Southern strikes continue
LONG-SUFFERING rail passengers are likely to have to endure further strikes, after station staff across the Govia Thameslink Railway franchise voted in favour of industrial action.
And conductors on Southern Railway are to hold a further 48-hour strike on September 7/8, taking the strikes into a sixth month.
The results of strike ballots by the ASLEF and TSSA unions at the same company were due on August 30 (after this issue of RAIL went to press) and on September 2, and any industrial action may be combined.
GTR is pressing ahead with implementing its new role of On Board Supervisor. First to switch to the new grade from August 21 were Revenue Protection Officers, who are not involved in the dispute by RMT conductors.
The RMT union said: “This action has been forced on us by the arrogance and inaction of Govia Thameslink Railway and the Government, who have made it clear that they have no interest in resolving this dispute.”
Rail Minister Paul Maynard said: “This will be disappointing news for passengers, who should not be made to suffer any further disruption from strikes.”
The RMT says the dispute is over “a threat to jobs, pay and safety”, from the impact of closing some ticket offices and introducing a new role of Station Host. GTR plans to close ticket offices, or restrict opening hours to the morning peak only, at 83 stations.
“Not content with axing catering services, closing ticket offices and attacking the role of their guards, they now want to threaten 130 station jobs and compromise the safety of both their passengers and staff alike,” said RMT Assistant General Secretary Steve Hedley.
“These plans fly in the face of the response from the thousands of passengers who objected to the closure of ticket offices and the de-staffing of stations, as Govia drives on with plans for a faceless railway where the public are left to fend for themselves."
TSSA General Secretary Manuel Cortes said: " We cannot stand by and allow GTR to reduce Southern Railway to a second-class operation which is not fit for
passengers and staff.”
Drivers at Southern and Gatwick Express who belong to the ASLEF union are also being balloted in a separate dispute relating to the emergency timetable, which Southern says will remain in place until at least the middle of September (RAIL 805). However, the legal status of any RMT strike could come under question. The union says 70% of those who voted were in favour of a strike, with 80% favouring industrial action short of a strike.
Around half of GTR platform staff belong to the RMT. 1,065 members were balloted. Of those, 407 actually voted (38%). And 287 of the 407 voted for strike action (27% of those eligible to vote). A Southern spokesman said: “We note that only one in four voted for strike action, with more than half of RMT station staff members ignoring the ballot. While disappointed, we urge the union to stop this dispute and save our passengers and staff further pain by becoming part of the solution rather than the problem."