inside this issue · bus industry by introducing more competition for lucrative bus routes. this...

ISSUE NUMBER 4, VOLUME 13,

Essential reading for today’s transport worker

APRIL 2012

www.rmt.org.ukwwww rmt org ukw rm

INSIDETHIS ISSUE

A SPARK FROMDISASTERPAGE 11

STOP MCNULTYPAGE 7

TRIPCOCK TESTINGTIMESPAGE 19

RMT News is compiled and originated by National Union of Rail, Maritime &Transport Workers, Unity House, 39 Chalton Street, London NW1 1JD. Tel:020 7387 4771. Fax: 020 7529 8808. e-mail [email protected] Theinformation contained in this publication is believed to be correct but cannot beguaranteed. All rights reserved. RMT News is designed by Bighand Creativeand printed by Leycol Printers. General editor: Bob Crow. Managing editor:Brian Denny. No part of this document may be reproduced without priorwritten approval of RMT. No liability is accepted for any errors or omissions.Copyright RMT 2011

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: april 2012 :: RMTnews

3

RMT members marched in Brusselslast month with transport workers

from across Europe demanding an end tothe EU drive to privatise public transportnetworks.

Transport unions were marking thefirst anniversary of the EuropeanCommission’s Transport White Paper,which will open up domestic passengerrail services, bus, and metro and ferryservices to private monopolies.

These rules force elected governmentsto introduce ‘market competition’ tooutsource and privatise transportnetworks.

However the results of privatising andfragmenting industries can be seen onLondon Underground when GordonBrown handed over infrastructuremanagement to private companies.

The PPP experiment has nowthankfully been abandoned but formerTube Lines staff have been refused theright to join the Transport for LondonPension Scheme and receive the sametravel concessions as those who work forLUL, including former Metronet staff.

RMT has been forced into callingstrike action to stop this injustice asthere is simply no excuse for refusing togive equal pension and pass rights.

EU rules are also behind the plannedprivatisation of profitable routes on theCaledonian MacBrayne ferry service.

This is clearly the thin end of aprofiteering wedge that would smashapart the concept of Scottish ferries as apublic service in the name of privategreed.

The union faces huge legal challengesas a result of changes to the civil legalsystem by Lord Jackson which will affectservices that RMT can provide andundermines funding for cases to betaken up.

If that wasn’t bad enough there arenow consultations on charging foremployment tribunals and raising thetime limit for qualifying for unfairdismissal from one year to two years.

Therefore we need to giveconsideration over the coming months tothe type of legal service required for

members and the affordability of it inthe future.

That is why the annual generalmeeting agreed to produce a wideranging survey of all branches asking forsuggestions as to how to improve ourlegal services. Please ensure that yourbranch returns this questionnaire toHead Office by no later than June 1.

The Tory-Lib Dem double act is alsolooking at rewarding their friends in thebus industry by introducing morecompetition for lucrative bus routes.

This would return the industry to thebus wars of the 1990s where jobs, pay,pensions, services and affordable fareswere sacrificed on the altar of privateprofit.

In order to stop this RMT gaveevidence to the cross-party TransportSelect Committee stating that Thatcher’sprivatisation of buses in 1985 has been acomplete disaster for passengers andworkers. We want nationalisation of busservices in the long term and we alsoargued for greater regulation of busservices outside of London, so thatprivate companies cannot ride roughshod over workers and passengers.

We left the committee in no doubtthat private profit from bus servicesshould be stopped and that money usedto invest in publicly owned buscompanies that would provide the jobsand bus services communities in cities,towns and the countryside need.

Scottish signallers in Stirling havevote 100 per cent for strike action in arosters dispute with Network Rail andmembers at Freightliner are taking 24strike action later this month over pay.

Finally as I write the offshore gasElgin Platform is still spewing out gas.

This union believes that theworkforce, those taking all the risks,should be involved in offshore healthand safety issues in order to avoidsituations that could lead to a majordisaster.

All the best

contents EDITORIAL

When you have finished with this magazine give it to aworkmate who is not in your union. Even better, ask them tojoin RMT by filling in the application form opposite

NATIONALISATIONNOT PRIVATISATION

Page 4

TUBE LINES STRIKE FOR PENSIONJUSTICEPage 5

NO MORE GRAYRIGGSPage 6

IRISH RAIL THREATENED BY EUPRIVATISATION Page 7

STOP MCNULTY!Page 8

NATIONALISATION NOT PRIVATISATION Page 9

PARLIAMENTARY COLUMNPage 10

NORWEGIAN AND UK OIL WORKERSSTRIKE DEALPage 11

A SPARK FROM DISASTERPage 12

NO TO MCNULTYPage 13

WOMEN’S TUC BACKS RAILNATIONALISATION Page 14

DEFENDING CATERING GRADES Page 15

DEFENDING THE SAFETY ROLE OF THEGUARD Page 16

A SITE BETTERPage 18

SIGNALLERS AND SAFETY Page 19

TRIPCOCK TESTING TIMES Page 20

ACT ON RUNAWAYS!Page 21

A BETTER DEAL FOR TUBE TRACKCONTRACTORS Page 22

DEALING WITH DISABILITY Page 23

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN Page 26

RMT LEARNING NEWS Page 28

PORT VICTORY IN NEW ZEALAND Page 29

ELECTION ADS/CROSSWORD0

CREDIT UNION


4

RMT has announced 72 hoursof strike action this month

following a four to one vote ina ballot of Tube Lines staff insupport of a dispute overpensions and benefits justice.

RMT has been demandingthat all Tube Lines staff,including ex-Alstom staff atStratford Market depot and theEmergency Response Unit, beallowed to join the Transport forLondon Pension Scheme andreceive the same travelconcessions as those who workfor LUL, including formerMetronet staff.

The union call for justice has

been on the agenda ever sinceLondon Underground took overTube Lines as part of the rescueoperation after the failure of thetube privatisation project

Parity would bring TubeLines staff free travel withinLondon and 75 per cent of thecost of rail travel – theconcession that all Tube staff,including ex-Metronet people,already get.

Tube Lines staff areresponsible for bothmaintenance and upgrade workon the Jubilee line, Northernline and Piccadilly line andaction by staff will have a

serious and widespread impactacross the system. RMT reps willbe closely monitoring the safetyenvironment.

RMT general secretary BobCrow said that members haddelivered a massive mandate foraction following astraightforward demand forparity with other Tube staff.

“This dispute is about justiceand about ensuring that allgroups of staff under theumbrella of LondonUnderground receive the samerights and benefits and ourmembers have no choice but tostrike to secure those basic

rights.“Former Metronet employees

have been allowed back into theTfL Pension Fund and now alsohave the same travel facilities asother LUL employees.

“Tube Lines is now a whollyowned subsidiary of Transportfor London and there is simplyno excuse for refusing to giveequal pension and pass rights.

“The union remains ready totalk, and the strong mandate forthis industrial action showsTube Lines and TfL the depth ofanger there is over this blatantlack of fairness and justice,” hesaid.

TUBE LINES STRIKEFOR PENSION JUSTICE

RMT has slammed plans thatwould lead to the

privatisation of profitableroutes on the CaledonianMacBrayne ferry service as the“thin end of a profiteeringwedge that would smash apartthe concept of Scottish ferriesas a public service in the nameof private greed.”

The Transport Scotlanddocument identifies five routesfor privatisation:• Ardrossan – Bodick

• Wemyss Bay – Rothesay

• Oban – Craignure

• Largs – Cumbrae

• Pentland Firth

RMT is warning that the drive,part of the SNP administrationsattempts to cut capital costs byover 30 per cent, would resultin higher fares, job losses andthe cherry-picking of the mostprofitable services at the most

profitable times.RMT general secretary Bob

Crow said that if the fiveroutes were sold off for profitit would fire the starting gunfor the smashing apart ofScottish ferries as a publicservice.

“We agree that there needs

to be investment in fleet andinfrastructure but that shouldbe seen as exactly the kind ofproject that can create jobs notas an excuse for handing fatcontracts to outfits likeLombard/RBS for extortionateleasing agreements.

“RMT has run a campaign

involving local communities todefend Scottish Ferries fromexactly this kind of attack fora number of years now andthat will now jump to a newlevel in light of this draftreport and as we awaitproposals for Northern Ferries,”he said.

RMT SLAMS PLANS TO SMASHUP SCOTTISH FERRY SERVICES


5

RMT members protested outsidePreston Law Courts against railcuts earlier this month asNetwork Rail was fined £4million for causing a train toderail near Grayrigg in 2007,causing the death of onepassenger and injuring 86people.

The company was alsoordered to pay costs of £118,052after pleading guilty to onecharge under section 3(1) of theHealth and Safety at Work etcAct 1974.

The established reasons forthe Grayrigg tragedy were badmanagement and unrealisticworkloads – problems that RMTinsists will worsen as thegovernment roll-out its massiverail-cuts programme that willslice 30 per cent from budgetswhile protecting the profits ofthe private train operators.

RMT general secretary BobCrow said that despite the heftyfine those directly responsible

for the bullying and cuts culturethat led to the tragedy ofGrayrigg had got away with it.

“In fact it is the the railmaintenance budget that willend up losing out as that iswhere the £4 million fine willhave to come from.

“Perversely, today’s outcomemakes another Grayrigg morelikely while those in charge atNetwork Rail at the time have

been honoured and have goneon to make fortunes,” he said.

Under the present set-up theOffice of Rail Regulation, whichbrought the prosecution, is alsothe body demanding the cuts.

“The ORR have a blatantconflict of interest as bothfinancial and safety regulator inthe twisted world of railprivatisation.

“The ORR and the govern-ment are now demanding morecuts to staffing andmaintenance as part of theirsupport for the carve-up of theMcNulty Rail Review, and RMT’sfight for safety on the trackswill continue,” he said.

The union is also calling forjustice for the rail workers whosuffered months of anguish afterbeing suspended following theGrayrigg disaster.

Network Rail’s own reportinto the derailment found that“no structured assessment was

undertaken to establish whethersufficient resources existed’’ andthat “management systemsemployed…were not sufficientlyrobust”.

But the lessons have clearlynot been learned. Network Railhas already cut inspectionfrequencies and postponedinfrastructure upgrades –dancing to the tune of a ‘safetyregulator’ that also sets thebudgets.

The McNulty plan alsoenvisages billions in cuts to therail budgets in order to protectthe profits and dividends of theprivateers.

Most dangerously,infrastructure will be divvied upamong private train operators,for whom the first duty is tomake profits for theirshareholders: not just a newRailtrack, but a whole series ofmini-Railtracks.

NO MORE GRAYRIGGSProtest at PrestonLaw Courts againstcuts as Network Railfined millions forGrayrigg disaster


6

The Irish governmentannounced last month that it

would not be seeking anextension of its currentderogation from European Unionlegislation demanding railprivatisation.

National railway IarnródÉireann's only international linkis with the UK's Northern IrelandRailways, which has a similarderogation from EU rail diktats.

The Northern IrelandAdministration has notrequested that the UK

government apply to extend itsderogation. Both railways are1,600 mm gauge and isolatedfrom the wider Europeannetwork by the Irish Sea.

IÉ is currently a publiclyowned, vertically integratedstate railway. However EU rulesrequire a split in operations andinfrastructure and theintroduction access charges forthe network to enforce marketmechanisms into the industry.

The government is to‘consult’ on how best to

‘restructure’ IÉ before thederogation expires on March 142013.

Irish Transport Minister andFine Gael politician LeoVaradkar said: “Ireland is theonly country in the EU whichhas been allowed to retain asingle operator which regulates,operates and maintains itsmainline rail network.”

He said that European lawdemanded greater competitionand freer access to the railnetwork sector across Europe.

“I would like Ireland to bewell prepared to avail of anysuch opportunities in future,” hesaid.

Ireland is among thecountries in the eurozone thathave had ‘bailout’ plans drawnup for them by the so-calledTroika of the Europeancommission, the EuropeanCentral Bank (ECB) and theInternational Monetary Fund(IMF) which demand theprivatisation of public services.

RMT members working ascleaners for John Laing on

the London Overground contracthave won a 3.5 per cent payincrease, full sick pay and anOlympic bonus.

The deal also restoresdifferentials to supervisors witha 5.7 per cent pay increase, andboth increases will be backdatedto January 1 2012.

Under the deal a bonusequivalent to 25 per cent of thebasic salary for all cleaning,team leader and supervisorystaff will be paid for the periodduring in which the Olympicand Paralympic Games aretaking place. For the two-weekperiod from the end of theOlympic and the commencementof the Paralympic Games abonus of 12.5 per cent on thebasic salary will apply.

Cleaners will be eligible forthe first time for entry into thecompany sickness scheme.

London regional organiser

Steve Hedley said that it was aground-breaking deal which setthe benchmark for cleaners inthe transport industry.

“We only recently won tradeunion recognition for this groupof workers and they are beingrightly rewarded for the hard

work they do,” he said.RMT won bargaining rights

for the staff, who work fromdepots at Acton, Gospel Oak,New Cross Gate and Willesden,last year following a ballotcarried out under CentralArbitration Committee rules.

RMT general secretary BobCrow said that it was anothermajor milestone in thecampaign to win better pay,conditions and rights for agroup of workers who havebeen hammered by privatisation.

IRISH RAIL THREATENEDBY EU PRIVATISATION

DEAL: RMT reps Josephine Eksoh and Mohammed Orisakeye with Bob Crow and Steve Hedley

LONDON OVERGROUNDCLEANERS WIN OLYMPICBONUS AND SICK PAY


7

Fighting McNulty: Members across the country have been campaigningagainst McNulty proposals to further fragment the rail industry

The government has adopted the McNulty rail review aspolicy and it is demanding fewer, more overcrowded rail

services, ticket-office closures, the axing of tens of thousandsof front-line railway staff, the break-up of Network Rail intoëmini-Railtracksí and reduced safety standards.

Meanwhile rail companies will reap make even biggerprofits on top of the astonishing £11 billion of taxpayersmoney that has been drained from the industry sinceprivatisation. Make your voice heard at a public meetingnear you (see opposite).

STOPMCNULTY!

ANDOVERThursday May 31, 7:30pm Andover Guildhall

BARNSTAPLEThursday May 31, 7pm Castle Centre, Castle Street, Barnstaple EX31 1DR

BLACKBURN & DISTRICTThursday May 31, 7:30pm Hornby Lecture Theatre, Blackburn Central Library, Town

Hall Street BB2 1AG

CUMBERNAULD & KILSYTHThursday May 24, 7:30pm Link Community Centre, Room GP3, Cumbernauld

HULL & DISTRICTThursday May 24, 7pm Unison offices, 39 Alfred Gelder Street, Hull HU1 2AG

SOUTHENDThursday May 31, 7:30pm Southend Central Library, Victoria Avenue, SS2 6EX

CARDIFF COUNTYThursday May 31, 7pm Unite offices, Transport House, 1 Cathedral Road,

Cardiff CF11 9SD

BRISTOLThursday May 31, 7pm Council House, College Green, Bristol


8

Transport unions from acrossthe European Union marchedthrough Brussels last monthdemanding an end to the EUdrive to privatise publictransport networks across thecontinent.

Twenty unions representingthousands of transport workers,from Britain, France, Portugal,Cyprus and Italy Spain tookover the centre of Brussels witha rally and protest.

The unions were marking thefirst anniversary of theEuropean Commission’sTransport White Paper, whichwill open up domestic passengerrail services, bus, and metro andferry services to private

companies.EU transport ‘liberalisation’

rules force member states tointroduce ‘market competition’to outsource and privatisetransport networks across ferry,bus and rail networks, attackingthe fundamental concept of'socialised' public transport.

The privatisation of transportinfrastructure and services alongwith other key national assets isa core demand of theIMF/EU/ECB troika nowimposing austerity and massprivatisation on Greece andPortugal.

EU commissioners plan tocreate a “single Europeantransport network” dominated

by private-sector monopolyinterests that will lead to cuts inpay, more expensive services forpassengers and maximumprofits for big business.

Addressing the rally, RMTgeneral secretary Bob Crowinsisted workers needed to goon the attack against EUtransport diktats.

“The transfer of ownershipand control of transport toEurope’s biggest private banksand corporate monopolies is anattack on national democracyand an anti-democratic veto bybig business over the sovereignrights of the people,” he said.

World Federation of TradesUnions representative and

member of the Pan-CyprianFederation of Labour (PEO)Pieris Pieri explained that theEU “wanted to put transportunder the control of capital”.

He called for “class-orientated trade unionism” tofight for public transport to berun in the public interest.

“There is only one reply tothis onslaught by big capital –the struggle of the working classis intensifying – the trade unionmovement must provide apowerful answer,” he said.

Italian trade union USBnational secretary FrancesuStaccioli backed the rally indefence of publicly owned andpublicly run transport

NATIONALISATION NOT PRIVATISATION

RMT members join trade unionists from acrossEurope to oppose EU moves to hand over publictransport to private interests

Rail unions, the TUC and transportcampaigners launched a campaign thismonth to fight job cuts, servicereductions, ticket office closures andfare hikes in the rail industry.At a meeting with MPs at the House ofCommons, union leaders andrepresentatives from the Campaign forBetter Transport raised their concernsabout the government’s proposals forthe future of rail as outlined in the RailCommand Paper. Concerns raised included the creationof multiple regional ‘Railtracks’ throughthe fragmentation of Network Rail, itscapture by private operators throughgreater integration with Train OperatingCompanies (TOCs) and the selling ofrail infrastructure through regionalconcessions, putting maintenance andsafety at risk.The campaign will also highlight issuessuch as service reductions andpunishing fare hikes for peak timecommuters resulting from more flexibleand longer TOC franchises, the closureof more than 650 ticket offices, jobcuts of up to 20,000 rail staff onstations, trains, ticket offices, signallingand maintenance and pay cuts.Rail unions also pressed the case forbetter value for money and costeffectiveness through a nationalintegrated railway under publicownership.Chairing the event, TUC deputygeneral secretary Frances O’Gradysaid that the costs of the dysfunctionalprivatised rail system had fallen on thepassenger and the taxpayer whilebillions had leaked out of the industrythrough wasteful transaction costs,dividends and profits.

“The government’s proposals donothing to address the problemscreated by privatisation and thegovernment mantra remains:privatisation works, let’s have more ofit,” she said.RMT general secretary Bob Crow said

that the solution was simple.“Bring rail back under a single

integrated management under public

ownership,” he said.Campaigns Director at Campaign forBetter Transport Richard Hebditch saidthat passengers wanted more availablestaff, affordable trains and a reliableservice.

“For the foreseeable future, we expectto see inflation plus three per cent farerises on regulated fares and now therewill punishing fare hikes for thosecommuters who travel during peakhours, most of whom are forced to doso by the hours that they work,” hesaid.Shadow transport minister Maria Eaglesaid that the government’s rail strategywas set to put private profit beforepassengers thanks to its inability tostand up to vested interests.

“Passengers are already feeling theimpact of fare rises of up to 11 percent this year thanks to thegovernment’s decision to give back totrain companies the right to hike faresby more than the so-called fare cap.

“We now know from the refranchisingtender documents that bidders havebeen promised the right to hike faresby eight per cent above inflation in2013 and 2014 and then six per centabove inflation every year for the next15 years.

“To add to the pressure facingcommuters, ministers are also set togive TOCs even greater freedoms,including permitting even moreexpensive ‘super peak’ tickets andclosing ticket offices, making it harderto get the cheapest deals.

“As a result of these plans, profit willnow be the driving principle behind railinfrastructure in addition to rail services.

“The proposed deep alliances will see asingle regional manager for the firsttime being accountable not just toNetwork Rail, but equally to privatetrain company bosses.

“The creation of a set of mini-‘Railtracks’will take us back to the days whendecisions on infrastructure andmaintenance were profit–driven,” shewarned.

FIGHTING JOBCUTS ANDFARE HIKES


9

Parliamentary column

Voters in Thurrock, Essex voted fora referendum on European Unionmembership this month by amargin of 90 per cent in a turnoutof over 30 per cent.

The Electoral Reform Servicescarried out the historic poll onbehalf of the cross-party People’sPledge campaign in theconstituency and 89.9 per cent ofvoters backed the referendum callin an impressive turnout of 30.39per cent.

Backing the pledge, RMTgeneral secretary Bob Crow spokeat a public meeting with LabourMP Kate Hoey in Grays urgingpeople to vote.

"The people of Thurrock havepunched through the wall ofsilence erected by the political classover the issue of EU membership.

"The EU is imposing austerityand privatising public services onbehalf of big business acrossEurope yet our politicians don'twant us to even discuss it.

"Now they will find this strategyof silence a lot harder to maintain,"he said.

Throughout the campaign localTory MP Jackie Doyle-Price, andher Labour challenger, PollyBillington, refused even toacknowledge the pro-democracycampaign.

Pledge director Ian MacKenziesaid that in a seat with a majorityof just 92 at the last election,neither politician could now affordto ignore 14,590 local voters,almost as many as each of theirparties polled in the generalelection.

“We are going to plannationally for the next 11 People’sPledge referendums,” he said.

RMT president Alex Gordon saidthe result was an emphaticrejection of the EU agenda oftrying to erase “hard-won historicrights to make our own laws anddecide our own future”.

“The EU is imposing a form ofpre-democratic, corporatefeudalism – government by EUdiktat that is reducing the status ofGreece, Portugal and Ireland toneo-colonial outposts,” he said.

THURROCKBACKS EUREFERENDUM

The union signed a renewedprotocol agreement with

Norwegian energy unionIndustri Energy (IE) inStavanger last month to coverthe interests of members of bothunions working in the offshoreenergy sector of both countries.

RMT general secretary BobCrow attended the meeting inStavanger with RMT presidentAlex Gordon and RMT nationalsecretary Steve Todd.

A protocol agreementbetween the two unions hasexisted for many years, coveringsome issues concerning theoffshore and the divingindustry.

The new protocol expandsthis cooperation to organisingoffshore energy workers in boththe UK and Norwegian sectorswho are not covered by anycollective bargainingagreements.

RMT national secretary SteveTodd said that the two unionshoped to form a North SeaOrganising and SafetyCommittee which will meet atleast three times a year.

“This will enable us todiscuss the situation in ourrespective sectors and how we

can best tackle the problemswhich affect us all, includinghealth and safety issues andsocial dumping.

“We need to have the inputof not just full time officers butrepresentatives from theworkforce, the very people whoare at the coal face.

“At the end of the day it isabout their representation andhow best we serve them,” hesaid.

Steve said that the meetingin Stavanger compared thedifferent ways the twoorganisations could activelyrepresent their members.

“It’s quite clear from thosediscussions that we are milesbehind when it comes to therights of trade unions to be ableto represent their memberseffectively.

“One particular issue that isstill causes most concern is theright of access to the workforceand the right to appoint tradeunion safety reps.

“It is quite clear that thestatutory instrument –SI971 –does not go far enough inallowing us access to theworkforce or the appointment ofreps and we are now

considering the possibility of ajudicial review and whateverelse we can do to try andaddress this problem.

“We have given the matter toour legal advisors as it has goneon for far too long and its quiteclear that a piece of antiquatedlegislation clearly prevents us

from doing the job ofrepresenting our memberseffectively in this sector,” Stevesaid.

The first two meetingsbetween RMT and IE this yearwill be in London in July and inOslo in October.


10

The Daily Mirror newspaperhas exposed that cross-channelferry operator Condor Ferries isgetting away with paying itsUkrainian crew less than £30for a 12-hour day.

That's barely a third of theminimum wage both in the UKand in Guernsey, where Condoris based.

The paper quoted contractssigned last summer between acrew member and CondorMarine Crewing Services,Condor's UK subsidiary.

The minimum wage at thetime was £5.93, yet theUkranians "should expect towork up to 12 hours per day"

for £28.19 - that's as little as£2.35 per hour and "includesall overtime".

They worked on two ferriesregistered in the Bahamas, sothe new Equality Act - whichbans different pay rates fordifferent nationalities on UK-registered ships - does notapply.

A Condor spokeswoman saidit employs "a number of crew"every year on three-monthcontracts through an agencybased in Ukraine.

RMT national secretarySteve Todd said: "This loopholeis totally unacceptable andunfair on British seafarers".

SOCIAL DUMPINGEXPOSED

NORWEGIAN AND UK OILWORKERS STRIKE DEAL

PROTOCOL: RMT general secretary Bob Crow inStavanger with IE general secretary Leif Sande, RMTpresident Alex Gordon and RMT national secretarySteve Todd


11

Last month a well on the Total UKoperated Elgin Platform “G4”began spewing out gas at a rateof approximately seven tonnes anhour.

And as RMT News goes topress the gas continues to flow.

This is an unprecedented eventin the North Sea, because the gasis flowing freely with no physicalway of stopping it by normalmeans such as closing a valve orusing an emergency shutdownsystem.

It is suspected the gas isentering the outer casings of thewell several thousand feet belowthe sea bed and is flowing upthese outer casings to theplatform.

As the gas began to leak theplatform was immediately shutdown and the OffshoreInstallation Manager (OIM),realising the seriousness of theproblem, began an immediateevacuation.

In little over three and a halfhours, through a combination ofhelicopters from the RAF andNorwegian sources, over 200workers were taken to safety.

The OIM and Total are to becommended for their rapidreactions, and every memberinvolved in this event has praisedthe OIM for the way he handledthe emergency.

However we still have someconcerns about the period leadingup to this event. Total hasconfirmed that irregular pressure‘spikes’ were being recorded in the“annuli” (gaps between the outercasings) from mid-February.

After several attempts to‘manage’ these increasingpressures a decision was taken to“kill” the well.

This is a process where fluidsare pumped into the annuli tosuppress the pressures andultimately eliminate any potentialfor gas or anything else comingback up any area of the well. Itwas during this process that thepressure spikes increaseddramatically and subsequently gasbegan leaking.

Workers tell us the OIM briefedthem on the well problems theywere experiencing and theobvious question was asked -‘what happens if the well fails,will we get gas on the platform?’

The OIM sought the advice ofthe Technical Authorities on thisquestion, the engineers onshore,and the response apparently was -‘if the well fails it will happenseveral thousand feet below theseabed because there is a fail safesystem designed into the well.’

Clearly this was not the case,so were the safety reps and theOIM given the wronginformation? Or did the “failsafe”itself fail? Many questions remainto be answered about how theproblem occurred, how it was‘managed’ and what informationwas passed to the safety reps andmanagement onboard theinstallation.

If we assume the informationreceived from members isaccurate, we would expect to seethe Health and Safety Executivereflect on these issues in theirinvestigations.

This is crucial as it may yet beanother example of how theoffshore workforce is ‘disengaged’from the decision-makingprocesses affecting their day today health and safety.

RMT has been activelycampaigning for greaterworkforce involvement of workersin the health and safety decisionmaking process.

The union was recently at theforefront of a successful campaignconvincing the industry thatoffshore safety representativesshould be given more training toaid greater involvement andownership of the health andsafety agenda.

RMT also submitted a report tothe Department of Energy andClimate Change (DECC) calling forgreater powers for offshore safetyrepresentatives as part of theiroffshore regulatory review.

RMT maintains that the actual“risk-takers”, the workforce, ourmembers, should be empoweredthrough knowledge and educationto be truly involved in everydecision making process from theboard room to the tea-shack.

The union considers this to beentirely reasonable, given theyface scenarios like the Elginincident where, had the gas foundan ignition source, we could havebeen looking at a major disaster.

A SPARKFROMDISASTERAs gas continues to escape theElgin offshore platform RMTorganiser Jake Molloy warns thatworkforce involvement in healthand safety matters is vital


12

The annual supervisory andclerical grades conferencemeeting in Edinburgh called fora united campaign to defeat theNcNulty review being adoptedby the ConDem government.

Assistant general secretaryPat Sikorski said that theMcNulty report threatened tobreak up Network Rail, job andwage cut and above inflationfare hikes every year to at least2019.

“The big companies nowwant to mould the industry tooperate entirely for profit.

“This would also mean theclosure of ticket offices,stripping out staff and theintroducing Driver-OnlyOperation by 2014,” he said.

He warned that the movesrepresented the threat of a ‘raceto the bottom’ with theintroduction of agency workersin the drive to make money.

McNulty also demands lowerwages and recommends thattrain companies should considerthe closure of all ticket officesin 27 per cent of stations on thenetwork.

The report calls forincreasing the availability ofticket vending machines atlarger stations, enabling areduction in the number ofticket office windows,encouraging greater use oftechnology which does notrequire staff and increasingpenalty fares.

Conference agreed that apositive campaign was requiredto present an alternative futurefor the transport industry basedon decent public services.

Sean Hoyle from the Councilof Executives reported that theunion was supporting thebroadest possible campaign,uniting unions, passenger and

community groups to defendclerical grades.

“McNulty is seeking toobliterate clerical grades acrossthe rail network.

“We are working with TSSAin the Staff Our Stationscampaign,” he said.

Regional organiser MickHogg said that Scottish lifelineferry networks faced McNulty-style attacks of fragmentation,job cuts and less services in thedrive for profit.

He said that no privateoperator putting in tenders forCaledonian MacBrayne andNorthlink ferry services couldprovide the same levels ofhealth and safety, wages andservices currently maintained bythe union.

“In Scotland we haveinitiated a cross-unioncampaign through the RMTScottish parliamentary group to

oppose the fragmentation ofScotrail and ferry services.

“We are on a collision coursewith the Scottish governmentand we need to be preparednow,” he said.

Ronnie Coates, Edinburgh,said that in order to fightattacks from the governmentand the employers, the unionhad to build industrial tradeunionism in the clerical sector.

“We have always representedall staff should be proud of ourslogan ‘all grades united in onecommon cause’,” he said.

He called on the union todevelop grade-specificpropaganda to explain thebenefits of RMT membership.

Conference agreed that theunion should re-double effortsto organise clerical, supervisoryand management grades intoRMT membership.

Graham Knott, South Hants,

NO TO MCNULTY

Supervisory and clerical grades meeting inEdinburgh call for unity to fight McNulty’splans to further fragment the transport industry


13

Delegates at this year’s TUCwomen’s conference

demanded that the railwaysshould be taken out of thehands of privateers andrenationalised.

