Northern MD urges RMT to negotiate over DOO
Northern Managing Director David Brown has called on the RMT union to re-enter talks with conciliation service ACAS, in order to agree a deal on the operator’s planned introduction of new trains.
The union is currently in dispute with Northern over potential staffing arrangements on the 98 new driver-only-operated (DOO) trains that are now being delivered by CAF, and which are scheduled to begin entering service from December.
Northern says that guards will continue to be rostered on all services and operate doors, but it wants the flexibility to run DOO in exceptional circumstances where a second person is unavailable.
The RMT is seeking an assurance that no trains will run without a second person (see pages 66-71).
Some 1,300 RMT members employed by Northern have taken or announced 31 days of strike action so far, with both parties blaming each other for the current breakdown in talks.
Although it was not an official strike day, a small number of RMT members gathered at Liverpool Lime Street on October 15 to coincide with Transport Secretary Chris Grayling’s visit to the station.
Grayling said: “I’m sorry the RMT is continuing to take action, as we have always said that investment in the railways will mean more rather than fewer jobs, and no one will lose their job. They have agreed on the same principles elsewhere in the country, and this is no different.”
Brown added: “They should come back and talk to us. They’ve settled [with other operators] elsewhere, and we’d be keen to talk about some of the arrangements put in place elsewhere.
“Calling more strike action will not solve anything, and is not the behaviour of someone who wants to find a workable solution. We cannot sort this out unless they are prepared to talk.”