rmt wins olympic union hits gold £2 million...the tories privatised british rail in the mid-1990s,...

ISSUE NUMBER 5, VOLUME 13

Essential reading for today’s transport worker

MAY 2011

www.rmt.org.ukwwww rmt org ukw rm

RMT members atNetwork Rail win deal

RMT WINSOLYMPICGOLD

Credit Union

hits £2 million

INSIDE THISISSUE

SACKED TUBE DRIVERRE-INSTATEDPAGE 7

BUS WORKERSMEETPAGE 13

NEAR DISASTER INNORTH SEAPAGE 20

RMT News is compiled and originated by National Union of Rail, Maritime &Transport Workers, Unity House, 39 Chalton Street, London NW1 1JD. T el: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 :: may 2011 :: RMTnews

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RMT has secured a ‘ground-breaking’two-year Network Rail deal to cover

the period of the Olympics.The deal will see 10,000 workers

across the country receive a 5.2 per centpay rise this year, backdated to January,and a further rise of inflation plus 0.5per cent from next January.

The package recognises the importantrole that transport workers will beexpected to play during the games andrewards them financially whileprotecting their trade union rights.

RMT will be seeking similar dealswith other companies.

RMT has also won the re-instatementof unfairly sacked Tube driver EamonnLynch and further talks to resolve theunfair dismissal of fellow driver ArwynThomas.

London Underground only agreed toRMT demands shortly before plannedstrike action was due to begin and afterhe won his unfair dismissal case.

The fact that the tribunal declaredthat Eamonn lost his job simply forbeing a member of a health and safetycommittee should be a matter of graveconcern not just for Tube workers butthe wider travelling public.

Tory responses to these attacks werepredictable as they were dangerous.London mayor Boris Johnson used thedispute to demand even tougher anti-strike laws.

This ConDem government is alsoplanning to cut Health and SafetyExecutive funding by 35 per cent whichwould mean that inspections on majorsites would only now take place after adeath or serious injury had occurred.

Yet it is the threatened HSE that willbe investigating the near disaster onboard the oil vessel Gryphon operated byMaersk Oil involved in an incident in theNorth Sea which had the potential tobecome a major disaster.

Sir Roy McNulty's similar slash andburn proposals for rail would lead tomassive job cuts, fare hikes, the break-upof Network Rail and other drastic cost-cutting measures to slash £5 billion insubsidies.

All of the inefficiencies in the railsystem are down to the fragmentationand profiteering of privatisation whichhas bled billions in profits and subsidiesout of the industry.

That is a cold hard fact that McNultyand the government have ignored andonly the train operators will be laughingall the way to the bank.

The union has also demanded that thegovernment ban First Group frombidding for Great Western and any otherrail franchises following their earlytermination of the current contract hassaved them £826 million that was due tothe UK taxpayer.

By pulling out three years early FirstGroup have dodged over £800 milliondue to the UK taxpayer while soaking up£141 million in taxpayer subsidies -that’s the best part of £1 billion that ithas cost the British people to underwritethis scandal.

This kind of highway robbery is whatawaits Scottish Ferries if the EuropeanUnion gets its way and imposes thebreak-up and privatisation of theselifeline services.

On a more positive note as RMT Newsgoes to press a bus member has beenacquitted of a dangerous driving chargeat Southampton Crown Court despitehostile local media.

This was down to the hard work ofBournemouth branch secretary MarkDean and Malcolm Cherry of Thompsonssolicitors which RMT News will bereporting on next month. Well done and,despite Mark’s team West Ham beingrelegated this season, I’m sure he will behappy with the result. It is just one morereason to join a fighting trade union lik eRMT.

Finally, it is great news that RMT’sCredit Union assets have hit £2 million.It means that even more RMT memberscan take advantage of this service whichprovides loans and promotes responsiblesaving at the same time. So if you arenot a Credit Union member join today.

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

WINNINGWAYS

Page 4 A DECLARATION OF WARPage 5 UNION NEGOTIATES OLYMPICS PAY DEALFOR RAIL STAFFPage 6 HEATHROW EXPRESS MEMBERS BACKSTRIKE ACTIONPage 7 TUBE STRIKE SUSPENDED AFTERSACKED DRIVER REINSTATEDPage 8 TRADE UNIONS MARK WORKERSMEMORIAL DAYPage 9PARLIAMENTARY COLUMNPage 10CAMPAIGNING AGAINST CUTS IN BUSSERVICESPage 11BUS CUTS DAMAGE ECONOMICRECOVERYPage 12 STAFF OUR STATIONSPage 14COASTGUARD CUTS CAN KILLPage 15DEFENDING SCOTTISH FERRY SERVICESPage 16WORKERS’ EDUCATION THEN AND NOWPage 18TRAINCREW AND SHUNTERSPage 19CREDIT UNION HITS £2 MILLIONPage 20NEAR DISASTER IN NORTH SEAPage 22DON’T BUY INTO THE ISRAELIOCCUPATIONPage 23PRESIDENT’S COLUMN Page 24NETWORK RAIL PAYS SIGNIFICANTDAMAGES FOR RAIL DEATHPage 25GOVERNMENT ATTACKS COMPENSATIONRIGHTS Page 26ORGANISE OR STARVE!Page 28PHILANTHROPISTS TAKE TO THE STAGE Page 29YOUNG MEMBERS MEET 1BEWARE SALARY SACRIFICE Page 32THE FIGHT AGAINST FASCISM Page 33CROSSWORD/LETTERSPage 34CREDIT UNION - OPEN A JUNIOR DEPOSIT ACCOUNT!


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McNulty:A DECLARATIONOF WARThe long-awaited report on the future of ourrailways identifies fragmentation as the problem– and sets out to make it worse, says RMTgeneral secretary Bob CrowIf ever there was a case of

‘right diagnosis, wrongtreatment’, the McNulty reporton the railways is it.

The knighted former head ofthe Civil Aviation Authority wasnever going to recommend re-nationalisation, but his report isbreathtaking not only in theway it scapegoats the workforce,but also in the way it simplyignores the evidence thatprivatisation is the problem.

Essentially it recommendsthat rail workers and passengersbe made to pay the price ofprivatisation.

If the governmentimplements the report in full therail network will be set back fordecades, and industrial relationswill become a battleground onevery front.

Shrugging aside the billionsthat have been removed fromthe industry by the privateertrain operators and leasingcompanies, he recommends amassive cull of railway staff anda war on pay, conditions andpensions, despite the fact thatproductivity has increased aheadof pay.

And despite recognising thedamage done by the

fragmentation imposed whenthe Tories privatised British Railin the mid-1990s, there will be asharp increase in safety risks asthe network becomes even morefragmented, with a significantshift of power towards theprivatised train operators.

The changes McNultyrecommends would increase theprivate-sector drain on thenetwork, and with thegovernment determined to lowersubsidy, would leave thetaxpayer, passengers and staffto pick up the bill.

He says that Britain’srailways are 30 per cent lessefficient than publicly ownedcomparators, but he proposes toclose the gap by breaking upNetwork Rail, giving longerfranchises, attacking staffconditions and paving the wayfor an attack on regionalrailways.

But more than a third of thetotal savings would come fromstaff, with further cuts inmaintenance, driver-onlyoperation becoming the defaultmode, a cull of station staff andthe scrapping of regulations thatprotect ticket offices.

There is a close correlation

between the privateers’ profitsand the level of public subsidy,but none between subsidy andincreasing labour costs – yet itis staff, not the privateers, whoare singled out for attack.

Research by Passenger Focusand others shows thatpassengers want to see morestaff on stations and trains, notfewer, and ghost stations andtrains will become yet anotherdisincentive to travel,particularly at night.

The report says NR shouldjust be a holding company withroute-level concessions operatedfranchises or otherorganisations, and there shouldbe early pilots for joint venturesand concessions of railinfrastructure.

And it lines up an attack onregional railways, which hepointedly notes are around sixtimes more expensive to run permile than long-distance andcommuter franchises.

McNulty has simply notconsidered the benefits of re-integrating the railways underpublic ownership.

And he ignores the billionsdrained from the industry inprofits and the evidence that

railways in Europe are cheaperprecisely because they remain inpublic ownership and are lessfragmented.

Despite recognising thatBritish commuters already facethe highest fares in Europe,McNulty also recommends thelevelling up of fares for off-peaktravel, saying that “the market”could bear higher charges.

His inexplicable plan toshatter track and signallinginfrastructure will create a seriesof mini-Railtracks, raising thechilling spectre of Hatfield andPotters Bar, and reversing there-integration of maintenance inthe not-for-profit Network Rail.

McNulty wants an end to thecap on fare increases, and whenrail fares have already increasedin real terms by 15 per centover the last decade, while airfares have fallen by 34 per centand car travel costs by eight percent, it is a move that will alsoforce people back into cars.

McNulty is not a recipe for amodern, democratic, mass railsystem, but a declaration of warperhaps even more profoundthan Beeching half a centuryago.


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RMT has secured a ‘ground-breaking’ two-year pay andrewards package deal whichincludes a ten per cent pay riseto cover the period of theOlympics.

The deal, secured with sisterunion TSSA, will see 10,000signallers, engineers, customerservice staff and otheremployees across the countryreceive a 5.2 per cent pay risethis year, backdated to January,and a further rise of inflationplus 0.5 per cent from nextJanuary.

Staff involved in theOlympics will enjoy a £3.50 anhour bonus for each shift theywork during the Games. Overallthat will be worth about £500 ahead. The deal includes:

• £500 additional money forworking through theOlympics period

• More than ten per cent payincrease on the basic over thenext two years - 5.2 per centthis year and RPI plus .5 percent in 2012.

• Agreement of a disputesprocedure throughout theOlympics period that meansno union member can bedismissed and whichrecognises the continuingright to withdraw labour.

RMT general secretary BobCrow said that it was a groundbreaking offer that givesNetwork Rail staff more thanten per cent on the basicbetween now and next year.

“The package recognises theimportant role that transportworkers will be expected to playduring the games and rewardsthem financially whileprotecting their union rights atthe same time.

“At this time of austerity wethink that £500 extra paymentsand ten per cent on the basicrepresents a good deal andproves that strong unionorganisation can deliver for themembers,” he said.

RMT secures pay and rewardspackage deal to take NetworkRail staff through the Olympics

RMT WINS OLYMPIC GOLD

RMT has rejected the latestrevised pay offer from

London Underground. The union said that whilst

it showed a slightimprovement, the offer wasstill below inflation and doesnot adequately address claimsfor improved conditions. Therevised offered also remaineda five-year offer.

It therefore falls well shortof settlements the union hasachieved with othercompanies, and for a one-year

deal of a substantial increasein pay and improvedconditions.

RMT general secretary BobCrow said that the union hadcontinued to liaise closely withUnite and TSSA on this issue.

“This co-operation hasstrengthened the ability toachieve a better deal formembers and will continue toinvite other organisations toalso be part of this unitybetween trade unions,” hesaid.

RMT REJECTS LATEST PAY OFFERFROM LONDON UNDERGROUND

N


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RMT members working forHeathrow Express have

voted overwhelmingly forstrike action and action shortof a strike in a dispute overpay.

RMT members based atHeathrow Airport andPaddington will strike for 48hours from 03:40 hours onMay 27, and for 24 hoursfrom 03:40 hours on FridayJune 24. Further action willalso be scheduled in July.

Over 90 per cent of thosetaking part in the ballotrejected an offer from thecompany for the two years upto the end of 2012 as“unsatisfactory” and backedstrike action and action shortof strike action.

RMT general secretary BobCrow said that HeathrowExpress had tabled a two yearpay offer which was loadedwith strings and which failsto meet workers’ demands for

a fair deal taking themthrough the Olympics period.

“As a result our membershave now voted by a massivemargin for action.

“It is now down to thecompany to come back to uswith a proposal that properlyrewards our members for thehard work they put in todelivering the successful andhighly-profitable HeathrowExpress service,” he said

RMT has welcomed thetransfer of the train

maintenance contract onLondon Underground’sJubilee Line from theprivately-owned Alstom tothe publicly-owned TubeLines.

The transfer comes at atime when the Jubilee Line isplagued by delays anddisruptions, and illustratesthat the union was right tocampaign against thecontracting-out of Tubemaintenance work.

The union also called forthe other contract held byAlstom, on the Northern Line,to be transferred to TubeLines as part of the return ofall contracted-out services toa fully-integrated, publicly-owned public transportsystem.

London Transport regionalorganiser Steve Hedley saidthat throughout the transferprocess, the union insistedthat members suffered noattack on their terms andconditions of employment.

He said that talks on thesematters are ongoing, with theexception of the issue ofpensions, as about 25 Alstomstaff are in a Defined Benefit(DB) scheme which TubeLines does not have.

“To resolve this issue andavoid detriment to ourmembers, we demand that TfLadmit all Alstom (and TubeLines) staff into the TfL finalsalary pension scheme and begiven free passes in line witheveryone else in TfL andLUL,” he said.

RMT is balloting Tube drivermembers on the Jubilee Line

for action short of a strike in adispute over attempts bymanagement to ride roughshodover agreed safety procedures.

As a direct result of thecontinuing failures andbreakdowns of the operatingsystem on the Jubilee Line, alegacy of the tube privatisationfiasco, tube bosses are now underinstruction from the top to ignoreagreed safety procedures to short-cut the clearance of blockages onthe line.

Without conducting a full riskassessment, and without issuingproper briefings to train operators,tube bosses are trying to imposefrom above a massive change tosafety procedures that would allowthem to instruct drivers to movetrains in restricted manual mode(overriding the automated Jubileeoperating system) through the RS(route secure) protocol over pointswithout the need to scotch and clipthe points.

Scotching and clipping has longbeen rail industry standardprocedure for ensuring that pointsare manually fixed in a safety-critical situation to avoid anychance of derailment or of a trainfollowing the wrong route - afailure that could have devastatingconsequences.

RMT general secretary BobCrow said that the high-profilespate of failures and breakdownson the Jubilee Line was driving anattempt to short-cut theconsultation machinery and safetyprocedures.

“The solution to the growingproblems on the Jubilee Line is totackle the core faults with the fleetand operating systems that thefailure of tube privatisation haslumbered us with - cutting cornerson safety procedures is aguaranteed recipe for making abad situation even worse,” he said.

JUBILEE LINEDRIVERSBALLOTEDOVER SAFETY

HEATHROW EXPRESSMEMBERS BACKSTRIKE ACTION

LU ALSTOM MEMBERSTRANSFERRED TO TUBE LINES


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RMT suspended plannedindustrial action on LondonUnderground following anagreement with Tube bosses tore-employ unfairly sacked driverEamonn Lynch and to resolvethe unfair dismissal of sackeddriver Arwyn Thomas in advanceof his Employment Tribunal.

London Underground agreedto reinstate RMT Tube driverEamonn Lynch shortly beforestrike action was due to beginand after he won his unfairdismissal case after being sackedfor allegedly breaching safetyrules.

RMT balloted drivers forstrike action following bothsackings which were clearlylinked to the pair’s trade unionactivities as both drivers woninterim relief tribunals whichmeant LU was forced to continueto pay the men’s wages.

“This dispute has only everbeen about securing justice for

our members who have beenunfairly dismissed,” said RMTgeneral secretary Bob Crow.

“As a result of thisagreement Eamonn Lynch canreturn to work with hiscontinuity of employment andstandard of living protected.

“I want to pay tribute to theloyalty and determination of ourmembers on LondonUnderground who havecontinued to stand shoulder toshoulder with their colleagues.

“Their strength and couragehas been a shining example tothe entire trade unionmovement,” he said.

Hot-headed London mayorBoris Johnson, who hasconsistently refused to meet RMTofficials, accused the union ofbeing ‘completely crackers’ fororganising industrial action andused the dispute to demand eventougher anti-strike laws.

This is despite the fact that an

employment tribunal concludedthat Mr Lynch had beendismissed because he was amember of a health and safetycommittee and for his tradeunion activities.

The fact that, in a safetycritical industry, an employeecould lose his job simply forbeing a member of a health andsafety committee is a matter ofgrave concern not just for RMTmembers but for all tube workersand the wider travelling public.

The tribunal was also highlycritical of London Undergroundwitnesses.

It found the manager whoconducted the disciplinaryhearing, Alana Stewart, was anunreliable and unsatisfactorywitness. In one paragraph of thejudgment they accuse her of‘dissembling’ – pretending –before the tribunal.

The tribunal found themanager who conducted the

appeal, Chris Taggart, was moreinterested in excusing hiscolleagues than giving a fairhearing. By contrast, thetribunal stated that Mr Lynchwas a straightforward andtruthful witness.

The tribunal concluded thathe was truthful about theincident that led to his whollyunjustified dismissal.

The tribunal found thatLondon Underground had failedto follow its own procedures andconcluded that no reasonableemployer would have decidedthat dismissing Mr Lynch wasproportionate.

The damning verdict totallyvindicated RMT’s campaignwhich was really about whethertrade union officials can goabout their lawful businesswithout fear of victimisation bya management who appear to beout of control.

TUBE STRIKESUSPENDED AFTERSACKED DRIVERREINSTATEDRMT calls off strikeaction after Tubebosses agree toresolution talks overunfairly sacked tubedrivers


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Southeastern Trainscleaning contractors,

Wettons Cleaning Services,has reversed its decision notto pay any enhancements inpay or granting lieu days forstaff who worked the extrabank holiday for the royalwedding last month.

As a result of Wettonsdecision not to honour the

additional bank holiday toworkers earning just £10,600,the union immediatelydemanded a meeting with thecompany and it agreed torecognise April 29 as anadditional bank holiday for allstaff.

Wettons has nowconfirmed it will adhere to theterms and conditions of

employment for all TUPEtransfer staff (COMATEC, ISSand EX-BR) for the additionalbank holiday.

All other employees willreceive an additional day’sannual leave and thoseemployees that worked on theday will receive normal payand a day in lieu.

Profits have soared for the

company more than 200 percent over the last six yearsand the boss survives on£376,000 a year.

The union will continue tofight for decent wages andconditions for the cleanerspursue a similar writtenagreement for next year’sRoyal Jubilee.

Trade unions marked WorkersMemorial Day around the

world last month to rememberthose that died at work and todemand a safer workingenvironment.

RMT called for the Healthand Safety Executive (HSE) tobe properly resourced andcondemned planned cuts ofaround 35 per cent to itsbudget.

HSE union rep Simon Hesterwarned that the cuts meant thatinspections on major sites wouldonly now take place after adeath or serious injury hadoccurred.

Mr Hester delivered the starkwarning at a Workers' MemorialDay event in London just daysafter a fatality on the LondonGateway building site in Essex.

The protest outside theDepartment of Work andPensions (DWP) in Westminstertook an unexpected turn whenminister Chris Grayling emergedfrom the building to beconfronted by angry unionmembers led by Tony O’Brienfrom the Construction SafetyCampaign.

Mr Grayling, the ministerresponsible for the savage HSEcuts, was surrounded byprotesters and while refusing todiscuss his plans resorted to theinfamous ministerial brush-off

“my door is always open” -clearly not as the picture(above) shows.

The London WMD rally, oneof a growing number across thecountry and globally, wasaddressed by RMT presidentAlex Gordon who listed acatalogue of fatalities, blastingout the message that the entiremovement needed to unite inthe fight against the co-ordinated attack on health andsafety at work.

Figures from the HSE revealthat last year 152 workers were

killed at work and thousands ofpeople died of mesthelioma andoccupational cancers and lungdiseases.