RMT delegate Mandy Evanscriticised the McNulty reportfor recommending higher fares

and fewer staff. “This money is public

money and should be put backinto our public infrastructureto ensure that we get a quality,affordable train service andget to and from work safely.

“If they are taking themoney and running with it

obviously they are not puttingit back in. Less staff will resultin more risks.

“Our train service is themost expensive in Europe andthat’s because it’s beenprivatised.

“The only sensible solutionwill be to renationalise the

railways,” she said to applause.The RMT delegation to this

year’s women’s TUC was madeup of Jennifer Gray, TracyDarker, Mandy Evans andJanet Cassidy. Jennifer Graywas successful in gettingelected to the TUC Women’sCommittee.

said that grades-specific chartersthat had been produced by theunion outlining minimumdemands and problems in thesector had proved successful inrecruiting staff and winningbattles.

“We need a new charter forthis grade,” he said.

Alan Pottage of theorganising unit said that gradesconferences were very importantdemocratic parts of the union.

“Your conference helps toorganise workers in yoursector,” he said.

Brian Woods, Feltham, said

that ‘un-restructured’ clericaland supervisory staff employedby train operating companieswere working under less-favourable conditions than‘restructured’ staff.

“A system should be put inplace so that all paynegotiations ensure all staffreceive a fair pay rise,” he said.

Mick Tosh, Portsmouth,called on the union to ensureagreements made withcompanies operating pensionschemes restored parity for allworkers.

“Companies have used

legislation to downgrade orremove pension schemes.

“They are also introducingdifferent tiers of pensionprovision.

“Wightlink members ballotedfor strike action some years agoto defend and extend pensionprovision,” he said.

Andy Budds, Leeds, reportedthat Northern Rail had launchedmassive attacks on jobs andoffice opening hours.

“Northern Rail is alsoignoring long-standing PTR&Rarrangement and using‘selection events’ to redeploy

displaced clerical staff,” he said.Conference called on the

union to resist any dilution ofsuch arrangements withindustrial action.

Ivor Riddell of UnionLearning explained the role ofunion learning reps in theworkplace.

“ULRs have the same rightsas other union reps and theirrole is to encourage members totake up educationopportunities,” he said.

Next year’s conference willtake place in Great Yarmouth.

TUC WOMAN BACKRAIL NATIONALISATION

RMT DELEGATION: left to right, Jennifer Gray,

Tracy Darker, Mandy Evans, Janet Cassidy


14

Set against continued attacks onthe working conditions ofcatering grade members andemployers attempts to replacethe on-board teams with agencystaff, RMT’s Hotel, Catering andAncillary grades held a highlyproductive conference this yearin Southport.

With some 30 delegates inattendance the conferenceproved the perfect platform formembers to debate the issuespertinent to their grade and thechallenges faced in the light of

the ConDem government’sattempts to force through thedeeply unpopular changesproposed in the McNulty report.

Assistant general secretaryPat Sikorski spoke about someof the deals the union had beenable to negotiate despite theattacks on the industry andclaims by McNulty that above-inflation pay deals must end.

Deals currently on the tablethat offered members increasedpay and lower working hoursdemonstrated that

breakthroughs could still beachieved and that the unioncould deliver what Pat called“McNulty-busting deals”.

Pat also spoke about thecampaign that the organisingunit has been successfullyrunning to recruit Rail Gourmetand Select Service Partners(SSP) staff into the union.

The fruits of this project wereborne recently when ten newreps attended their first trainingcourse at the RMT educationcentre in Doncaster.

RMT believed that on-boardcatering facilities should bedelivered by in-house cateringstaff working from properlyresourced buffet cars rather thanagency staff providing a trolleyservice. However it was alsovital that the union recruitsthese agency workers.

“There should be no barriersto these staff joining the union,as only then can we press forthem to be brought back in-house,” said Pat.

The McNulty report proposes

DEFENDINGCATERING GRADES A packed hotel, catering and ancillary gradesconference meeting in Stockport rejectsMcNulty and the casualisation of the industry


15

RMT is in dispute with FirstGreat Western over thecompany’s attempt toundermine the safety role of theguard on Class 180 trains beingre-introduced on the franchise.

FGW has used a variety ofexcuses to avoid restoring fullguard control over the 180s’doors – despite the very sametrains being operated byNorthern for two years with theguard fully in control.

First Great Western initiallytried to maintain the fiction thatmodification of the trains togive the guard full control ofthe operation of doors was all-but impossible.

Yet the five sets that FGWintends to re-introduce on itsfranchise were modified in justsuch a manner before they weretransferred to the formerNorthern franchise.

The Northern company

council had made it plain thatthe 180s would not be allowedinto service there unless theguard had full control over thedoors – and the necessarymodification was speedily made.

While the 180s were in useon Northern guards used a localdoor on short platforms, butbefore their return to FGW, thesimple modification wasinexplicably reversed.

The union understands that aswitching mechanism is alreadywired into the 180s that wouldmake modification to giveselective-door operation to theguard the matter of a singleweekend’s work.

The company tried to assurethe union that the 180s would‘only’ be used on the ThamesValley line, but it has alreadymade clear that they would beused in place of high-speed

trains if there were to be ashortage. Indeed, the sets wereused as subs for HSTs beforethey went to Northern.

The company is claiming thatthe modification demanded bythe union would not be allowedby the Rail Safety andStandards Board (RSSB) but hasnot explained why Northern was“allowed” to do just that.

“RMT general secretary BobCrow said that it was a case ofFirst Great Western using the180s as the thin end of thewedge to undermine the safetyrole of the guard ahead of theintroduction of new intercityexpress stock.

“Our members will not behoodwinked, it is a clear attackon safety standards and RMTwill support them all the way instopping it,” he said.

the casualisation of the industryand the use of agency staff willbe a lever to launch inevitableattacks on members’ terms andconditions to drive down costsand increase private profit.

Pat revealed that RailGourmet does not providefacilities for staff to takeadequate breaks as there isnowhere secure for their trolliesto be locked away.

As staff are held liable forany thefts, any losses incurredhave to be reimbursed to thecompany from their ownpockets.

Council of Executivesmember Owen Herbert spoke onbehalf of the EC and welcomedthe fact that there were somany new faces at theconference.

Owen spoke about the workBrian Whitehead had done tosecure a recognition agreementwith Rail Gourmet and how,despite this, it had instructedmanagers not to let RMT onsite.

“This just goes todemonstrate the reputation RMThas for representing itsmembers,” he said.

Owen spoke of the need forworkplace unity.

“Workers are facing attacksfrom bosses, politicians and themedia so it is vital thateveryone sticks together.

“If there is no foundation atwork level we cannot representour members” he said.

Asked from the floor if theunion should routinely beasking employers to bring

cleaning and catering staff backin-house as part of paynegotiations, Owen agreed,adding that RMT wasconstantly campaigning for theentire rail industry to bebrought back together underone publicly owned umbrellaorganisation.

Resolutions broughtpassionate speeches from thefloor for support in fightingattacks on workers’ rights bythe train operating companies.

Motions selected to goforward to this year’s AGMincluded one proposed byPaddington No 1 branchattacking the erosion of thetravelling chef service due to ashortage of staff and apreference for providing only atrolley service was.

The motion called for therestoration of the service leaderrole and this view was widelysupported. It was proposed thatevidence should be compileddocumenting examples of theservice being cancelled so acompelling case can bepresented to employers.

The second resolution to beput to the AGM came fromManchester South branch,demanding that all trainoperating companies suppliedin-house staff to provide on-board catering as a pre-requisite of any futuretendering for rail franchises.

Next year’s conference iwilltake place in Weston-Super-Mare on March 1 to 3.

DEFENDING THESAFETY ROLE OFTHE GUARD Battle lines drawnon First GreatWestern over 180 stock


16

A SITEBETTER!

RMT general secretary Bob Crow on the launchof an exciting new project that aims to harness

cutting-edge web and ‘app’ technology


17

RMT’s website is to undergo amajor rebuild – and the unionwants to hear YOUR views onwhat it should look like.

Good communication iskey to good organisation, andin the computer age membersneed information the momentit becomes available on awebsite that is fast and easyto use.

RMT has been at theforefront of the use oftechnology, including emailand text communications, butthe website is now overdue foran overhaul.

Commissioned seven yearsago – a lifetime in computertechnology – the current RMTwebsite, the union’s third, isnow beyond its shelf-life,virtually bursting at the seamsunder the weight of a mass ofinformation.

Following debate at lastyear’s AGM and resolutionsfrom a number of branches,the union’s executive hasgiven the green light to aproject that aims to deliver acutting-edge website and thedevelopment of ‘app’technology that will bringRMT information tosmartphones and other hand-

held devices.The project will also be an

opportunity to bring togetherthe union’s various other sites– RMTv, RMT Junction andthe RMT Vulnerable Workers’site – at the same address, aone-stop-shop puttinginformation instantaneously atevery member’s fingertips.

Step number one in theproject is to find out whatmembers want from theirwebsite, and that is whereYOU come in.

I have written to everyRMT branch and regionalcommittee, but it is importantthat every member shouldhave the chance to have a say.

We want to hear frommembers about what theywant from their website, whatthey want from a smartphoneapp and what the union cando to make access toinformation easier andquicker.

Those views will help us tocommission technology thatwill help the union and itsmembers in our day-to-day,bread-and-butter task ofsecuring better pay, conditionsand safety standards.

WHAT’S NEWON RMTv

CHANNEL 1 – RMT IN ACTIONNationalisation Not Privatisation - InternationalDemonstration in Brussels March 28, 2012. Amessage to members urging them to attend thisyear’s demonstration in Brussels against theEU’s transport privatisation drive.

RMT Young Members' National Conference2012 – Highlights from this year’s conference.

CHANNEL 2 – NEWS BULLETINSCHANNEL 3 – HISTORY CHANNEL

CHANNEL 4 – RMT EXTRASolidarity for striking Greek workers –Highlights from the demonstration held on March12, 2012.

Free the Miami 5 - The Miami Five are fiveCubans falsely accused, and jailed by the USgovernment, of committing espionage againstthe United States.

