24 October 2017
RMT Press Office:
RMT calls on Southern Rail staff to stand together and reject divisive and tainted company plan to destroy safety and access.
Rail union RMT today called on Southern Rail staff to continue to stand united and reject the latest company and government proposals to extend Driver Only Operation which would destroy the principles of safe operation and access to services for all.
Staff on Southern Rail have stood together for nearly 20 months now in the teeth of attacks on the safety culture and have repeatedly rejected plans cobbled together by Southern/GTR, under the direction of the Government, which would give the green light to axing the second safety-critical member of staff from services at the whim of the bosses and which would leave disabled passengers stranded. RMT is calling on staff to maintain that sense of unity.
In a letter to members today – below - RMT reveals that the latest tainted company deal on Southern Rail attempts to link the most blatant of attacks on safety to increased pay while rolling back the boundaries on Driver Only Operation on a scale not seen before in any of the earlier proposals. RMT is making it clear that the union will be campaigning for a rejection of the whole package.
RMT’s letter to members sets out a series of key bullet points:
• The deal accepts the wholly bogus principle that it can be beneficial for passengers and drivers to run trains without an OBS.
• The deal accepts the principle that the second person shall not be safety critical which is in line with plans being proposed by the other companies seeking to introduce DOO. It refers to safety trained staff meaning that the second person on the train will not be safety critical. RMT has received no proposals for the competencies of the second person. How can anyone be sure about how effective the role will be unless the company shares the detail?
• The deal wholly undermines the arrangements for disabled passengers and will leave many stranded or denied access.
• The deal gives the driver a responsibility for dealing with disabled passengers on top of driving the train and carrying out the current driver functions.
• The deal gives no guarantee about how many services will run completely DOO and will give the company a free hand to roll back the boundaries at will.
• The deal means that drivers are being forced to make a choice between a £14000 pay rise and their workmates, the principles of rail safety and the access rights of disabled passengers
This is a company deal that clearly gives the whip hand to the bosses. It’s a deal that affects our members’ jobs and terms and conditions, but we have been omitted from negotiations. We must do all we can to ensure it is rejected.
“RMT has now seen the details and it is clear that this deal, cooked up by Southern Rail under the direction of the Government, seeks to pitch worker against worker in a drive to dismantle the safety culture and drive back the boundaries of Driver Only Operation. It is tainted by the linkage to pay and staff should remain united and reject the package rather than give the bosses and Chris Grayling the whip hand.
“Staff on Southern Rail have stood united and determined in the teeth of the company attacks on safety, security and access for over 20 months now and this is no time to allow the company and the government to shatter that unity. The consequences of giving them a free hand would be horrific for staff and passengers alike. RMT will be campaigning for rejection of the proposals.”
ENDS
NOTE TO EDITORS:
FULL TEXT OF RMT LETTER BELOW
To All Drivers, Conductor, Conductor Instructors and OBS (Ex-Conductors)
DÉJÀ VU – WILL IT BE THIRD TIME LUCKY FOR MANAGEMENT????
Dear Colleagues
ROLE OF THE GUARD & EXTENSION OF DOO & INTRODUCTION OF NEW DOO ROUTES – SOUTHERN (GTR)
As you may be aware, ASLEF and GTR have announced they have reached an agreement which will now be put out to a referendum of ASLEF members. Unbelievably once again the RMT has been excluded from these discussions but the ‘deal’, as set out bellow, has now been leaked on social media.
• The deal accepts the wholly bogus principle that it can be beneficial for passengers and drivers to run trains without an OBS.
• The deal accepts the principle that the second person shall not be safety critical which is in line with plans being proposed by the other companies seeking to introduce DOO. It refers to safety trained staff meaning that the second person on the train will not be safety critical. RMT has received no proposals for the competencies of the second person. How can anyone be sure about how effective the role will be unless the company shares the detail?
• The deal wholly undermines the arrangements for disabled passengers and will leave many stranded or denied access.
• The deal gives the driver a responsibility for dealing with disabled passengers on top of driving the train and carrying out the current driver functions.
• The deal gives no guarantee about how many services will run completely DOO and will give the company a free hand to roll back the boundaries at will.
• The deal means that drivers are being forced to make a choice between a £14000 pay rise and their workmates, the principles of rail safety and the access rights of disabled passengers
This is a company deal that clearly gives the whip hand to the bosses. It’s a deal that affects our members’ jobs and terms and conditions, but we have been omitted from negotiations. We must do all we can to ensure it is rejected.
Drivers and Guards have been sold out, passengers have been sold out, and disabled passengers have been sold out.
In respect of safety for drivers, guards and passengers, the deal is even worse than those already rejected. Gone is the cast iron guarantee to have of a Conductor on every train. DOO will increase under this so-called deal. There will be no conductor or OBS on the Brighton Main Line on London to Brighton trains and on other services on the Brighton Main Line GTR can remove the OBS for any reason at any time. It won’t be long before management start cutting OBS jobs.
And the deal is a sell-out for vulnerable passengers such as the disabled and elderly for example. Drivers are told that “if” they become “aware of a passenger with reduced mobility waiting to board or alight from a service running without an OBS, they should inform the Signaller/Control, who will take responsibility for making appropriate arrangements to assist the passenger. Frankly this is ridiculous. The Driver should be concentrating on driving the train, plain and simple. Disabled passengers will remain stranded on the station or stranded on the train, a disgraceful way to treat people. Of course the answer is simple a Conductor or OBS on every train.
And now of course the lie that any settlements on pay and DOO would be kept separate is exposed. This deal that means to get a pay rise Southern Drivers will have to agree to extension of DOO and all the changes to their terms and conditions as set out in the bullet points above. After months of negotiations, all concerns about DOO have been ignored and a monetary ‘sweetener’ offered.
The deal is a government and company sponsored attack on vulnerable passengers and drivers should have no part of it. And do drivers really want a strike breaking agreement? This deal totally undermines the RMT members who have been striking for safety and goes against the principle of negotiating with all unions that are party to the Machinery. Let’s hope the drivers again reject this bribe as they have in the past and stand up for safety and stand up for the venerable passenger that wish to use GTR’s services everyday – something that should be their right in this day and age.
Whose side is this rehashed deal really on? It’s a company deal that clearly gives the whip hand to the bosses. It’s a deal that deals with our members jobs and terms and conditions over which we have had no say. We must do all we can to ensure it is rejected.
A deal to rightly reward drivers for the work they carry out should not be tainted by accepting DOO and giving a green light to roll out similar arrangements elsewhere. Speak to your driver colleagues, maybe show them this letter, and ask them to consider the bigger picture and reject this tainted offer.
Yours sincerely,
Mick Cash
General Secretary
Unity House
Tel: 020 7387 4771
Email: