Strikes at four TOCs
RMT members at Greater Anglia, Merseyrail, Northern and Southern will strike on October 3 and 5, as ASLEF LU members also walk out.
RMT members at four train operating companies will go on strike from 0001 to 2359 on October 3 and 5, while ASLEF members will strike on London Underground on October 5.
The RMT action relates to the introduction of Driver Only Operation and the changing of the role of the guards. Southern, Merseyrail, Northern and Greater Anglia are the operators affected.
RMT balloted GA drivers (the vote was 2:1 for action on a 75% turnout) and guards (a vote of 9:1 in favour of action on a 90% turnout). The union says the potential extension of Driver Only Operation offers a “clear threat to passenger safety, following the company’s continuing refusal to give a guarantee on the role of the guard throughout the length of the franchise”.
GA Train Service Delivery Director Richard Dean said: “We’re keen to talk to the RMT to try and resolve the issues involved, and to avert industrial action. In the event of industrial action going ahead, we’d like to reassure customers that we have contingency plans in place and intend to run a full service.
“We value our conductors highly, and we have guaranteed their jobs until the end of the franchise in October 2025. In fact, we will be recruiting additional conductors, as we are replacing all of our trains with brand new trains from 2019, which will enable us to run more services.”
However, RMT claimed that Abellio, which runs the GA franchise, had repeatedly failed to provide union reps with the assurances they had been seeking regarding the role and responsibilities of the guards - now and for the length of the current GA franchise.
RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said: “Greater Anglia have been given every opportunity to give a guarantee on the future role of the guard on their services. They have failed to do so, and that left us with no alternative but to move to a ballot in the interests of rail safety.”
On Southern, the RMT said the dispute was about defending the role of the guard, the extension of DOO, and the guarantee of a second safety-critical member of staff on Southern services. It said that due to the failure of the Government and Govia Thameslink Railway to respond to RMT’s call for round table talks to resolve the dispute, it had instructed members not to book on for shifts.
“The failure to get those talks moving following our face-to-face meeting with Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has left us no option but to call further action,” said Cash.
He said the union “pays tribute to our Southern Rail guards and drivers who have stood firm for 18 months in the fight for rail safety, despite outrageous abuse and intimidation from the company. They are a credit to their communities and to the whole trade union movement, as they continue to take action for safety in Britain’s longest-running industrial dispute.”
On Merseyrail, RMT claims the strike is over “the continued pointblank refusal by the company” to make progress regarding the future of the safety-critical role of the guard. The union added that it was “angry and frustrated that Mersey Metro Mayor has refused to put pressure on Merseyrail to resolve the dispute”.
Said Cash: “The cynical and hostile stance from Merseyrail has left us with no option but to press ahead with a further two days of strike action. RMT recognises the severe impact that the action will have, but we are dealing with an employer that refuses to listen or engage with the union on the critical issue of safe rail operation. We ask the public to understand that we have no option but to take this high-profile action to force the company back to the negotiating table.”
Merseyrail Managing Director Jan Chaudhry-van der Velde countered: “We are busy trying to build a better city region with an improved railway. The RMT seem to be doing everything in their power to destroy this work. Don’t they want Liverpool to succeed?”
On Northern, the issue is also over DOO, with RMT claiming that the operator is blocking any chance of making progress in talks.
It said in a statement: “In the latest act of gross hypocrisy, following the Parsons Green bombing Northern Rail have called on staff to be extra vigilant, the same safety-critical staff that they are now planning to throw off the trains.”
Cash added: “Yet again we have been confronted with the sheer intransigence of Arriva Rail North, and that means that we have no option but to confirm a further round of strike action. The responsibility for the inevitable disruption lies wholly with the company.”
Rail Delivery Group Chief Executive Paul Plummer said: “What our customers and the whole of Britain needs is one railway, one team working together to deliver better services now and for the long term - not more needless, opportunistic strikes.
“Train companies are working together to keep Britain moving and support the economy, while the RMT leadership is playing politics with a vital public service that millions of people rely on every day. The union should call a halt to the strikes and get back to constructive talks.”
On London Underground, ASLEF members will walk out over what it says is the failure of LU to deliver on commitments to improve worklife balance as part of the 2015 pay settlement.
From a turnout of 53.1%, there was an 88.4% Yes vote for staff prepared to strike and a 93.5% Yes vote for those prepared to take part in industrial action.
Finn Brennan, ASLEF’s organiser on London Underground, said: “As part of the settlement of the dispute over the introduction of Night Tube, LU agreed to introduce a mechanism to allow drivers to reduce the number of shifts they work, on a pro-rata basis, and ‘new ways of working’ to reduce the percentage of weekend shifts worked by July this year. They have repeatedly refused to make any detailed proposals to do so.
“For more than 18 months management have prevaricated, stalled and delayed.
“Deadlines have repeatedly been missed and promises broken, while our detailed proposals to resolve these issues have been ignored.”