The Fight for Health and Safety - JohnMcDonnell's speech to the 10th annual RMTHealth and Safety conference.

Catch the latest video updates onRMT’s own on-line station atwww.rmtv.org.uk

GET THE LATEST FROM RMT AT WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/RMTUNION WWW.TWITTER.COM/RMTUNION

THERE ARE SEVERAL WAYS TO LET THEUNION KNOW YOUR VIEWS:A questionnaire can be downloaded from the current RMT website atwww.rmt.org.uk – just fill it in and return it. A link to the questionnairewill also be emailed to reps and activists.

You can email your views to web editor Andrew Brattle [email protected],

or you can write to Andrew by ‘snail-mail’ at Unity House, 39 Chalton Street, London NW1 1JD

The questions below are aimed at generating ideas, but don’t feelconfined to answering just those.

Please ensure that your comments reach Unity House by June 1.

What the union wants to know...What are the key reasons that you use the RMT website – orwhat stops you using it?

What do you think should be done to make the website easierto use?

What is hot – and what is not – on the current website?

What additional features would you like to see on the newwebsite?

With technology around that can bring live information andupdates at the touch of an icon, what features would you wantfrom an RMT ‘app’?

How do you access the RMT website now, and how wouldyou like to in the future?

What ‘social networking’ features, such as Facebook andTwitter, do you use, and would find most useful?

What other websites do you find useful?

What else do you want to say about the union’s webpresence?


18

After being elected by themembers as lead union healthand safety rep I have beenmeeting with signallers and repson various routes and discussinga variety of safety concernsincluding line blockages.

With the introduction of thestage two/area health and safetyreps within Network Rail it nowgives us a chance to havecommon local issues discussedat route health and safetymeetings and to progress areasof concern to national level.

This will enable us to look attrends and common problemsacross the network and to beable to help to resolve suchissues to everyone’s satisfaction.

The problem is that manyissues are discussed in the workplace but may not be writtendown or progressed through thehealth and safety reps and thenew Network Rail procedure willenable us to resolve issues atroute or national level.

What is required fromsignallers is to stop justcomplaining and put it down inwriting to our health and safetyreps and provide us with dataand evidence so we can address

the problem. Too many times wejust moan about it but don’tactually do anything about it.

One of the main issuesaround the country is that ofline blockages, both theplanning of and the volumesignallers are having to grant.

it is essential to consider allthe risks involved in any blockyou grant and what else youhave to do. If you don't thinkthat you can do it safely youshouldn't do it. The safety ofthose within the block isessential.

Very often the limits andprotecting signals are wrongwhen the COSS phones up andthe signaller then has to getinvolved in re-planning andcorrecting what the blockingpoints or signals are. Sometimesthis is not possible so theblockage is not granted, whichmeans the work has be doneanother day. Any alterationsmade should be recorded and goback to the planners so thesame errors are not repeated.

The vast number of lineblockages do not haveadditional protection. Thismeans the only protection the

staff within the block have isthe reminder appliance thesignaller applies. The risk is thatas you clear and grant lineblockages in between trains areminder appliance may not beapplied. Additionally on theWestcad/MC VDU systems youhave a reminder applianceoverride facility and regrettablyreminders have been cleared orover ridden in error.

The bottom line is that youmay think you are helping outbut if something goes wrong itis down to you. You will befacing disciplinary charges, notanyone else.

Network Rail is activelyremoving Red Zone workingwhich is therefore creating moreline blockages for signallers todeal with and obviouslyincreasing our workload. RedZone working is the mostdangerous and so it is right toreduce it, but this increases therisks to signallers because of theincrease in blockages and theworkload.

We also have issues with T3possessions and work activitywithin them, the length and ofweekend blocks.

In many areas there is a limitto how many blocks a signallercan manage at the same time.Unfortunately this is beingexceeded on a regular basis andthat increases the risk of humanerror and the chances ofreminder appliance not beingapplied correctly.

If a signaller makes a mistakebecause of being busy or toomuch work the most likelyresult is still a disciplinarycharge. It is essential that wetackle this issue so that we canprevent that or injury to trackworkers and for that we needyour help.

There are some reps aroundthe country that are proactivelyraising line blockage errors andwork load but we need morefacts from all of you to be ableto resolve this issue. We do havesome very constructive meetingsand working groups withNetwork Rail that are trying totackle and resolve these issuesbut to do so effectively weneed your examples and factsto argue your corner. If youhave concerns and informationthat can help us please e-mailme at: [email protected]

SIGNALLERS AND SAFETYNetwork Rail lead RMT health and safety rep AJ Yatescalls on signallers to protect themselves and report anysafety issues through the procedures now in place


19

London Underground Tube trainmaintainers have tested thetripcock emergency brakingmechanism every night andcarried out full examinationsevery two weeks for as long asanyone can remember.

However LUL has seen fit tomove the full tripcockexamination out from 14 servicedays to 28 service days despitethe fact that this is safetycritical equipment.

The tripcock is there toprevent a train passing a signalat danger (SPAD) in the event ofhuman error.

Tube driver and RMT tier twoupgrade rep Gwyn Pugh makesit clear that the tripcock is byfar the most important piece ofsafety equipment.

“A red signal is there for areason, either another train or afaulty set of points is aheadyou.

“So if you continue you aregoing to derail your train orcrash into another one.

“It is the last chance ofbringing your train to a

controlled stop before impact,nothing is more important thanthat,” he explains.

The train stop systemconsists of two basiccomponents: the trip stopmechanism, mounted on theground adjacent to the rail, andthe train-mounted trip cock thatis connected to the train'sbraking system. And like anyequipment it can fail.

Leaked documents show thatseveral tripcock failures havealready taken place since thereduction of maintenance times.

Yet the long-term plan, whenthe new S-stock trains comes in,is to move testing out further to60 days and remove the 24-hourly testing of the tripcockand putting it onto the 60-dayexam.

This is despite the fact thatthe manufacturers recommendfull inspections at least every 30days.

Gywn Pugh points out thatwhile the S Stock are new trainsthey will still need testing.

“You can’t just do less

maintenance because they arenew trains, they have teethingproblems and things still gowrong,” he says.

Train maintainers that RMTNews has spoken to have madeit clear that this is safety issuefor train drivers and thetravelling public.

“The bottom line is that thesetrains take a huge bashing whenthey go into service.

“You have got uneven railsand all sorts of debris flyingaround causing damage all thetime.

“At the end of the daywithout nightly tests how wouldyou know if anything waswrong,” says one trainmaintainer as he uses a tripcockstick to ensure it is in fullworking order.

Train maintainers and traindrivers alike understand theimportance of knowing that theemergency brake system isworking.

“In a month trains may passover a million signals and trainsare in service for up to 20 hoursa day,” says Gywn Pugh.

“We rely on trainmaintainers, they are ourfriends,” he says.

Train maintainers point outthat lengthening service times to28 days, let alone 60 days, is afalse economy that could lead tolarger problems further downthe line.

“A good example is theperfectly good brake blocks wenow throw away because wemust replace them early toallow the trains to run for 28service days, it just doesn’tmake sense,” he says shakinghis head.

RMT London regionalorganiser Steve Hedley says thatit was clearly a bid to savepennies and cut jobs.

“London Underground hasincreased the period betweentesting and it is shocking thatthey want to increase it further.

“Even the manufacturers’documentation makes it clearthat tripcocks should not be leftuntested and unmaintained forover a month,” he says.

Train maintainers usuallywork in four teams on a fourweek shift rota, including earlydays, late days and nights andtwo 12-hour shifts at weekends.

At the start of each shift theyreceive safety briefings and aregiven their tasks.

This could be involvemaintenance, ensuring all trainsenter service without any faultsor delays, stocking all spareequipment racks, carrying outcasualty work on trains stopped,shunting, train examination andsafety critical training.

What is clear is that theyknow these trains inside and outand when they say it’s not safe,you ignore them at your peril.

TRIPCOCK TESTING TIMES RMT keeps up pressure tomaintain the frequency oftesting the tripcock brakingsystem on LondonUnderground trains


20

Engineering grades conferencemeeting in Kirkcaldy demandedaction from Network Rail tointroduce secondary protectionfor track workers followinganother runaway incident inBradford.

The incident, in which aroad-rail dumper truck ran freefor a quarter of a mile beforehitting buffers at Bradfordinterchange station on March25, had echoes of the Tebaytragedy eight years ago.

Four RMT members werekilled in February 2004 when abadly maintained trolley ladenwith tonnes of steel broke freeand ploughed into a work gangat Tebay.

Steve Metcalfe, Lancaster andDistrict, said that there had beenat least 22 further incidentssince Tebay.

“Despite this there has notbeen a public inquiry, noadditional safety system has

been introduced to preventrunaways in eight years.

“The union must act toensure that Network rail stopfilibustering and take action tosafeguard our members andballot for strike action ifnecessary.

“We cannot wait for the nextTebay,” he said.

Another delegate said that henever wanted to see Tebayhappen again anywhere.

“We need secondaryprotection and we need it now,”he said.

Adrian Fricker, Rugby No1,said that as a safety rep forNetwork Rail the Bradfordincident had not been raisedwith him in meetings.

“We are supposed to beworking with Network Rail todevelop a suitable mechanism toprevent these incidents,” he said.

He reported that aninvestigation by the Rail

Accident Investigation Branch(RAIB) was under way.

Fellow Network Rail safetycommittee member SeanMacGowan, Doncaster, said thatthe company should not beallowed to get away with payinglip-service to an issue as seriousas the need for secondaryprotection.

RMT general secretary BobCrow warned that thefragmentation of the industryand the massive financialsqueeze on Network Rail hadalready undermined safetystandards.

“Yet the government’scommand paper on rail is basedon the McNulty report whichwould further fragment theindustry.

“McNulty represents as big athreat to the rail industry as theinfamous Beeching report.

“It includes plans to hand thebiggest train operating company

South West Trains to take overinfrastructure from NetworkRail.

“That will clearly lead to theTOC cutting corners and sub-contracting the work out in thedrive to maintain profits,” hesaid.

WALKING ON BALLAST

Alex Hogg, Edinburgh andPortobello District said thatmembers having to walk overballast whilst performing theirduties was leading to anunacceptable number of injuries.