The Trade Union Co-Ordinating Group put downearly day motion 1761 inParliament as part of thegrowing support amongst MPsat Westminster for fullrecognition of WorkersMemorial Day and the concernthat exists at the savage cuts tothe HSE.

In Australia, InternationalTransport Workers Federation

(ITF) president Paddy Crumlinsaid that more men and womencontinue to be killed at workthan in wars.

“It remains one of thegreatest global tragedies thatmany of these deaths arepreventable.

“International Workers’Memorial Day commemoratesthose workers who tragicallynever came home.

“Today we remember them aswe continue the fight to raisesafety standards for allworkers,” he said.

TRADE UNIONS MARKWORKERS MEMORIAL DAY

RMT WINS ROYAL WEDDING U-TURN

Parliamentary column

RMT helpline 0800 3763706 :: may 2011 :: RMTnews

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I am very pleased to report I waspresent in Parliament to help defeatTory MP Dominic Raab’s Ten MinuteRule Bill on April 26 which aimed torestrict the right of workers to takestrike action.

Given its status, the Bill had nohope of becoming law, but floatedthe prospect of further anti-tradeunion legislation. That’s why it wasvital it was roundly defeated by 171votes to 121. Under the terms ofRaab’s Bill, a union in the transportor emergency services sectorswould only be able to take strikeaction if it was supported by amajority of eligible voters, ratherthan the current simple majority ofthose voting.

As RMT members know, Britainalready has some of the mostrestrictive trade union legislation inthe developed world. What’s neededis the repeal of this legislation, notfurther constraints on unions tryingto defend their members.

During his speech it was offensiveto see Raab, on the one hand alignhimself with the cause of thosefamous strikes in British history; thematch girls and at East Londondocks and then on the othercastigate today’s workers for usingtheir right to down tools. This man isthe enemy of liberty.

With inflammatory language, hedescribed a Britain that few outsidethe Tory right would recognise:where the public is held hostage by

“trade union bosses” who “bully themajority of union members intosupporting strike action”, singlingout RMT, PCS, Unite and BECTU.

He gave himself away by saying“our law gives unions too muchpower” and had the temerity topose the question “who is preparedto stand up for the hard-workingmajority in this Country?” as if theTories have ever been the friend of

working people.

This Bill sought to clobber workersnot bad employers. Trade unionleaders don’t bully members intovoting one way; members cast theirvotes in secret. Under his proposals,industrial relations would worsenbecause it would strengthen theposition of anti-union employers.

The bare-faced cheek and doublestandards of the man wereastounding. He wants a law forunions requiring 50 per cent supportbefore strike action can be taken,but this standard doesn’t applyelsewhere in public life, includingParliamentary elections. Raab didn’twin 50 per cent support from eligiblevoters in his Esher and Waltonconstituency (he polled 32,134 votesof 76,962 electors). Applying hisown rule, he should not be allowedto sit in the House of Commons. AsBob Crow said of these Tories:

“They want one law for the politicalclass and another for the workingclass”.

His proposals were a clear attack ontrade union members and thehuman right of workers to takestrike action as set out in the UNILO Conventions. Particularly ofcourse, it was an assault RMTmembers and industrial militancy.

Raab and his ilk, including ToryMayor Boris Johnston, can’t abideworkers banding together insolidarity against their employers inthe form of strike action and winningconcessions as a result.

At this critical time when thecoalition government is ripping upour public services and welfare state,the ability of workers to be able toindustrial action to defend theirlivelihoods and communities isessential.

Ian LaveryMP for Wansbeck

TORIESATTACK THERIGHT TOSTRIKE

RMT has condemned moves bypublicly owned East Coast

railway to export to India jobscurrently done by staff at theNational Express call centre inNewcastle.

East Coast, in public handsfollowing the serial collapse offranchises run by GNER and NationalExpress, has given preferred-bidderstatus for customer-relationsfunctions to Intelenet GlobalServices, which has operations inPlymouth and Mumbai, and to ATOSOrigin, which operates inWolverhampton.

RMT called the decision a “bitterblow to the economy andcommunities of the northeast” which,if allowed by the government tostand, showed an “astonishing” lackof commitment to protecting jobs inthe region.

The union welcomed aparliamentary motion, EDM 1585tabled by Gateshead MP Ian Mearns,which calls on ministers to interveneto reverse a decision that is“unacceptable” and which“demonstrates the failure offragmentation and sub contracting inthe rail industry”.

The EDM said that the moves“demonstrates the failure offragmentation and sub contracting inthe rail industry; and calls for anurgent, industry wide assessment ofthe benefits to the passenger,taxpayer and economy of bringingall railway services in-house”.

RMT general secretary Bob Crowsaid that it was bad enough that thegovernment wanted to re-privatisethe East Coast Mainline when it hasalready collapsed twice in privatehands, but it beggars belief that thegovernment should even contemplateallowing these jobs to be exported.

“These are core functions thatshould be done in-house, and this isanother classic example of the failureof privatisation and a market-madcontract-culture that sees only profitand loss and never the damage itdoes to services and the lives of realpeople,” he said.

MPS CALL ONEAST COASTTO STOPOUTSOURCINGJOBS TO INDIA

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RMT’s bus workers’conference meeting inExeter calls forcampaigns on cuts,safety and conditions

CAMPAIGNINGAGAINST CUTS INBUS SERVICESYou can view this conference asa webcast on the RMT web site


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RMT bus workers’ conference inExeter called for the union tocampaign against cuts and forbetter safety and conditions inthe industry.

Keith Sanders-Hole, ExeterNo 2, proposed that the unionshould support the localpassenger-led campaigns thatare taking place to save busservices.

“We need to be activelyinvolved. We should be with theanti-cuts campaigners who arecampaigning to save our jobs,”he said.

Conference called for theunion to keep bus branchesinformed of anti-cuts campaignsand to support local busbranches involved thesecampaigns.

RMT president Alex Gordonagreed on the importance oflinking up with community-ledanti-cuts campaigns. He pointedto the massive demonstration inLondon on 26 March asconfirmation of how strong thefeeling is amongst the publicagainst the huge swathe of cutsthat is taking place across thepublic sector and publiclysubsidised privatised services.

“We may be in the privatesector, temporarily, but it is stilla public service.

“In the bus industry we are

facing an onslaught fromGeorge Osborne’s spendingreview and many localauthorities see bus services asexpendable.

“In Somerset we have seenmassive cuts while inCambridgeshire they aim tocut 100 per cent of the busgrant over the next four years.

“These cuts go right acrossthe board but will be felt inrural communities inparticular,” he said.

Dave Gilbey, South DevonBus, told the conference thatthe entire bus industry wasunder attack nationally andlocally.

“With every cut jobs willgo and so will our pensions.

“They want our jobs andthe money that we have putworked for and put into ourpensions,” he said.

Guest speaker Sophie Allainof the Campaign for BetterTransport, told conferenceabout the work of the SaveOur Buses campaign that hadbeen launched earlier in theyear.

“The campaign is aboutdefending buses from the publicservice cuts and it has broughttogether a broad coalitionincluding all the major unions.

“We are looking at legalchallenges and whetherproposed local authority cutsare within the law. We need toinject buses into the anti-cutsmovement,” she said.

SAFETY

The lack of safety equipmentand non-working equipment onbuses was drawn to theattention of the conference bynumerous delegates.

The issue had specialresonance in the wake of seriousphysical attacks on RMT busdrivers recently.

Conference called on theunion to make driver alarms amandatory fixture in the cabs ofall new vehicles.

Phil Coakley, Poole andDistrict, said he was surprised tolearn that new vehicles werebeing brought into depotswithout an alarm as standard.

“Only with the delivery of

new vehicles to our depot didwe realise that the alarms werenot part of the spec.

“They should be fitted asstandard,” he said.

Assistant general secretaryMick Cash, argued that the needfor clearer guidelines on thecondition a bus has to be inbefore it is deemed safe to goon the road.

“It is important that wecampaign and highlight theproblem of non-workingequipment on buses,” he said.

AGAINST ATTACKS ONCONDITIONS

Joe Galea, Notts and Derby Bus,explained how memberstransferred under the Transfer ofUndertakings Protection ofEmployment (TUPE) often foundthemselves working under worseconditions.

This is in spite of the factthat TUPE legislation is meantto ensure that when a businessis transferred from one owner toanother the employees are

employed on the same termsand conditions.

“Some of our members havebeen employed by threedifferent companies at threedifferent locations in fourmonths,” he said.

“Although this is better thanbeing without a job in thesehard times, each time they havehad to move further away fromtheir original location and theirterms and conditions havetended to change slightly eachtime.

“Members who lived close totheir workplace now findthemselves travelling longdistances to work,” he said.

Relief regional organiser PeteSkelly agreed that while underTUPE members’ rights weremeant to be protected, that infact this wasn’t always the case.

“With TUPE, every time youare moved you lose something.

“They cut costs by attackingwages and conditions,” he said.

The 9th annual RMT Garden Party for Cubain association with Cuba Solidarity Campaign

June 21

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

AWARD: Longstanding RMT member andbus worker Peter Edwards received anaward from assistant general secretaryMick Cash on his retirement from theindustry. “Conference will not be the same withoutPete’s charm and wit and we all wish himall the best for the future,” he said.


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A co-ordinated industrial andpolitical campaign can haltconcerted attacks by train-operating companies on stationstaff jobs, delegates at thestation grades conferencedeclared.

A highly charged gatheringin the north Wales resort ofRhyl sketched a plan of action,including industrial action and anational public campaign aimedat harnessing popular supportfor safer stations.

The full-scale onslaught onstation staffing threatened jobs,safety and service standards andundermined all other grades,delegates agreed, adding that

the campaign should identifyitself clearly with the growinganti-cuts movement that wassignalled by the hugedemonstration held in Londonin March.

