMT union has described the rises as a 'taxpayer-sponsored ripoff' and said that train companies were guilty of 'spin and gloss' to disguise 'massive fare hikes' on some lines.

There is particular anger that the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) has chosen not to announce how much unregulated fares are rising.

ATOC normally gives separate figures for the regulated and unregulated increases.

Regulated fares, which make up around 40 per cent of all fares, will be going down from tomorrow as they are capped according to the formula of Retail Price Index measure plus 1 per cent, based on the July inflation rate.

The recession and deflation meant RPI was minus 1.4 per cent in July, meaning prices must go down by 0.4 per cent.

But details from individual train companies paint a very different picture.

For example Virgin Trains, which operates London to Scotland services on the West Coast main line, said its unregulated fares were rising by an average of 2.8 per cent.

But some tickets are going up by as much as 6 per cent, including London to Manchester anytime standard returns, from £247 to £262.

Anthony Smith, chief executive of rail customer watchdog Passenger Focus said: 'This is a sting in the tail.

'Many unregulated fares will continue to soar above inflation as the average figures will mask steep rises on individual routes.

'We are also concerned that some train operators will tinker with off-peak ticket restrictions, forcing passengers into buying more expensive tickets.'

Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Norman Baker said: 'We all recognise that times are tough but putting rail fares up will not get people back on to the railways.'

ATOC chief executive Michael Roberts defended the presentation of fare changes by saying: 'Not only is the average rise the lowest since privatisation, but it will come in well below the rate of inflation, meaning a real-terms cut in prices for many passengers.'

He said rail travel 'continues to be good value for money'.

Adonis commissions private consultants KPMG to work out how to save UK govt's rail franchising system

2009-12-31T00:56:02Z

The Financial Times reports ('Review ordered into rail franchising', December 29 2009) that UK Transport Secretary, Lord Adonis has commissioned private consultants KPMG as part of a wider review into rail franchising by next summer when competition for rail contracts begins.

]]> The FT speculates the government may change the way it hands out rail contracts in the new year, as it fights to restore the system's credibility following renationalisation of the UK's biggest rail contract, the East Coast main line.

According to the FT the reforms being considered include:

* a restructuring of the revenue-sharing agreement between franchise winners and the government to reduce the likelihood of them handing back a contract to run a service during a downturn;
- this translates as more public money to bail out loss-making private operators in the 'tough times'. Precisely the eventuality that Adonis' predecessor, Tom Harris boasted the current round of rail franchise negotiations had been designed to avoid.

* the adoption of longer 15-year franchises as the industry norm to buy greater stability. Most are currently seven years but passenger satisfaction is higher on Chiltern Railways, for example, which has a 20-year contract;
- this is a capitulation to a long-held ambition of the Association of Train Operating Companies who have lobbied the Department for transport for years on this issue. If stability is the issue, why not get rid of franchises altogether and run an integrated, publicly-owned, national network?

* changing the role played by train companies so that they could, for example, improve stations and rolling stock;
- this is a complete red herring. All major rail station refurbishments (Reading, Birmingham New Street, Euston) are jealously guarded by Network Rail and the DfT because of their immense importance for regional and national spatial planning strategies. They won't let a bunch of venal morons who can't run the 16.13 from Worcester Foregate Street on time, anywhere near major station improvement programs. Which just leaves the train companies fighting for the right to put up bicycle racks and hanging baskets, something that they already unfortunately responsible for, with generally dire results. The same goes for rolling stock refurbishments - anything that costs money will likely end up being funded by the taxpayer. Train companies will be allowed to continue painting the aging rolling stock different colours to distract the punters from the grim reality.

* the awarding of franchises on the basis of quality, not just price, so that train operators would be encouraged to submit proposals for improving services at the bidding stage. Furthermore, Passenger Focus, the lobbying group, would be consulted.
- genius! Awarding contracts on quality, not just on the lowest bid. Unfortunately the entire franchise awarding system is based on far more political and financial considerations, such as preventing any one operator having a monopoly of London terminii for example. Quality ain't cheap and if this review ends up recommending a solution that costs the government or the train operators more money to run train services it will be about as welcome as a fart in a spacesuit.

The FT admits the review is an attempt to shore up the rail franchise system, under fire since National Express said in July it would hand its loss-making East Coast main line back to the government. The changes are likely to disappoint unions, which have called for the railways to be renationalised.

Currently, companies bid for the right to run trains on routes. Contracts are often awarded to the train operator that offers the highest premium payments or, if the route requires heavy subsidies to be profitable, to the company that requires the lowest level of state backing.

But MPs, rail chiefs and union leaders have complained that the system places more weight on the financial payback to the government than on passenger services. It also means there is little stability for rail operators, which make their bids according to projected passenger numbers but are vulnerable to any recession.

Train executives complain that a highly regulated structure gives them little leeway to cut service levels in a recession such as the current one.

Train operators are protected by a "cap and collar" arrangement, which ensures that the government funds up to 80 per cent of losses on a franchise contract if a train operator is missing revenue targets after four years.

But while the Association of Train Operating Companies wants this subsidy to be brought forward, the government is also considering linking a proportion of it to gross domestic product. This would reduce the risk of companies reneging on a contract during a downturn.

The Department for Transport confirmed to the FT it was re-examining the franchise system but said it was "not meant to be a fundamental review".