He said that forcing membersto walk for long distances onuneven surfaces was part of acost-cutting drive.

“We are seeing membersbeing forced to walk for miles,receiving injuries and leavingthe industry throughcompromise agreements and illhealth,” he said.

Kent Knight, Slough said that

ACT ON RUNAWAYS!

Engineering grades conference renews call forsecondary protection against runaways followingyet another potentially deadly incident


21

More than 15 years ofprivatisation and sub-contracting have wreaked havocin the rail industry, not least forthe people who work in it.

On London Underground,where once we had centralbargaining for standard pay andconditions for all track workers,there are now multiplecontractors and agencies thatseek to get as much as possibleout of their staff for as little inreturn as possible – and toavoid, if they can, any dealingswith your union.

The break-up of full-timeunionised employment for trackworkers, like the break-up of theindustry itself, was a deliberateact, calculated to push wagesand conditions down and profitsup. For track workers thefragmentation has resulted invastly differing and often poorpay and conditions with little, ifany, security of employment.

Many sub-contract workerson LUL and Tube Lines findthemselves in the worst of allworlds, employed by agenciesthat ‘outsource’ their pay and

conditions to an accountancyfirm, making them nominallyself-employed, denying them theemployment rights they shouldhave and unable to establishwho their employer is.

If we are to set thenegotiating agenda and improvepay, terms and conditions,safety and welfare, our responsemust be across all contract andsub-contract companies andagencies on LondonUnderground, and that is thepurpose of this charter.

RMT's strength, alongside theexperience of more than acentury of organising railwayworkers, is that it is anindustrial union uniting workersin all grades and across allemployers, on every worksite, inevery depot, whether they bepermanent-way platelayers,track cleaners, site supervisors,SPCs, PMEHs, HBTs, trackwelders or technicians.

The first step towards

bringing the aspirations in thischarter to reality is to ensurethat every track worker becomesan RMT member with solidorganisation in every workplace,so that if it comes to a fight, weare ready for it. • Charters are available from

Unity House.

some members were walking upto 13 miles a day under difficultconditions which wasunacceptable.

“We need a maximumdistance that staff can be askedto walk in a day,” he said.

Conference called on theunion to gather informationfrom branches and seekcompensation for thosesuffering as a result of walkingover ballast.

LONE WORKING

Conference was concerned thatmembers were increasinglyworking alone day and nightsometimes in remote areas.

Alex Hogg said thatmanagement seemed to thinkthat this should be normalpractice.

“Our new Network Railsafety reps need to raise thisissue strongly at the nationalsafety council.

David O’Donnell, Fife andDistrict, said that he often hadto work alone doing inspections.

“We should not tolerate thisunsafe practice as it has manyimplications for our members,”he said.

Adrian Fricker said that therewere guidance notes on theissue but they neededstrengthening as soon aspossible and dealt with at thenational safety council.

COSS DUTIES

Conference called for a workingparty to be set up to look at therole and responsibilities ofengineering supervisor andCOSS duties.

Alex Hogg said that memberswere often carrying outengineering supervisor andCOSS duties and supervisingtasks that they have not beentrained for.

Nobbie Richardson,

Willesden No 4, said thatmembers carrying out COSSduties should not be engagingin work they have not beentrained to do.

TRACK INSPECTION

Conference called on the unionto highlight the dangers ofmoves by Network Rail to moveto video track inspections fromvisual inspections.

John Kennedy, Harlesden,said that all grades wereaffected by this form of newtechnology.

He said that replacing peoplewith machinery in safety criticalroles was fraught with dangers.

“This has major implicationsnot just for our members but forthe travelling public and willlead to job cuts and increasingdangers,” he said.

Sean Hoyle for the Councilof Executives said that theunion was already looking at

the issue.“There is widespread concern

that information gathered bythe new technology takes manyhours to download.

“However visual inspectionscan identify any faultsimmediately,” he said.

Conference called for avigorous campaign to highlightthe issue among rail workersand the general public.

STOOD OFF ARRANGEMENTS

Alex Hogg said that memberswere being denied stood offarrangements as contained inthe blue book and were beingdismissed when they encounterill health after giving manyyears of loyal service.

“A legal challenge needs tobe launched against NetworkRail so members knew theirrights under the stood offarrangements,” he said.

RMT general secretaryBob Crow introduces theunion’s new LondonUnderground trackcontract workers’ charter

A BETTER DEAL FOR TUBETRACK CONTRACTORS


22

The union is organising aconference for members withdisabilities on May 9 and it isimportant that as manymembers as possible attend todiscuss discrimination at workand other issues.

Nominations are invited frombranches and regional councilsto send delegates to get involvedwith the debate.

The Equality Act 2010provides protection to those whocomply with the definition as setout by the legislation i.e. “aphysical or mental impairmentwhich has a substantial andlong-term adverse impact on hisability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.”

The “substantial” effect willdepend on the facts surroundingeach member’s disability and itwould need to last at least 12months to count as “long-term”.

Unlike other forms of

unlawful discrimination such assex or race, disabilitydiscrimination law imposes aduty on employers to make‘reasonable adjustments’.

If the adjustment required is‘reasonable’ there is a duty onthe employer to make thatadjustment. Failure to do so willbe deemed to be an act ofdiscrimination.

The House of Lords ruled inArchibald v Fife that the duty tomake reasonable adjustmentsincludes considering transferringthe disabled person to anothervacant post, even if it is ahigher grade. The key being thatthe disabled person can performthe duties and responsibilitiesrequired of the job, even if thisentails reasonable adjustments.

Many employers seem tobelieve it sufficient to provide adisabled person with vacancy

Derrick Marr (left) is a train drivercurrently serving on the union’sCouncil of Executives who hashad problems at work regardinghis health and in recent years hasrelied on the support of the unionto fight his corner.

Derrick had an active early lifeenjoying a range of sportingactivities. But at 35 he was toldhe had osteoarthritis in his hipand would need a hipreplacement at some point. Hewas given painkilling anti-inflammatory drugs and told tomanage the pain until it becameunbearable. Only then would hipreplacement surgery beconsidered.

Derrick has suffered theoccasional ridicule over the yearssometimes meant as friendly

banter but sometimes he saidthat it could be quite upsetting.

He said that he never thought ofhimself as disabled until a coupleof years ago when a car parkattendant stopped him as hestruggled from his car to theticket machine and the attendantsaid: “blue ticket holders don’tneed to pay for parking”. Asomewhat confused Derrick thenrealised he meant disabled badgeholders.

As a train driver, Derrick has gooddays and bad days with regard topain levels. On good days he hasno pain at all and can walk formiles, but on bad days he is inconstant pain. Changing ends ofhis train can be a challenge, letalone walking to sidings anddown the track on ballast.

DEALING WITHDISABILITY RMT isorganising aconference formembers withdisabilities onMay 9

A TRAIN DRIVER’S


23

President’s column

VOTE TRADEUNIONIST ANDSOCIALIST ON MAY 3RMT is celebrating internationalWorkers’ Day on May 1 bydefending jobs and safety acrossthe transport industry. Changes to railway operational rulesknown as ‘A Different Approach tothe Rules’ proposed by the RailSafety and Standards Board (RSSB)will allow key operationalresponsibilities from June to be

‘derogated’ or effectively become thedevolved responsibility of trainoperators. Of course this raises the nightmareof different operators coming todifferent and contradictoryarrangements for briefing andtraining of operational railway staffincluding drivers and guards. Your union has declared totalopposition to the rulebook changesand written to RSSB and trainoperators to this effect. RMT and ASLEF has also written toRSSB over changes to TemporaryBlock Working, which appear tohave been commissioned in order tospeed up operational practicesduring ‘deteriorated working’ orsignal failure to you and me. This is a clear warning to all railwayworkers that the McNulty review andthe government’s ‘rail commandpaper’ designed to reintroduce

‘profitability’ into management of railinfrastructure will deliver a bodyblow to the safe operation andorganisation of our railways. Already, Network Rail infrastructurestaff report being told that if they failnew courses for Individuals WorkingAlone (IWA) they will be ‘managedout’ of the business. As Stagecoach shareholders takecontrol of Network Rail’s firstdevolved region in Wessex, thethreat to the safety and job securityof all railworkers is clear. Whetheryou are a signaller or a driverdealing with consequences of asignal failure, a guard or station staffresponding to an emergencysituation, or a P-Way worker in anengineering possession, the spivsand privateers want to get theirhands on our safety operationalrulebook to minimise safetyoperational procedures that couldstand in the way of making a profit. The Con Dem government’s Health

and Social Care Bill, designed toprivatise our NHS, is a continuum ofneoliberal policies to open up publicservices to profit-taking fromhealthcare to education, to housing,to social services, to disabilitybenefits and public transport. The market for public services isnow a global market with rules setby unelected, unrepresentative andunpopular bureaucrats cajoled andcontrolled by secretive corporatelobbyists. Hundreds of RMT members joinedtrade unionists from across Europeto march in Brussels to protestagainst this EU-driven ‘liberalisation’process taking place in the transportindustry which is creating a race tothe bottom for workers’ pay andconditions. Trade unions aredemanding an alternative,nationalisation not privatisation.On May 3 you will have theopportunity to stand up for thisalternative by voting for TradeUnionist and Socialist Coalitioncandidates in local elections inEngland and Wales.

TUSC candidates include RMTmembers in Daren Ireland inLiverpool Central, Mick Tosh inPortsmouth, Paul Reilly in Nuneatonand David Goodwin in Rugby. I am standing on the London-widelist for the Greater London Assemblyalongside RMT’s London Transportregional organiser Steve Hedley. AllTUSC candidates are standing on amanifesto of total opposition to thecuts, privatisation and outsourcingregime supported by all the threemain political parties and also by theGreen Party where they are in office. No-one voted for austerity. No-onevoted for NHS privatisation. No-onevoted for tax breaks for millionairesand benefit cuts for the disabled. So you have a chance to put downyour marker to say you want thealternative to start in your town orcity. Vote for a TUSC candidate inorder to build a mass politicalopposition to the attacks on workingclass people and communities andto fight for a better future.