The hypocrisy of thoseseeking to divert attention fromgovernment cuts by whippingup wedding hysteria, whilecleaners were denied the right totime off and half of Britonsearned less than £408 a weekwas slammed by assistantgeneral secretary Pat Sikorski.

Leaks of the McNulty reporton the future of railways inBritain gave a clear indicationof the government plan to slash

STAFF OUR STATIONSRMT station grades meeting in Rhylprepare battle plan to defend jobsand station safety


13

jobs and spending whileprotecting the profits ofparasites who had bled theindustry since privatisation, Patsaid.

“If there is waste in theindustry it is the billions takenout as profits, yet thegovernment is bent onrewarding TOCs that have rippedour industry off by handingthem the infrastructure as well.”

That, and McNulty’s viewthat the industry was “tooobsessed with standards”, wouldonly result in further dangerousmaintenance cuts and sweatingof assets to squeeze out evenmore profit, undermining safetyand raising the prospect ofanother Hatfield or Potter’s Bar.

Station grades companycouncil reps should be broughttogether to flesh out theindustrial and campaigningpriorities, said Pat.

Ross Marshall, Central LineWest, pointed to campaigningalready undertaken, which hadgarnered much public sympathyand been backed by postcardcampaigns and early-daymotions tabled by the union’sparliamentary group.

“It’s time for that to gonational, with regional rallies,merchandise and a mediacampaign,” said Ross.

“Every TOC is after us andstation staff are the easiest toget rid of, and if we don’t fightback we will be gone,” saidMichelle Rodgers, ManchesterSouth.

“The framework for thecampaign is already there: let’sroll it out – we’ll get massivesupport from the public,”Michelle said.

The union had been battlingstation staff cuts for nearly twoyears at London Midland, saidDenis James, Birmingham Rail,and more than 18,000 membersof the public had backed theunion’s postcard campaign andobjected to station cuts.

“It is important to recognisethat we need to organise, standtogether and fight, and that thepublic is behind us on this,” saidDenis.

“We have a fragmentedrailway, but from Land’s End toJohn O’Groats we should

fighting together to protect ourjobs and services and to get usall back on the same pay, termsand conditions – and if we sticktogether we can beat anymanagement,” said DenisConnor, Glasgow 5.

The “real power” that hadbeen displayed by station staffover four recent days of strikeaction across LondonUnderground was acknowledged,and delegates vowed to giveevery backing to station staffdisplaced by LUL’s cuts.

The union was facing manybattles on many fronts, fightingthe government and the TOCs,and to defend for pensions andthe welfare state, said JaneGwynn, Jubilee Line South andEast London Line.

“The LUL strikes proved thatwe can do it if we stick together ,and that applies as much to themainline as it applies to LondonUnderground,” added JasonHumphreys, Jubilee Line Southand East London Line.

The March 26 anti-cutsdemonstration had beenmagnificent, but it was crucialto keep organising and fighting,getting involved in localcampaigns and trades unioncouncils, said Doug Oxer,Manchester Victoria.

Cuts in station staff wouldonly have the effect ofincreasing the alreadyunacceptable level of abuse,violence and assaults, saidDoug.

Conference president ChrisReilly, Reading, emphasised theimportance of the union’s HighCourt victory over SercoDocklands’ attempt to invalidatethe union’s strike ballot.

“That judgement will make iteasier for all trade unionistsseeking to take action to defendjobs and services,” Chris said.

That victory had given amassive boost to the entiretrade-union movement, saidPeter March, RMT executive.

Had the union lost it wouldhave faced a bill in excess of£100,000 – but Serco had had topay those costs and had beenforced back to the table tonegotiate a better deal.

However, the Tory-ledgovernment would try to turn

the screw of anti-union lawseven tighter, Peter warned.

BTP MEETING DEMANDED TOTACKLE GROWING ASSAULTPROBLEM

DELEGATES demanded asummit with the chief inspectorof the British Transport Police topress for a solution to theincreasing burden of dealingwith assaults and other crimesplaced on revenue-protectionand other station staff.

“Even now we are lucky if a999 call is answered, but theBTP is in line for swingeingcuts,” noted Ross Marshall,expressing alarm at trials ofgiving RPIs more powers to dealwith what should be policematters.

Delegates recalled seriousincidents to which the BTP hadfailed to respond in time – oreven at all.

The BTP needed to be fundedproperly by the government –and while private-sectorcompanies were making hugeprofits from the industry theyshould be paying their sharetoo, said Denis Connor.

• DELEGATES slammed theincreasing use by TOCs ofnon-operational andinadequately trained peopleto cover safety-critical staffin breach of safety rules,especially during strikes, andcalled for an investigationwith the evidence handed tothe Office of Rail Regulation.

TOCs were attempting tocreate a two-tier workforce,said Linda Wiles, TfL No 1:“Do we have to wait forsomeone to be killed beforewe do something about this?”she asked.

• MORE pressure needs to beput on train-operatingcompanies to providehepatitis B vaccinations,delegates agreed, endorsing acall by Caroline Parry,Gloucester, to keep up themomentum to get employersto take a practical step torecognise their duty of care.

• FAILURE by Network Rail andtrain operators to improve thelevel and quality of

information provided tofront-line rail workers attimes of sever weather wascondemned by conference.

Promises by NR and TOCs toliaise and improve the flow ofinformation had come tonothing, and staff were left inthe dark to face the anger ofthe public, said TimWilkinson, Gloucester.

• EMPLOYERS should shouldertheir responsibility to getstaff to late or early shifts,especially when TOCsthemselves change shifttimes, delegates agreed

It was scandalous that staffwere being expected to footthe bill for travel to workwhen their employers hadimposed changed shift times,noted Denis Connor,

Staff should be given travelexpenses or time to cover theadditional costs imposed onthem, and conference askedthat the union take up theissue with all relevantcompanies.

• POSTERS aimed at attractingall relevant grades to thestation and associated grades’conference should beproduced to boost attendanceamong members, such ascleaners and retail, who donot already attend.

• POCKET ‘know your rights’booklets should be producedby regional councils for allstation staff to help countermanagements thatcontinually made up rulesand bypassed safety in orderto hide inadequate staffinglevels.

• SOLIDARITY and support wasextended to Chris Smart,sacked recently for doing hisjob as a workplace RMT rep.

Chris was looking to anindustrial tribunal to throwout the flimsy case againsthim – which amounted tobeing accused of ‘harassing’ amanager simply by writingletters seeking time off forRMT duties.

• NEXT year’s conference willbe held in Teignmouth,Devon.


14

Unions have told MPs thatgovernment plans to cut backon coastguard centres, leavingjust one in the South West, andthe privatisation of rescueservices would put lives at risk.

The House of CommonsTransport Committee tookevidence on the coastguardcutback plans from PCS, RMT,Prospect and Nautilus.

Under government proposals,the number of round-the-clockcoastguard centres will bereduced from 18 to just three24-hour operational centres - atAberdeen, in theSouthampton/Portsmouth areaand at Dover.

In addition, there will be fivesub-centres open during

daylight hours - at Swansea, atFalmouth in Cornwall, atBridlington in East Yorkshire, ateither Belfast or Liverpool andat either Stornoway orShetland.

Shipping minister MikePenning has claimed that themajor cutback of thecoastguard would improveservices.

The government has notconsulted staff or unions aboutthe changes which would hitfrontline services.

RMT general secretary BobCrow said that it was ashocking indictment of ConDemgovernment.

“It’s clear nothing is safefrom the ConDem austerity axe

– including emergency, life-saving services like thecoastguards and search andrescue.

“It is amazing that plans tocut our coastguards could evenbe considered, let aloneimplemented, and shows thatthey are quite prepared to hackaway at life or death services.

These proposals must befought tooth and nail everystep of the way,” he said.

Shadow transport secretaryMaria Eagle said: "The Tory-ledgovernment's proposal to closeso many of our coastguardstations is ill-thought outmadness that will leave ourcoastline a more dangerousplace.”

SAVING LIVES: A total of 8,313 people were plucked from the sea by lifeboats lastyear and lifeguards helped 18,775 people across UK's beaches.

Leith shipping branch is upand running again after

being in moth balls foryears, writes nationalsecretary Steve Todd.

The branch wasrelaunched earlier this yearand has a new branchsecretary in Jim Rutherford,a Forth Ports employee fromGrangemouth.

New branch chairmanBrian Reynolds works forCally-Mac and is anotherlong standing member of theunion and, indeed, Leithbranch.

The branch has a proudhistory and boasts many wellknown names from theformer NUS days in itsmembership, former generalsecretary Sam McClusky,former assistant generalsecretary Harry Bygate andmyself, to name but a few.

I am proud to have been amember of this historicalbranch and recall the greatand lively branch meetingsof the late 80's and 90's. Thisbranch always commanded agreat turnout of membersand it is great to see Briantaking over the chair at lastand I wish him, Jim and thebranch every success for thefuture.

The branch also has theonly, former NUS and nowRMT, tug boat port in theUK. There is also the big oldbuilding on the "Shore" nearLeith Docks, now privateflats, which was once NUSheadquarters. It is hoped thatnow the branch is up andrunning, the meetings willgather momentum and theywill start sending membersand motions to both BGMsand AGMs and provide aservice to members theydeserve. Long live "SunnyLeith".

COASTGUARDCUTS CAN KILL

LEITHSHIPPINGBRANCHRELAUNCHED

Coordinated by Seafarers UK,the leading maritime welfarecharity, Seafarers AwarenessWeek - 6-12 June - aims tohighlight ‘sea blindness’, i.e. thewidespread public ignoranceabout the UK’s dependence onseafarers.

Seafarers UK is making athought-provoking video toreveal how our ‘island nation’would suffer if food, fuel andgoods were not safely deliveredeveryday by ship. Social media– Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,etc – will be used to reach a

younger audience. Triggered by the video, an

interactive web TV show will beshown on media websites andthere will be live radiointerviews around the UK.

