19 May 2016
RMT Press Office
RMT hits back at Southern's "deliberate campaign of misinformation" over staff shortages as more services are cancelled today
RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said:
"There has been a disgraceful campaign of misinformation by GTR over the staffing crisis on Southern Trains that has led to more services being cancelled today. The blame for those cancellations lies solely with GTR and is down to their continued mismanagement of this franchise.
"The hard fact is that this company does not employ enough staff to fill the rosters and is carrying significant levels of vacancies. They do that because it saves them money and allows them to pump up the profits which can then be shipped across the Channel to subsidise their operations in France.
“For Southern/GTR to try and turn the blame for this staffing crisis onto the union is ludicrous when the public can see clearly that the fault lies squarely with this penny-pinching outfit who will stop at nothing to fleece this franchise, and its passengers, for every penny that they can.
"Despite flouting regulations, and once again compromising the safety of their passengers, by drafting in a stage army of poorly-trained volunteers to do safety critical jobs the strike was rock solid with the impact exactly the same as the last action. Instead of ramping up the union bashing in the drive to milk this franchise for millions of pounds to subsidise their French operations at the expense of British fare payers, GTR should get round the table now for serious talks."
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