14 December 2017
RMT Press Office:
RMT welcomes news of new Bombardier contracts as "a victory for the workforce who have fought for years to save train building in the UK".
RAIL UNION RMT today welcomed news that Bombardier in Derby has secured two new major contracts as a “victory for the workforce who have fought and battled through years of uncertainty to secure a future for train building in Britain, the nation that gave the railways to the world.”
RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said
“The two announcements this week, yesterday for the new West Midlands Trains franchise worth £542m and today for the C2C franchise worth £105m, is extremely good and positive news for our members employed by Bombardier in Derby, the hub of train manufacturing in Britain since 1840. The new contracts will provide safeguards and job security to directly employed staff along with a lifeline to the many hundreds of businesses and thousands of jobs within the supply chain.
“RMT’s robust “Battle for Bombardier” campaign, which kicked off in 2011 around the fiasco of the Thameslink contract award under the last Tory-led Government, has been totally vindicated and justified. Quality product, hardworking staff and meaningful industrial relations have all assisted. We now need to get away from the peaks and troughs business cycle and plan for a secure future for train building in Britain.
“Whilst it is good news for Bombardier staff we now need to receive confirmation and categorical assurances on behalf of our WMT and C2C fleet engineers, technicians and other grades of support staff that their jobs are not put at risk or that they will be TUPE Transferred to Bombardier in order to carry out the fleet maintenance programs. The union will be working to secure those assurances.”
ENDS
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