Website:www.seafarersawarenessweek.org

SEAFARERS AWARENESS WEEK TOHIGHLIGHT ‘SEA BLINDNESS’


15

RMT has demanded that theScottish government andCaledonian MacBrayne “comeclean” and lift the threat to jobson the Gourock-Dunoon ferryroute after news leaked that thepublicly owned company hadbid to downgrade to apassenger-only service.

The company, whichcurrently runs a combinedpassenger and freight serviceacross the Clyde, has concededthat crew and staff had foundout ‘by default’ that it waspreparing to drop freightoperations under cover of thetendering process imposed byHolyrood.

RMT general secretary BobCrow, in Scotland campaigningto defend lifeline ferry servicesand jobs, has written to theScottish government seekingassurances that jobs andservices on the route would beprotected.

“It is completelyunacceptable that loyal CalMacstaff and the people who rely onthe services they provide shouldfind out through gossip thatdecisions have been taken thatcast a long shadow overessential jobs and services.

“The government has beensitting on the wholeunnecessary tendering processfor nearly two years, and weunderstand that CalMac hasbeen actively looking at newpassenger-only vessels for sometime,” he said.

RMT, along with the STUCand local communitycampaigners and trade

unionists, held meeting inBalivanich, The Uists andStornoway, Lewis this monthaddressed by Bob Crow, nationalsecretary Steve Todd andpresident Alex Gordon.

“The speculation about joblosses and privatisationfollowing the tendering of theGourock-Dunoon route, at theinstigation of the EuropeanParliament, is a graphicdemonstration of the threatposed to the Scottish Ferryservices and we are seekingurgent assurances that there willbe no compulsory redundanciesand no privatisation,” said Bob.

One of the routes threatenedby privatisation is the Ardrossansailing to Brodick in the Isle ofArran. The union had the firstof the two meetings in Brodickaddressed by Steve Todd, andRMT Parliamentary groupmember Katy Clark MP.

Steve spelt out the dangers tothe island community of theScottish government proposalsmaking clear that privatisationwould hit the terms andconditions and job security ofthe workforce as well as servicelevels and fares.

Katy Clark MP spoke outagainst the proposals and statedthat most people were unawareof the threat of privatisation.

She urged the meeting tospread the word amongst thecommunity and step upopposition to the proposals. Shealso urged people to lobbycandidates for the ScottishParliament and other electedpoliticians.

Currently the Scottishgovernment is only allowed bythe European Commission tosubsidise passengers on theGourock to Dunoon route due tothe existence of private sectoroperator Western Ferries whoalso run a freight service closeto the town centre of Dunoon.

The Scottish government hasnow rushed out a tenderspecification requiringCaledonian MacBrayne tocompete for the route alongsidea number of private sectorcompanies.

The EU notified the Scottishgovernment that they required atender for the ferry route inDecember 2009 but Holyroodhas delayed action until the lastpossible moment.

Scottish governmenttransport minister Keith Brownhas so far refused to guaranteethat TUPE or pensionprotections apply.

In 2006 prior to the firstround of tendering for the widerClyde and Hebrides ferrynetwork the Scottishgovernment explicitlysafeguarded the future of theworkforce in the tenderspecification.

At the time the tenderdocument for the Clyde andHebrides network required asubsidy clawback if any newoperator winning the tendersubsequently sought to makeincreased profits by reducingterms and conditions orattacking pensions.

Catch the latest video updateson RMT’s own on-line stationat www.rmtv.org.uk

CHANNEL 1: RMT IN ACTIONMay Day: footage andinterviews from this year’sInternational Workers’ Daycelebrations

CHANNEL 2: NEWS BULLETINSNetwork Rail pay deal: BobCrow on the ground-breaking Olympics deal.

Re-instate Arwyn andEamonn: as RMT wins there-instatement of EamonnLynch and commitment toresolve Arwyn Thomas’scase before his full tribunalhearing, Pat Sikorskioutlines the overwhelmingcase against thevictimisation RMT reps onLondon Underground

CHANNEL 3: HISTORYThe People’s Flag: First in anacclaimed four-partdocumentary on the historyof the labour movement, byChris Reeves

CHANNEL 4: RMT EXTRAThe Banner Man: Ed Hallshares the secrets ofbanner-making in anexclusive RMTv interview

Japanese tsunami: Japanesetransport union EB on theimpact of the devastatingearthquake and tsunami andthe international solidarityshown by unions to helpbring relief

Catch them all and a lot more atwww.rmtv.org.uk

WHAT’S NEWON RMTV

www.RMTv.org.uk

DEFENDING SCOTTISHFERRY SERVICES

RMT takes fight to communities directlyaffected by attacks on Cal Mac lifeline services


16

WORKERS’EDUCATIONTHEN AND NOW

Richard Ross of LondonMetropolitan University’sCentre for Trade Union Studies,looks at how educating workersis more important than ever

STRIKE: Ruskin students on strike in 1909


17

Globalisation, neo-liberalism,deregulation, privatisation,financial crisis... trying tounderstand what is going onand why can be difficult, yet isso important.

More then ever high leveleducation is vital for anyonewho takes an interest in politicsor wants to be active in theirunion.

The Centre for Trade UnionStudies at London MetropolitanUniversity is run by and fortrade unionists. Over 100students, including from RMT,are studying with us. We offercourses in Labour and TradeUnion Studies, starting with aCertificate of Higher Education,through to a BA degree and aMasters degree. Union LearningReps can study for theCertificate of ProfessionalDevelopment in Union Learning.All these courses can be takenpart-time and you don’t needformal academic qualificationsto apply. For some coursesattendance is one day a month,for others two weeks and twodays a year. This makes itpossible for students from all

over the UK to take thesecourses.

We are in a long tradition ofworkers’ education although thehistory of workers' education israrely spoken or written about.It is in danger of being lostfrom view. We need to reclaimthis history so we know wherewe have come from and thatother possibilities are available.Shedding a light on the pastmight help us to illuminate thefuture.

Two rival organisationsprovided the bulk of workers’education before the SecondWorld War. The Workers’Educational Association (WEA)had been founded in 1903. Itsrival, the National Council ofLabour Colleges, was establishedfollowing a strike by students atRuskin College, Oxford in 1909.

The WEA and Ruskin hadsimilar aims, to bring thebenefits of education to workers,but the question arose as to whoshould determine and controlthat education. Was it to be themiddle class, bringingenlightenment to the workingclass, or was it to be workers

themselves and theirinstitutions, such as tradeunions? Was the purpose ofeducation to fit workers into acapitalist society or to questionand help to change that society?

This question came intosharp focus at Ruskin College.The college, founded in 1899,became heavily influenced byOxford University. Many of thestudents were trade unionistswho began to feel that thepurpose of the college was totransmit ruling-class ideas,particularly in the field ofeconomics.

They organised their ownclasses, formed the Plebs Leagueto put pressure on the collegeauthorities and in 1909 went onstrike and established theCentral Labour College, inopposition to Ruskin, as “adeclaration of working-classindependence in education”.Many of the strikers were fromRMT forerunner, theAmalgamated Society ofRailway Servants.

Trade unionists who studiedat the Central Labour Collegeran their own classes when theyreturned home. In 1921 theseclasses came together to formthe National Council of LabourColleges (NCLC).

The NCLC and the WEA werepoles apart ideologically. TheNCLC stood for independentworking class education, bywhich they meant educationindependent of the state andthose that controlled it.

For the NCLC, the WEA wasa tool of the state, designed tointegrate the working-class intoa common national culture.They ridiculed the WEA’s claimto be ‘impartial’. From theWEA’s point of view, NCLCeducation was ’propaganda’.

In sum, whilst the NCLCstood for revolutionary changein society the WEA stood forreformism, a divide thatcontinues to run througheducation, trade unionism andpolitics today.

The NCLC’s aim of workingclass education by and for theworking class had led to itcalling for the TUC to beresponsible for trade unioneducation. In 1944, at the

instigation of the NationalUnion of Railwaymen, the TUCexamined the possibility of aresidential college. Thiseventually became CongressHouse, the TUC MemorialBuilding, a war memorial totrade unionists, opened in 1958.

Whilst it was being built TUCcourses were run at MaritimeHouse, the headquarters of theNational Union of Seamen.

Financial difficulties thatunions faced after the SecondWorld War led to further callsfor the rationalisation of TradeUnion Education. Theeducational work of unionsthemselves, as well as the TUCwas growing and theduplication of providers wascostly. In 1964 the TUCEducation scheme came intobeing taking over the NCLC andthe trade union work of theWEA.

Although workers’ educationwas rationalised in 1964 thequestions that were raised in1909 with the Ruskin Collegestrike are still relevant. What isthe purpose of worker’seducation? Who should controlit? Who should provide it? Howcan independent working-classeducation be achieved? ThePlebs League wanted “neithercrumbs (nor) condescension”,but control of their own destiny.We must not forget this history.

For further information abouttrade union courses at LondonMetropolitan University contactRichard Ross, by email at:[email protected] orphone: 020 7133 5211.

W


18

This year’s Train Crew andShunters conference held in

Nottingham discussed theMcNulty report into rail“efficiency” which promises newand savage wave of cuts rightacross the industry

It was fitting that theopening address should comefrom the current Sheriff ofNottingham - Councillor PennyGriggs - with a message a farcry from her predecessor oflegend.

Councillor Griggs received awarm welcome as she explainedto delegates that she is arailwayman’s daughter and thather dad is a former shunter whojoined the NUR in August 1941.

She went on to outline theCity’s commitment to anintegrated and publicly ownedtransport system, with the busservices under elected localauthority control, making the

point that there is no excuse forthe trains to be run by privateoperators for private profit.

Craig Johnson gave thereport back to the conference onbehalf of the Council ofExecutives. Craig opened byhoming in on the abuse ofCCTV by the employers indisciplinary cases:

“Why is it that CCTV isalways available to punish ourmembers but never available toexonerate them? It has becomea tool in the bosses arsenal toharass and bully satff and theexecutive are issuing clearguidance to branches in aneffort to stop this abuse.”