Alex Gordon

lists and this is the extent oftheir duty to makereasonable adjustments – it isnot.

However it is notunlawful for employers tocount disability-relatedabsences for the purposes ofsickness absence procedures.Nor does this law protectwages. If a person with adisability accepts a lowerposition, unless there areother protective terms andconditions within theircontract, the law allows themto be paid the rate for the jobeven if it is lower.

In addition todiscrimination by failing tomake reasonable adjustments,those subjected to lessfavourable treatment andharassment solely on theground that they have adisability are also protected.

Anyone who believes theyare being subjected todiscrimination on thegrounds of disability shouldseek further advice as amatter of urgency. Rememberthe deadline for lodging anyTribunal claim is threemonths minus one day fromthe act complained about isand in any event, agrievance should be raisedimmediately.

He has had his problems withhis management regarding hishealth and in recent years hasneeded RMT help. Having faileda medical in 2009 due to hishigh blood pressure anddiabetes he was dismissed.

But he got his job back afterwinning an interim relief Tribunal.In 2011 Derrick had an accidentaway from work and broke hisfemur which saw him off sick forvirtually the whole of the yeareven though BUPA advised hewas fit for alternative duties.

Management refused toaccommodate him in a non-driving role. But with the union’ssupport he took legal redressand suddenly a job was foundfor him and a financial out-of-court settlement agreed.

STORY

LEGAL


24

The growth in use of socialnetworking sites has created anew avenue of disputes to arisebetween employers andemployees. Before succumbingto the temptation to postcomment about workplaceissues on Facebook, Twitter andthe countless other socialnetworking forums, it is wise tobe aware of the pitfalls thatcould result in disciplinaryproceedings and even dismissal.

If employees publish in apublic forum comments thatmay be defamatory of theiremployer or are likely to destroythe relationship of trust andconfidence between theemployer and employee, thenthe employee may be disciplinedand possibly dismissed, anddefamation proceedings couldfollow.

Employees posting suchcomments will be unable to usea pseudonym to protect theiridentity. Employers will usuallybe able to obtain an order fordisclosure from the host websiteof the identity of the poster.

Employees also have impliedcontractual duties ofconfidentiality to theiremployer. Any information theypost on a public forum abouttheir employer could give rise toa breach of these duties. Such abreach could lead to disciplineand even dismissal.

However, there is adistinction between material

that is untrue, defamatory orintended to disparage theemployer and opinions that theemployer simply does not like.

If a posting is not actuallydamaging to the employer inany way, then it is unlikely thatthe relationship of trust andconfidence will be so seriouslyundermined as to allow theemployer to dismiss a member.

They may however be able totreat the comments asmisconduct and be able to takedisciplinary procedures. How theemployer responds in suchcircumstances will probablydepend on whether thebehaviour is covered by theirdisciplinary procedure and theirelectronic communicationspolicy.

Where disciplinary actiondoes lead to a dismissal, fairnessunder S.98(4) of theEmployment Relations Act couldbe considered in terms of theemployee’s right to freedom ofexpression under Article 10European Convention on HumanRights. This arguably includesthe right of an employee tocomplain publicly about theirworking conditions, though notto express damaging or libellousstatements. Also, the employermay breach the employee’s rightto respect for private life underArticle 8 of the ECHR. Given theopenness of these sites, this maybe hard to prove however.

Employees should be advised

to make sure that they areaware of their security settings,so that only those who areinvited to do so have access toprivate information that theywould not want their employersto read.

Another issue around socialnetworking and the workplace iswhether employers have theright to stop workers writingblogs or using such websites atwork and whether they candiscipline workers for doing so.

Employers are entitled toprevent or restrict employeesfrom using office equipmentand Internet connections forpersonal use. Ideally this will beby way of a clear policy onemail and Internet use agreedwith the union, which makes itclear to employees what theycan or cannot do (includingsocial networking and blogging)and the sanctions for breachingthe policy.

Employers can leavethemselves open todiscrimination by vettingcandidates online. Discoveringpersonal information such assexual orientation, ethnicity,religion, marital status, age andpolitical views makes it easierfor rejected candidates to claimthey have been discriminatedagainst.

Some employers may simplyplace restrictions on the types ofsite to which employees haveaccess on work computers.Alternatively, employers mayallow employees to update blogsor visit social networking siteson work computers but onlyoutside normal working hoursor during breaks.

Importantly, employers canmonitor what happens at work,including individuals’ use of theinternet, but only if the

workforce is notified clearly inadvance what activities arebeing monitored and the extentof that monitoring.

What is being monitoredshould be included in theemployer’s email and Internetpolicy. It might include, forexample, the amount of usagethat is permitted, the type ofsites that can be visited andmake clear the potentialconsequences of breaching therules or writing offensive,defamatory or discriminatorycomments on a blog or socialnetworking site.

Employees should also beaware of the sanctions fordisclosing confidentialinformation about theiremployer.

However, keeping tabs oneverything employees arewriting on line may be a hugeand difficult task.

Reg 3(1)(a)(iv) of theRegulation of InvestigatoryPowers Act 2000 allowsmonitoring of individualswithout consent in order toinvestigate or detect theunauthorised use of a privatetelecommunications system. Thiscould include monitoring toensure that employees do notbreach employer rules orpolicies regarding the use ofemail or the Internet.

But it still does not allowemployers covertly to monitorstaff without notifying theworkforce.

Ultimately, not havingrestrictions or a formal policy islikely to lead to disputes overthe nature of social networkingactivity an employee wasengaged in, whether it was adisciplinary offence and whetherthe sanction was fair.

SOCIALNETWORKSAND THE LAW

Deborah Franks of ThompsonsSolicitors explains the legalposition for members who poston social networking sitesabout workplace issues


26

Jo Parry (right) has been anRMT Union Learning Rep

(ULR) for the past two yearsand, despite working in an areaof Transport for London whereRMT does not have recognition,has organised many variedlearning opportunities for hercolleagues.

As a branch activist withRMT young members and herbranch, Jo has built up anextensive mailing list networkand circulates regular bulletinsdetailing upcoming events,seminars, competitions, andcourses supplied by TfL as wellas links to informative websiteson a variety of topics.

She finds that these regularmessages help keep people

interested in what is going on.Jo has had great success in

promoting the six bookchallenge through the branchand she was keen to organise anevent to celebrate World BookDay last February. Using hermailing list, as well as the TfLintranet, she asked whetherthere were any publishedauthors who work for TfL.Several authors responded andso Jo set about organising notjust a one-day event asoriginally envisaged, but awhole week of eventscelebrating the works of theseauthors.

Working in conjunction withthe TfL Learning Zone, Joarranged for each of the authors

to have a one-hour sessionwhere they would talk about theprocess of writing and gettingtheir books published.

The events were ran atPalestra House and in the TfLLearning Zone. Jo was granted£150 from the RMT LearningActivity Fund for providingrefreshments and was assisted atthe events by colleagues fromRMT Learning.

Writers speaking at theevents were Peter Bourne,Abraham Trujillo, RebeccaGalilee, Alan Devey, RonGwilliam, Simon Owoade,Angela Miller and the RMT CEof Member Janine Booth; andtheir work includes historical,fantasy and gritty reality novels,

self-help manuals, sciencefiction and children’s books.

All of the sessions were verywell attended, showing thatmany TfL employees feel theyhave a book inside them andwanted information on how toget it published. As a follow-upto these events, one of theattendees is starting up awriters’ group for like-mindedcolleagues to help one anotherthrough the creative andpublishing processes.

Stephan Brennan, a systemsengineer at London

Underground, was recentlyelected as RMT union learningrep for LU engineering branchand he has helped establish aKnowledge Access Point (KAP),a mini learning centre at hiswork.

Stephen has always had apassion for learning andrecently completed hisCertificate in teaching in thelifelong learning sector, so therole particularly appealed to himand he is on a mission topromote learning at hisworkplace, Griffith House.

As well as encouraging hismembers to take up the six bookchallenge and creating a bookswap shelf, he wanted to makeengineering training materialsmore easily accessible for hiscolleagues.

To facilitate this he contactedthe Transport for LondonLearning Zone manager JoannaWard to set up access to coursesvia the Learning Zone intranet,which would allow hiscolleagues to undertake some e-learning during their breaks.

Working with his trainingmanager, Mike Jackson, theyidentified a quiet corner to setup two computers, one withaccess to all the resourcesavailable on the TfL LearningZone and the other holdinginformation on engineeringstandards, access to theEngineering Library and all thetraining courses available toengineers at LondonUnderground.

Both computers also haveaccess to external learning sitessuch as the BBC andLearnDirect.

The official launch of thefirst LU Knowledge Access Pointtook place at the end ofFebruary with tutorials forlearners on how to access thesoftware from both the TfLLearning Zone and theEngineering Library.

Following this successfullaunch, Victoria Marton, anotherRMT ULR based in a different

department at Griffith House,has already identified an idealarea for a new KAP.

Stephen said that there wasno reason why these KAPs can'tbe rolled out all over TfL.

“Working in partnership withthe Learning Zone means youwould only need a dedicateddesk and PC in a quiet corner toget one started,” he said.

WORLD BOOK DAY ATTRANSPORT FOR LONDON

FIRST KNOWLEDGE ACCESS POINTFOR LONDON UNDERGROUND


27

ALearning bus visited ExeterSt David’s station recently

as part of a campaign to raisethe profile of learning withinFirst Great Western.

Trade union reps and FirstGreat Western managers will usethe bus to jointly promotelearning opportunities availableto staff and RMT members usingthe FGW development strategyand external providers such aslocal colleges.

The trade unions will meetregularly with seniormanagement to plan anddevelop learning opportunitiesfor staff and members. The needto raise the profile of union

learning reps (ULRs) in the workplace has also been recognisedas a priority.

Local union learning repswere on hand at the road showto answer questions and topromote their role within thelearning agenda. Around 30people dropped in to find outwhat was on offer and many ofthem were surprised at therange of options available.

Each person completed alearning needs survey whichallowed them to identify theirown learning needs. Optionsranged from degree courses tobasic IT and the ULRs will beworking hard in the coming

months to support members inaccessing suitable courses.

