RMT condemns Stagecoach attack on jobs as rail revenues soar

March 16, 2009

RMT condemns Stagecoach attack on jobs as rail revenues soar

PLANS BY the Stagecoach group to cut nearly 1,000 rail workers jobs on South West Trains and East Midlands Trains were condemned today by Britain’s biggest rail union as the transport privateer announced a 6.7 per cent jump in rail revenues since October.

RMT, which is fighting redundancies across the industry, has urged ministers to ensure that rail companies that have made huge profits from the railways since privatisation do not slash staff and services simply to protect dividend payouts to shareholders.

“With rail revenue still growing it is an utter disgrace that Stagecoach wants to axe nearly 1,000 staff at South West Trains and East Midlands Trains,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

“It is clear that Stagecoach’s priority is making huge profits, not providing a public service, and it is hell-bent on sacrificing the people who provide its services in order to enrich its shareholders.

“For the sake of the railway, jobs and the economy these franchises should be brought back into the public sector before the damage is done,” Bob Crow said.

For further information please contact Derek Kotz on o20 7529 8803 or 07939 595 092

Join the RMT and thousands of trade unionists on the March through London for Jobs, Social Justice and the Climate on Saturday 28th March. See link www.putpeoplefirst.org.uk or email the RMT mailto:a.gittins@rmt.org.uk for further information.

REDUNDANCIES – SOUTH WEST TRAINS

Circular No. IR/75/09

Our Ref: BR2/16/3


Dear Colleagues

REDUNDANCIES – SOUTH WEST TRAINS

Since my last update RMT have been in talks with SWT over the issue of redundancies, the company have now informed us how the extra 180 cuts they announced on top of the original 480 job losses will be achieved.

SWT originally told us that 180 figure would include a reduction of around 100 revenue protection staff across the network. However their revised plan now involves cutting 196 RPOs and RPIs posts across their network. This is a far higher cut than we expected and will adversely affect the revenue protection staff.

The company have informed us that these cuts will be masked by the creation of 100 new Customer Service Assistant (CSA) posts. The starting wage of the CSAs is 15K per annum which is roughly half of an RPO or an RPI can earn. Stagecoach has now shown us their true colours by telling us how they intend to safeguard their profits of their shareholders by slashing the SWT pay bill.

It is totally unacceptable that SWT are behaving in this manner by doubling the amount of revenue protection staff they intend to get rid of and creating a scheme for masking these cuts by undermining the rates of pay. Therefore I would urge our entire SWT membership to stand up against this crude profiteering by voting YES in the ballot.


VOTE YES IN THE BALLOT
BALLOT PAPERS OUT 3 March, Returned By 17 March



Yours Sincerely

Bob Crow
General Secretary

PUT PEOPLE FIRST

Tell the G20 to ‘PUT PEOPLE FIRST’,
A March for Jobs, Justice and Climate, 28th March, London

In early April 2009 the leaders of 20 of the world’s biggest economies meet in London against a backdrop of recession and global financial crisis. On 28th March, thousands of people will march through London as part of a global challenge to the G20 leaders to ‘put people first’.

Trade Unions, environmental groups and charities have come together for this mobilisation and the message will be: -

Decent jobs and public services for all
End global poverty and inequality
Build a green economy

The RMT wants to publicise this event as widely as possible throughout our membership to ensure a huge presence on the march. Any body wishing to make their voice heard should contact the Branch Secretary, about carrying the Banner and expenses.

The march will start from the Embankment at 12pm proceeding to a rally in Hyde Park. Assembly will be from 11am outside Temple Tube on Victoria Embankment. The Hyde Park rally of speakers, musicians and comedians, will last for approximately two hours.

The TUC has appealed for volunteers to act as stewards on the day. If you would like to volunteer as a steward or have any questions about the event, please contact Alastair Gittins at a.gittins@rmt.org.uk or 020 7529 8281.

Publicity materials will be produced and circulated to branches in due course. See website www.putpeoplefirst.org.uk for further information.

REDUNDANCIES – SOUTH WEST TRAINS

12th February 2009

Dear Colleagues

REDUNDANCIES – SOUTH WEST TRAINS

SWT have announced that it wants to make a further reduction of 180 posts on top of the 480 posts that it announced in January. The original 480 proposed cuts directly affected ticket office, cleaning, platform, information, and clerical staff. The further 180 proposed cuts is aimed primarily, but not exclusively, at the revenue protection staff.

Management are determined to slash these 660 jobs at South West Trains. This is a threat to safety; it will lead to some stations being totally unstaffed and extensive understaffing.

The government has said it will ride the recession by supporting public services and projects, and ministers cannot stand by and watch as a profiteering group that has increased dividends by 33 per cent destroys livelihoods and services.

The idea that the 660 staff they now want to sack is somehow superfluous is ridiculous and they know it.

RMT has asked SWT for guarantees that there will be no compulsory redundancies, however management have failed to provide us with any assurances on this matter. Therefore, a dispute situation exists between SWT and RMT.

Our intention is to conduct a ballot for all SWT members for strike action to combat these measures. I will be writing to all affected members soon with a ballot timetable.

Cutting ticket office, cleaning, platform, information and clerical staff is a direct attack on passenger service, and now, by cutting revenue protection staff, they are adding to the reduction in service they provide and at the expense of their staff.

Yours Sincerely

Bob Crow
General Secretary

SWT - our railway

The Letters Page,
The NEWS
Portsmouth


The motivation behind the recently announced job losses at South West Trains (SWT) can only be explained as unbridled GREED.

What else could possibly explain the decision to sack 180 full & part time ticket office staff in addition to platform and other associated front line staff? Although SWT originally asserted that managers and back room staff would comprise the majority of job losses leaked documents have revealed the assertion to be a falsehood with only 22 full and 3 part time affected.

Is it a coincidence the first year repayments fall due to the Treasury from SWT, after receiving a decade of substantial subsidy that the company announces a 10% reduction in the SWT workforce.

Lately fares have been increased by an above inflation rate of 6% with passenger numbers also up, while simultaneously inflation continues to fall and may eventually actually go negative.

Exactly how does the sacking of 10% of the workforce, the substantial majority majority front line, improve the service to the travelling public? What do you do for ticket information if the ticket machine is not working? Similarly will these station staff reductions make easier the travelling experiences of the disabled, elderly, parents with children, visitors to the an area. Also by there very nature railways are incredibly dangerous places so again the reduction in staff begs question the will the railways be less safe and more prone to vandalism? What glimmer of hope have SWT offered, how about the intentional withdrawal of carriages (i.e. seats) thus substantially increasing the chances of passengers having to stand on ALL trains and not just commuter trains.

Surely with SWT, having repeatedly taken the annual subsidy and about to supply an worsening service, an inferiority likely to become more pronounced as the pay back due to the Treasury mounts year on year, then surely the time has come to seriously consider the renationalisation of the railways, and doing so not as a matter of political dogma but rather as a common sense action. The question of any financial compensation is not relevant as a decade of substantial subsidy payments from the tax payer to SWT have already been made, and company dividends paid.

Having for all practical purposes reluctantly nationalized the banks because they were not functioning properly there can be no dispute the renationalisation of the railways is overdue.


Yours faithfully,

Louis Mac Donald
Secretary
Portsmouth Trades Union Council