Craig took the conferencethrough the range of issuesflowing from last years meetingand ended with the messagethat “...piles of work has beendone but there’s still plentymore for us to do.”

General Secretary Bob Crowwarned the delegates that theMcNulty report into rail“efficiency” would be thestarting pistol for a new andsavage wave of cuts right acrossthe board with no-one safe fromthe axe;

“I am putting this conferenceon alert, there is a real battle tocome on the back of McNultythat will impact on everyone inthe rail industry regardless ofgrade or employer. The need forunity amongst rail workersacross our industry has neverbeen greater.”

Conference had a packedagenda covering issues from theworking week to violence, traindispatch and support forvictimised tube drivers EamonLynch and Arwyn Thomas.

Blackpool and Fylde Coast’smotion on the abuse of theAvantix machines was carried

unanimously with the moverwarning that “...the machinesare riddled with faults and staffend up getting the blame whensomething goes wrong.”

The motion calls on theunion to make sure that alldisciplinary matters relating tothe failures of the Avantixmachinery are defendedvigorously.

A timely emergency motionon the use of anonymous socialmedia to attack memberssparked off a debate that shonea light into the murky recessesof just how dodgy employerscan abuse something asseemingly innocuous asFacebook and Twitter.

London Midland had evengone as far as setting up aspecific Twitter account whereanonymous and unfoundedallegations against individualmembers of staff could be

TRAINCREWAND SHUNTERS


19

Payday loan firms such asWonga.com claim to beresponsible lenders. Theyadvertise on national televisionin the knowledge that there arepeople who are so desperate formoney that they will pay overthe odds for a short term loan,even as much as a representativeAPR (annual percentage rate) of4,214 per cent.

A loan of £400 would cost astaggering £517.48 to redeem 28days later – next payday for themajority of RMT members.That’s a massive £117.48 ininterest.1

It is amazing that less than 30years ago, BBC and ITV refusedto broadcast football matches if

logos were worn on shirts. Yet itis now almost taken for grantedthat there will be advertising atnearly every televised event inthe sporting calendar.Advertising is accepted so muchthat scarcely anyone bothersabout the fact that Blackpool FCis sponsored by payday loansrip-off firm Wonga.com.

Recently The Guardianpublished an article including atable showing that Blackpool hadthree of the ten most deprivedareas in England. In other wordsThe Seasiders are sponsored byan outfit that preys on some ofthe most vulnerable people inour society.

RESPONSIBLE LENDING ANDBORROWING

Contrast the RMT CreditUnion’s approach. As an RMTmember you can join the CreditUnion by saving as little as £5 amonth. That’s less than the cost ofa newspaper each day and themoney still belongs to you – wecall it a shareholding. Our firstaim is to encourage members tosave we have just reached the £2million mark!

After three months you canask for a loan of up to three timesyour savings. After a year, youcan borrow up to five times whatyou have saved. RMT CreditUnion is regulated by theFinancial Services Authority.

The law states that we cannotcharge more than two per cent amonth on the outstandingbalance. In practice, themaximum rate that we charge isone per cent a month on theoutstanding balance or 12.68 percent APR and there are reducedrates of 9.9 per cent and 7.9percent available to members.

RMT Credit Union doesn’t payinterest. It pays a dividend afterall running expenses andCorporation Tax have been met.Last December we paid a dividendof two per cent on balances atSeptember 30. This was muchbetter than the advertised interestrates of most high street banksand building societies during thetwelve months to September2010; they were paying less thanone per cent. We also have othersavings products including aSummer Club and a ChristmasClub as well as a Junior savingsclub for children of RMT CreditUnion members, details of whichare available at the back of thismagazine

services against a backdrop ofincreasing demand and front-linecuts."

Labour MP Ian Lavery saidthat hundreds of millions ofpounds of taxpayers' money wasbeing pumped into a totallyfragmented rail system whilebillions were being syphoned offin dividends.1 Figures correct at 23.04.2011 – Sourcecompany website.

CREDIT UNION HITS £2 MILLION!RMT Credit Union looks at loanscompanies like Wonga.com which arepreying on some of the poorest people inthe country, charging interest rates ofover 4,000 per cent

posted, opening the floodgatesto disciplinary cases sparkedfrom behind a cloak of secrecyby individuals looking to makemischief with no come backwhatsoever.

As the mover said: “what weare seeing is technology beingused to allow our members to bevictimised on the basis ofmalicious and anonymoustweets...”

Daren Ireland, explained thaton some Virgin servicesmanagers are handing outbusiness cards inviting thepublic to complain about staffusing social media;

“This is cyber-bullying ofstaff instigated by the TrainOperating Companies and weneed to stop it.”

The emergency motion wascarried unanimously.

A fraternal address by LeeBarron from the CWU in theMidlands brought home theimportance of cross-unionsolidarity in the teeth of thecommon attack that trade unionmembers are facing under theConDem government.

A motion on violence from

Warrington and District alsodrew unanimous support withone delegate outlining a specificcase where a member of staffwas assaulted on board a trainand even though the train hadbeen stopped and the policewere called there was immediateand sustained pressure from thetrain operator to get the unitmoving again regardless of theseriousness of the incident.

Assistant general secretaryPat Sikorski explained thebackground to a successfulemergency motion calling forfull support for sacked andvictimised underground driversEamonm Lynch and ArwynThomas and the callousdisregard by the company forthe interim relief findings at theEmployment Tribunal.

Pat held up the drivers casesas the most blatant victimisationof members on the grounds oftrade union activity that youcould ever expect to see - andas an example of the lengthsthat that bosses will go to intheir efforts to try to break thestrength of unionorganisation.


20

CATASTROPHE: Deepwater Horizon oil rig sinksablaze in the Gulf of Mexico

Floating oilproduction unitGryphon gets‘lucky’ 175 milesoff the coast northeast of Aberdeenas the lights go out

NEAR DISASTERIN NORTH SEA


21

Earlier this year the GryphonAlpha Floating ProductionStorage and Offloading (FPSO)vessel operated by Maersk Oilwas involved in an incidentwhich had the potential tobecome a major disaster.

Had it not been for the swiftactions of the crew mixed witha degree of ‘luck’, there couldhave seen a significant loss oflife and untold environmentalconsequences.

For all those sitting at homeand tuning into the eveningnews, it was reported as –‘vessel loses anchors resulting in74 non-essential staff beingairlifted to safety’. By and largethis is all that’s been reported –until now.

On February 4 the vesselfaced a storm with conditionsreported to be around 70-80knots wind speed and 7-9 metreseas. These are not seriousconditions and they arecertainly well within theoperating parameters for thevessel.

However, on this day and forreasons which have yet to bereported, the vessel lost itsheading and began rolling as itturned side on to the weather.

Sources told RMT that thevessel rolled to around 21degrees, which is verydangerous for a vessel of thissize considering it had around250,000 barrels of oil sitting inits storage tanks at the time.

Because the vessel wasrolling to such an extent,various plant and equipmentbegan to shut down as ‘lowlevel oil’ alarms were falselytriggered. Power generation andwith it the “directionalpositioning” was lost and thevessel was at the mercy of thestorm.

The crew rapidly got to workto try to restore power and withit their ability to ride out theweather. It was the quickthinking and competence of thecrew that got the power up andrunning within a short period oftime and this was swiftlyfollowed by the command fromthe Offshore Installation

Manager (OIM) to shut all wellsand subsea systems down.

The OIM has been praised bycrew members for his actionsafterwards as the pipelines andumbilicals running into theturret from the sea bed wellsbegan to be ripped through thedecks and out of their fixings asthe vessel drifted.

Several pipelines (risers)bringing oil to the vessel andseveral gas lift risers used toinject gas into the oil reservoirsfar below the sea bed wereripped apart. Equipment on thesea bed was badly damaged as“riser bases” were dragged alongthe bottom with pipelines andanchor chains.

One “mid-water arch”, usedto guide and support the risersup from the sea bed, was brokenin half while the anchors whichwere being dragged overequipment ended up tied inknots. Only two anchors of the1ten holding the turret inposition remained unscathedafter the incident, while fourwere broken and the others werecrossed over each othereffectively making them useless.Two of the chains ended upcrossed and looped over anothermid-water arch. The vesseldrifted some 180 metres from itsoriginal position beforeemergency tugs came to therescue.

As the oil and gas pipelinesruptured and were rippedthrough the decks it isreasonable to assume leaks ofoil and gas occurred. Whetherby accident or design, butfortunately for the 117personnel onboard at the time,no leaking oil or gas found anykind of ignition source. Theumbilicals providing power andcontrol to the wells and subseaequipment were also torn out.Having narrowly avoided acapsize and still struggling tokeep the power on to regainheading in the storm, the lastthing the crew needed was ablaze aboard a vessel storing250,000 barrels of oil.

Maersk hasn’t as yetindicated whether there was any

oil and gas leakage, simplystating they have informed therelevant authorities in HSE andDepartment of Environment andClimate Change (DECC).However sources suggest thatsome 4,000kg of gas escapedaround the turret area andsomething like 4.4 tonnes of oilleaked subsea. If this is the case,Maersk would have to submitan OIR 9B reporting form to theHSE for any gas leak and a PON1 (Petroleum Operations Notice)for any oil spill to sea.

RMT regional organiser JakeMolloy suggested that ‘theincident had the potential to bethe UK’s version of theMacondo blowout in the USGulf of Mexico albeit on asmaller scale’.

Maersk claimed that it wasirresponsible to make such asuggestion because Macondowas a drilling incident and theGryphon was not.

However Jake Molloyexplained: “I said what I didbecause I believe the potentialfor a subsea oil leak was real,albeit not on the same scale asthe Gulf of Mexico leak.