The success of this first visithas spurred the team on toensure that the next one will beeven better at providing further

help, guidance and support tothe members.If you have any comments on theday or would like to arrange asimilar event at your work place,please contact your local ULR or theRMT learning team.

The RMT Learning Project hasbeen successful in winning

two further years of governmentfunding to continue helpingthousands of members to accesslearning opportunities.

The project will continue tobe staffed by project managerTeresa Williams, assistantproject manager LindsayRutland and seven developmentworkers, Graham Chesters in theNorth, Ivor Riddell for the SouthWest, John Dougherty in theMidlands, Sharon Allen forLondon, Bill Hendy covering theSouth West, Emily King dealingwith Network Rail and thecurrently vacant shipping post.

RMT Learning is making areal difference to members byfacilitating the signing oflearning agreements.

Learning agreements set outhow members can access UnionLearning Reps (ULRs), including

learners getting paid release forEnglish and maths, as well asother helpful policies such asrearranging shifts to helpmembers attend coursesregularly.

Development workers support

ULRs to ensure they feelconfident in what they do.ULRs perform a variety offunctions such as givinginformation about learning tomembers, helping them to geton courses and negotiating with

local management to put onevents and set up book-swaps.

The team is looking forwardto consolidating the work theyhave been doing and gettingnew ULRs in place across thecountry.

RMT WINS UNIONLEARNING FUNDING

LEARNING BUS AT EXETERST DAVID’S STATION

Dock workers in the Ports of Auckland,New Zealand have returned to work

after a lockout notice issued by portmanagement was withdrawn.

Following hearings in the EmploymentCourt, Ports of Auckland Limited (POAL)committed itself to returning to negotiationswith the Maritime Union of New Zealand(MUNZ) and halting proposals to contractout stevedoring work, plans which wouldhave seen 300 workers made redundant.

International Transport Workers’Federation president Paddy Crumlin who is

also chair of the ITF dockers’ section, saidthat it was a victory for common sense.

“It reinforces the fact that these 1998Patrick-style assaults on workers’ rights andorganised labour won’t be successful. Itreminds everyone in the stevedoring andmaritime industry that the only way forwardis to negotiate in good faith for a collectiveagreement.

“Dockworkers of the world unite in acrisis and they won’t allow this sort ofbehaviour from militant employers toprevail,” he said.

ITF dockers’ section secretary Frank Leyshighlighted the role of internationalsolidarity in bringing about this outcome.

“This dispute has reached beyond theborders of the docking industry and there’sbeen action and support from seafarers,aviation workers, truck drivers, railwaystaff.

This is about mass casualisation, thecontracting out of an entire workforce, andit struck a chord with workers all over theworld who are fighting every day to protecttheir jobs,” he said.

PORT VICTORY IN NEW ZEALAND


28

RMT put out a team for theannual football match againstShildon Railway.

The two teams observed aminute’s silence to rememberAndy Hagstrom who played inthe game last year but tragicallydied a few weeks later.

The RMT team went a goaldown in the first minute butgave a good account of

themselves against a very goodShildon team eventually losing4 – 2.

The RMT team was from leftto right: Kevin Harper, RobHaslam, Trevor Hall, Paul Bain[man of the match] MichaelHowson, Stan Hersch, TomDoneghan, Jamie [the cat]BobHarper, Ecky, Sean Hoyle, MattCreagh and Alex Reid.

The 10th annual RMT Garden Party for Cubain association with Cuba Solidarity Campaign

June 20

Special guests to be announcedLive music, food, free barTickets at £15

Order by post, cheques payable to RMT, from: Cuba Garden Party,RMT, 39 Chalton Street, London NW1 1JD.Credit card orders on 020 7387 4771

SHILDON MATCH

£15


29

The winner of prizecrossword no. 76 is P Dickson of Mansfield .

Send entries to PrizeCrossword, RMT, Unity House,39 Chalton Street, London NWI IJD by May 14 with yourname and address.

Winner and solution in nextissue.

ACROSS7 Calmed with drugs (7)8 Military rank - non-specific

(7)10 Controls direction of vehicle

or craft (6)11 Stuff and... gobbledegook! (8)12 Drink brewed from honey (4)13 Ten-discipline sport (9)14 Movable crossings spanning

castle moats (11)19 London Underground

subsidiary in dispute over 23and 24 (9)

22 Shakespeare, as the primeexample (4)

23 Deferred wages paid afterretirement (8)

24 Gives ball to team-mate -overtakes (6)

25 Overnight train - or what liesbeneath it (7)

26 Young hare (7)

DOWN1 Not this nor t’other! (7)2 Table of dates (8)3 Ended (6)4 Brought back together again

(8)5 Found in field or bowl (6)6 Dried grapes (7)9 Something out of its time (11)15 Easy victory - like a stroll? (8)16 Patterned in relief (8)17 Pointy church tower (7)18 Met; said hello (7)20 Employers - studs! (6)21 Evening meal (6)

£50 PRIZECROSSWORDNo. 78. Set by Elk

No. 77 solution...

HARLESDENENGINEERING BRANCH

NOMINATES

STEVE HEDLEY FOR ASSISTANT GENERAL

SECRETARY

SOUTH WEST MIDLANDS

NOMINATES


SECRETARY

TRANSPORT FORLONDON BRANCH

NOMINATES


SECRETARY

SHEFFIELD ANDDISTRICT BRANCH

NOMINATES

PAT SIKORSKI FOR ASSISTANT GENERAL

SECRETARY

DOCKLANDS LIGHTRAILWAY

NOMINATES


SECRETARY

JUBILEE EAST LONDON

NOMINATES


SECRETARY

NEASDEN BRANCH


SECRETARY

PICCADILLY AND WESTBRANCH


SECRETARY

NUNEATON BRANCH


SECRETARY

LONDON TAXI BRANCH


SECRETARY

EUSTON NO1 BRANCH

NOMINATES

PAT SIKORSKI FOR ASSISTANT GENERAL

SECRETARY

SOUTH EAST ESSEXBRANCH

NOMINATES

STEVE HEDLEYFOR ASST GENERAL

SECRETARYAND SEEKS YOUR SUPPORT FORTHIS HARD WORKING AND VERY

CAPABLE CANDIDATE

WATFORD BRANCH

NOMINATES

STEVE HEDLEYFOR ASSISTANT GENERAL

SECRETARY

LU ENGINEERINGBRANCH

NOMINATES


SECRETARY

HAMMERSMITH ANDCITY BRANCH

NOMINATES


SECRETARY

RMT CHRISTMAS CLUB APPLICATION

• You need to be an RMT Credit Union member to open an RMT Christmas ClubAccount.

• You have to save at least £5 per month into a regular RMT CU account inaddition to your RMT Christmas Club Account.

• You pay a monthly or 4-weekly Direct Debit consisting of your nominatedChristmas Club payment (min. £10) plus at least £5 per month to your main RMTCU account.

• Christmas Club accounts have to be opened by the end of April. Lateapplications commence the following November.

• As an RMT CU member you build up regular savings with a yearly dividend(1.5% in 2011) and you can apply for low interest rate loans.

• Your Christmas Club money is separate from your regular savings account. Thatmeans you will have a guaranteed sum available for Christmas maturing every14th November, plus a savings account growing with time.

• The Christmas Club secures your money so it’s there for the Christmas period.This means that your money is locked-in and you can make no withdrawalsuntil 14th November when all of your money, plus dividend will be paid out.

• If you make all of your payments we anticipate a dividend bonus as accruedthrough the year

• All of your money will be paid to your bank account on the first working dayafter 14th November.

• If you cancel your payments the 2% dividend is not applied and you cannotwithdraw your money until after 14th November. If you think you will needaccess to your money before 14th November, this account is not suitable foryou.

• The Christmas Club will continue year-on-year, so payments after 14thNovember start the next year’s account. Of course if you wish to cancel yourpayments you are free to do so at any time.

RMT CHRISTMAS CLUBSAVE FOR CHRISTMAS THE EASY AND SAFE WAY WITH THE RMT CREDIT UNIONSaving for Christmas can be a real headache. Take some of the stressaway by saving over the course of the year with the RMT ChristmasClub. We’ll add a little extra to your savings and pay out the moneyready for your Christmas shopping spree. This account is designed forpeople who want a secure savings account that helps them to save fortheir Christmas spending.

It’s based on the traditional Christmas Club principle of saving a fixedamount each month that is not accessible until the payout date. Manypeople like the discipline of a regular savings programme where they arenot able to access the cash!

Even a small amount saved each month soon adds up. Saving ismade easy by Direct Debit either monthly or 4-weekly to suit your paycycle.

For our Christmas Club, the maturity date will be November 4 eachyear. We will add a bonus dividend at the maturity date and pay themoney direct to your bank account. There are no vouchers or hampersor anything of that kind – you decide how you want to spend your

money.The bonus will be added to your savings if you complete all of your

regular payments. Last year’s bonus was two per cent*, and we hope toimprove this in subsequent years as the Christmas Club grows.

As all of your Christmas Club money will be paid out each year it willbe kept separately from your regular credit union savings and cannot beused against credit union loans.

There is also a summer savings club account on the same basis andprinciple with a payout date of mid-June, so that you can have readyaccess to summer holiday spending money.

If you want to open a Christmas Club account and are already acredit union member simply complete the form below. If you are notalready a credit union member you will have to complete the form belowand the credit union membership application opposite. Completed forms should be returned to our freepost address.

* NB: Past bonus rate is not an indication of future bonus rate

TERMS & CONDITIONS – IMPORTANT INFORMATION - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT RMT CHRISTMAS CLUB

Your savings are fully protected for up to £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme

or call the helpline on freephone0800 376 3706

Visit www.rmt.org.uk to join online

JOIN RMTBRITAIN’S SPECIALISTTRANSPORTUNION

Problems at work? Call the helpline(Now with two operators)

Keep your RMT membership details up-to-dateIn the light of draconian anti-trade union laws that havebeen used against the union, members should keep theirpersonal data up to date. It is important to note that inorder to keep members informed your union requiresyour mobile telephone number and email address. Members can do this via the RMT website, telephone theRMT helpline above, or writing to the membershipdepartment at RMT head office, Chalton Street, LondonNW1 1JD.

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