“It was the potential forleaking oil on the seabed whichcaused me to compare it withMacondo, nothing else.

“As I understand things, allof the wells were shut in on theinstruction of the OIM beforelines began to rupture as thevessel was pushed off station.

“Had the OIM not taken thisaction, and if the ‘fail safe’systems had been relied on toclose in the wells, it could havebeen a different story.

“The umbilicals were rippedout, meaning the ability tocontrol some wells from thevessel was lost and I wouldhope the fail safe systems wouldhave worked, but you don’treally want to be putting themto the test where it can beavoided, as a failure could haveleft a well flowing oil up a pipeto a vessel that was no longerthere!

“I appreciate the producingwells are low-pressure, low-volume wells, but any oil

leaking on the sea bed isserious,” he said.

HSE investigations havebegun but it will not bereleasing anything publicly forsome considerable time as anyfindings may yet be the subjectof a prosecution for Maersk Oildue to previous incidents.

In April last year the HSEwrote to Maersk about its“Power Management Systems”on the vessel expressingconcerns about aspects of theoperation. June 2010 sawanother longer letter withvarious concerns including; “afull penetration crack found inthe port side shell of the waterballast tank.[ ]…the crack was1690mm in length with 430mmof this at full penetration withseawater seepage”.

Finally in October 2010 theHSE set out a list of issues andconcerns, one of which dealswith the purging of cargo tanksand carries a serious warning.

The Inspector says; “Thecurrent methodology utilised forthe purging of the cargo tanksallows the potential for ingressof air and also the possibility ofthe passage of flame back intothe cargo tanks when they arefilled with hydrocarbon vapours.This could lead to catastrophicfailure of the tank and potentialfor a ‘domino’ effect with totalloss a realistic possibility.” Theunion wonders whether thisparticular concern was dealtwith before the events ofFebruary 2011?

The Gryphon will be out ofaction for some considerabletime and Maersk face a heftyrepair bill.

But on the positive side, theworkforce and supervision actedin a professional and competentfashion.

There was no loss of life, noserious injuries and nosignificant environmentaldamage. Sadly this wasn’t thecase for the Deepwater Horizonlast year. Putting the tragic lossof life in that event aside,Maersk’s repair bill will be loosechange when compared to BP’sfinal costs.


22

DON’T BUY INTO THEISRAELI OCCUPATIONI was given the opportunity tospend five days in the WestBank, Palestine.

I couldn't fly in to Palestineas Israel won't allow a workingairport, so via Tel Aviv and then50 minutes drive to Jerusalem.

The driver, a Palestinian bornand bred in Jerusalem, had theright ID and the correctlycoloured number-plates to takeme to a small family run hotelin east Jerusalem, this was tobe base for the visit as Iengaged with the Palestinianpeople, its trade unions, itspolitical representatives, itsrefugees, its roads, its security,its laws and its neighbour whois occupying its land and takingits water and terrorising itspeople and children....

I learned and saw so muchthat in all honesty 800 words

isn't enough, I could do 8,000and still not do it justice.

I saw how water is taken offPalestinian land and sold backto the Palestinians for morethan twice the price that Israelisare charged, the same apartheidtariffs are in place for electricityand gas.

Children as young as 12 areimprisoned for allegedlythrowing stones, stood in amilitary court in shackles andcuffs, barely able to see over thedock at the hearing officer,Palestinians are under constantmilitary law.

I met Mohammed, an electedrepresentative, his English wasway better than mine and helaughed out loud and chuckledas he told me at the Red Crossheadquarters where he is in self-imposed house arrest, “my

children are too young tounderstand, they think I don'tlove them, they know I’m not ina prison, ‘come home with usdaddy,’ they say" he told me.Mohammed was elected, butIsrael didn't like the electionresult, so they put him in jailfor 14 months, and 18 hoursafter his release they issued himwith papers for exile, so heslipped into the Red Crossbuilding some 229 days earlierand has stayed there ever since.

Down to Hebron, here Ifound Israeli soldiers guardingroads and streets and pavementsthat the Palestinians could notuse, only the Israeli settlerscould use them, in reality this isbasic, raw apartheid.

I went to meet the Hamimifamily. The men started thestory about how their house was

attacked by soldiers with teargas, but the women who spokeafter the men made it so muchmore real. When a woman istelling you how she will die tosave her child, how she dideverything to stop the soldiersfiring into her house, how shewas arrested and driven off to amilitary base and the childrenhad to go to the top of thehouse to get away from the teargas as the soldiers wouldn't letthem out of the front door, tofresher air; when a woman, amother is telling you this andpassion is there and love isthere and it is said with facecontortion and emotion, I defyanyone not to feel disgust.

The UN are here and theyhave solid detailed work ofPalestine life. It is full of graphsand percentages and numbers

THE WALL: The Israeli governmentis busy building walls around thePalestinian communities in theoccupied territories. It has imposeda law which deems that if you failto tend your land you lose it.Palestinian land on the wrong sideof the wall which allow no accessis confiscated by Tel Aviv.

Garry Hassell of the RMT executive reports on a recent visit on behalfof the union to the Palestinian territories under Israeli occupation

President’s column


23

TORIES FLYANTI-STRIKEKITES

Last month rightwing Tory MP Dominic Raabproposed a new law to impose furtherrestrictions on the right to strike in Britain. According to Raab, if a trade union wants tostrike in transport or ‘essential services’, itmust not only win a majority in a secr etpostal ballot as at present, it should alsohave to win a majority of all those eligible tovote. At present, UK law requires a union to win asimple majority in a ballot, a standardmethod in any organisation. For example, at the last general election,Dominic Raab polled 32,134 votes in aconstituency of 76,962 voters, more than aquarter of whom did not bother to vote. His party polled 10.7 million votes nationally,with their Liberal Democrat mates polling 6.8million, in a UK electorate of 45 millionpeople. Neither Mr Raab, nor his party, northeir governing coalition partners wouldhave been elected under rules he proposesfor trade unionists. Although Raab’s particular kite failed to fly, itis the opening salvo in a declaration of warby the ConDems against the trade unionfightback against the effects ofunprecedented and vicious attacks on jobsand public services. Successive UK governments have breachedILO and European Conventions to which UKis signatory, which define strike action as afundamental human right. The former Conservative government’sTrade Union and Labour Relations(Consolidation) Act 1992 required unions toinform employers of the identity of individualunion members involved in strike action,even though employers can seek damagesagainst employees for strike action. The Labour government’s EmploymentRelations Act 1999 replaced this rule with ageneral requirement to provide employerswith sufficient information to enable them toidentify which employees were on strike, inorder to make “suitable arrangements”. Judges have interpreted this requirementsuch that unions must now provideinformation to an employer in the form of amatrix or spreadsheet showing numbers ofunion members balloted and called on to

strike in every affected workplace and jobcategory. Since 2009 employers have targeted thislegal requirement in particular for challengesaimed at obtaining High Court injunctionsagainst lawful strike action. The bosses legal strategy has been topersuade judges that unions have failed tosupply sufficiently accurate information. Itcan easily be imagined that in the vastmajority of industrial disputes the precisenumbers of union members employed invarious workplaces or job titles areextremely detailed and complicated. High Court judges had granted injunctionsbanning strike action by RMT members onDocklands Light Railway after finding unionstrike notices "defective" and unionexplanations of how they ensured reliablemembership data for balloting and engagingin strike action "inadequate". However last March the Court of Appeal inLondon overturned those injunctions andcomprehensively disposed of argumentspreviously used in the High Court to justifythem. The Appeal Court also confirmed thatinternational law does confer a right to strikeunder International Labour OrganisationConventions 98 and 151. In addition, theEuropean Convention on Human Rightsupholds the right to strike as an element ofArticle 11(1) on freedom of association. Such an authoritative judgment was made ata time when this government is seeking todestroy nearly a million public sector jobsand a similar number of private sector jobsthrough cuts and outsourcing, whileattacking wages, pensions and publicservices. The judgment was, therefore, not only avictory for RMT but also a massive victoryfor seven million trade unionists in thiscountry.It also means the policy of coordinatedstrike action to defeat the cuts agreed atlast year's British TUC Conference can nowbecome a practical reality.

Alex Gordon

Nand bar charts - not my cup oftea, but understandable ifthey're to meet the everydayneeds of what is being asked ofthem.

So I went to a UN school.Every 3rd youngster seemed tobe in an F.C. Barcelona shirt. Imade the link betweenBarcelona sponsorship ofUNICEF. I wondered, will I see aBoro shirt!

“Hey mister, what's yourname" they shout, “Garry!" andit echoes back at you as they allsay it, I played football withthese lads, two lamp-posts forgoal, pot-shots, heading,juggling, back-heels and mazydribbles, the youngsters alllaughing, enjoying themselvesunder the scorching mid-daysun..and then the serious side,these kids were 2nd-and 3rd-generation refugees, living in arefugee camp, they have livedhere all of their lives and theirparents had been here since1967, one-room housing,rubbish and waste everywhere,to my Brighton seaside nostrilsthe stench was overbearing andI shook my head in disgust - adead emaciated cat was strewnin a gutter, it was the sort ofplace were even the rats wouldmove out from.

This is the very real day today face of Palestine and itspeople.

What the Palestinians said tome time after time was that theydidn't want aid, they didn'twant food parcels, they didn'twant war, they didn’t wantbullets and they didn’t wantbandages.

What they did want was theircountry and land, the right togovern themselves, to raisetaxes and have schools andhospitals, a police force fromthe people for the people, aairport, a railway, tourists, freeelections and jobs, jobs andmore jobs with trade unionslooking after them.

I don’t buy into the Israelioccupation and that’s why inorder to do my little bit, I’mboycotting Israeli goods andspecifically those that are grownon the West Bank by Israelicompanies and settlers...join me.


24

The widow of a rail worker,whose husband CharlesStockwell died in April 2007when he was struck by a fast-moving train, has been awardeda substantial sum incompensation by Network Rail.

Mr Stockwell, then aged 50,was killed whilst welding trackas a train approached the busyRuscombe Junction in Berkshire.Because of the job he wasdoing, Mr Stockwell could notsee or hear the train coming.

He had been working in a“red zone”, in which trainscontinued to run on all fourlines, with lookouts. Accordingto Network Rail policy, this wasa system that should only beundertaken when all othermethods were unavailable.

However, the obligatoryRIMINI form had not beencompleted by the worksscheduler. The RIMINI form isrequired to be completed at theplanning stage for all trackworks and contains a hierarchyof safe systems of work which

have to be worked through inorder that the safest method ofwork available is used.

The tragedy came just amonth after another welder hadmanaged to jump clear of atrain in similar circumstances.

After that near miss NetworkRail issued a Safety Bulletin,though this was not seen byCharles or his colleagues.Following his death, NetworkRail issued further instructionsto employees that they werealways to go to a place of safetyonce an approaching train hadbeen observed.

But the fundamental issue inthe legal case was whymanagers decided that theworks should be carried out inred-zone conditions when therisk assessment using RIMINIhad not been carried out.

RMT appointed ThompsonsSolicitors to seek damages onMrs Stockwell’s behalf andargued that the accident anddeath was caused by negligenceand a fundamental breach of

the statutory health and safetyregulations by Network Rail innot following its ownprocedures and policies.

Andrew Hutson fromThompsons argued in a hearingthat working in red zones,where trains are still running, isinherently unsafe.

“Clearly, it is very dangerousto work where trains are stillpassing, particularly at highspeed, and the time available toget out of the way is minimal.

“Network Rail has aresponsibility to enforce properstandards and systems for thesafety of their workers andregrettably in Mr Stockwell’scase, this failed,” he said.

SAFETY MUST BE PARAMOUNT

RMT general secretary Bob Crowsaid that the tragic casereinforced RMT’s continuingcampaign for a safe workingenvironment on Britain’srailways.

“Our thoughts are with MrsStockwell and Charles’ familyand friends and we hope thatthe legacy of his totallyunnecessary death will be arenewed focus on safe workingpractices out on Britain’s

railways,” he said.Mrs Stockwell said that her

husband had always said it wasa dangerous job and that thingsneeded to change, yet NetworkRail always insisted that safetywas their number one priority.

“Despite this, Charles dieddoing the job he enjoyed, and Iam still left wondering how itcould have happened.

“My husband’s death hasaffected the whole family andit’s something we’ll never getover, when Charles died I lost apart of my life,” she said.

Andrew Hutson said that theaim in bringing the case was tohelp ensure other rail workersare not placed in such danger.

“Network Rail’s systemsmust be improved and we wouldlike to see an end to red-zoneworking and the safety of thoserepairing tracks must beparamount.

“However, given the costsand complexities of pursuingthis case – we simply could notbe sure that we would succeed –I fear that if the government’sproposed civil justice reformsare implemented then we wouldbe unable to pursue such a caseagain,” he said. (see page 25)

Thompsons Solicitors hasrelaunched its websitewww.thompsons.law.co.uk

The new look site makes iteasier for trade unionists toaccess Thompsons’ employmentlaw, health and safety and otherlegal materials.

The redesign, launched onMay 1 after months of planningand development work, comesat a time when those injured ormade ill either at or away fromwork, or who have suffereddiscrimination or injustice willbe feeling uniquely vulnerablein the face of government

attacks on their rights. A new resources section

contains employment andpersonal injury law booklets,factsheets and updates oneveryday legal issues, theThompsons flagship bi-annualpublications Labour andEuropean Law Review andHealth and Safety News, and thefirm’s responses to governmentconsultation papers on changesto employment, health andsafety and civil justice laws.

There is also an e-trainingsection consisting of a range ofpractical and simple to complete

modules to empower those whorepresent members in theworkplace.

Tom Jones of Thompsonssaid that firm had a proud 90-year history of working withtrade unions to ensure membersare aware and take advantage oftheir legal rights.

“We aim to provide the bestunion and legal representationbut we are always mosteffective if those we representhave greater knowledgethemselves of the law.

“Our new website is easy tonavigate and provides the most

up-to-date information possibleon the law as it affects peoplewho have been injured orotherwise suffered an injustice,”he said.

NETWORK RAIL PAYSSIGNIFICANT DAMAGESFOR RAIL DEATH

Union wins case for widow and toensure Network Rail follows itsown safety procedures and policies

THOMPSONS LAUNCHES NEW LOOK WEBSITE


25

A Labour MP famously warnedin the 1980s that underMargaret Thatcher’s governmentpeople should not be ordinary,young, fall ill or get old. We cannow add, under this ConDemgovernment, or be injured atwork.

For not only is the coalitionlooking at ways to tear up manyof the health and safety lawsthat protect workers in order toreduce so-called “burdens” onthe Tories’ mates in big business,it plans to introduce a newsystem for claimingcompensation for workplaceinjuries that will rob many ofthe ability to seek justice for thenegligence of their employer.

This isn’t about the cuts tolegal aid that have dominatedthe headlines recently. This isabout attacking the ability ofunions to offer injured membersand their families free legalrepresentation by expert lawyerswith no deductions from theirdamages.

The reforms announced bythe Tory Justice Secretary KenClarke in March to the way thatpersonal injury claims will befunded are complicated. Butwhat it means is that thoseinjured at work and elsewherewho are not in unions will

struggle to find a lawyerprepared to take on their caseunless it has at least a 75 percent prospect of success.

At Thompsons we estimatethat up to 25 per cent of peopleinjured at work through no faultof their own and who would geta lawyer under the current legalsystem will be unable to if thegovernment’s planned reforms ofthe civil justice system go ahead.

Clarke ignored theoverwhelming opposition ofRMT, other unions and victimsupport groups to the proposals.

He plans to end the system ofthe losing defendant in apersonal injury claim – usuallyan employer – having to paytowards a fund to cover thecosts of things such as medicalreports in cases which do notsucceed and the costs ofinvestigating those claims.

Lawyers will instead beexpected to deduct a proportionof those costs - up to 25 percent - from claimant’scompensation for the injury andthings such as loss of wages.

Injury victims will supposedlybe paid slightly more damages(much less than 25 per cent) toprovide for this. It’s far morelikely though that anyone not ina union with a less than certain

claim, or at least one that willneed investigation before it ispossible to decide if the claimhas a good prospect of success,will be turned away becausesolicitors will be unable to riskthe case losing. This is, ofcourse, unless the individual isable to pay up front for the costsof running the claim.

Take some of the successfulinjury claims for RMT membersreported in the March edition ofthis magazine. One memberreceived £1,500 compensationafter suffering noise-induceddeafness as a result of excessiveexposure to noise throughout hisemployment. Another got £3,877for back and neck injuriescaused by pulling a stiff lever tomove points. And a weldermember won £20,000 for a backinjury suffered as he moved agrinder from a van to trackside.

These cases, like many more,required detailed investigations,court fees, medical reports andother outlays in order to proceedand to prove that the employerwas liable for the injuries. Theemployer’s insurers often refusedto admit liability or to enter intosettlement negotiations untilcourt proceedings were issued.And so the costs of running theclaim crept ever higher. The new

regime attacks the ability ofunions to pursue similar cases.

Perhaps the most tragicexample of how thegovernment’s plans will denyaccess to justice for injuredpeople would be that of RMTmember Charles Stockwell (seeopposite page).

RMT lawyers pressed on inspite of the complexities of thecase and the need to obtainseveral expert reports.

Network Rail continued todeny responsibility and so MrStockwell’s widow was forced tobring court proceedings, whichultimately were successful.

The government expectsvictims or unions to make up forthe shortfall their proposals willcreate. This is a straight smashand grab - taking from victimsin order to hand money to bigbusiness, employers andinsurance companies in the City.

Little wonder that insurancecompanies are so keen on thechanges and will be laughing allthe way to the bank if they areimplemented.

RMT will be working with itsParliamentary group andcampaigning with other unionsand injury victim support groupsto fight these reactionaryproposals.

Know your rights

Government attackscompensation rights

RMT PERSONAL INJURY HELPLINE 0800 376 3706

Thompsons solicitor Andrew Hutsonexplains how the Con Dem governmentintends to attack compensation rights bytaking money from the victims andhanding it to big business instead


26

April 22 marked the anniversaryof a brutal event in SouthAfrica during the 1987 railstrike. Rail workers, members ofour sister union, the SouthAfrican Railway and HarbourWorkers Union (SARHWU), weregunned down by the authoritiesin a desperate effort to crush thestrike.

SARHWU members played aheroic role in the fight againstthe oppressive apartheid regime.NUR members Doreen Wepplerand Geoff Revell, were sent toSouth Africa with funds andmessages of solidarity and askedto prepare a report to take deepinto the British labourmovement. This was achieved.

Organised trade unions inSouth Africa were rightlyconsidered a threat to theapartheid regime because theyplayed an essential part in theliberation movement. Boxes ofdynamite were detonated in thebasement of the Congress ofSouth African Trade Unions

(COSATU) headquarters byagents operating for the regime.As SARHWU Headquartersoperated from within thebuilding they lost all thematerial apparatus needed toorganise. Nevertheless they hadan important victory, celebratedas ‘a milestone in labourhistory’.

The support that wascampaigned for nationally andinternationally by the union’ssolidarity initiative Rail AgainstApartheid (RAA). RAA playedan important part in assistingSARHWU to rebuild itsorganisation.

RAA was created by rankand file members to organisethe support and understandingof the South African struggle,clearly held by our membership,with the aim of building a sisterunion in South Africa.Meetings were held across thecountry, grades conferencesaddressed and many energeticcampaigns launched to ensure

our union was at the forefrontof organising internationalsolidarity.

I first got involved in RAA in1987. I was 23 and wasattending our union’s AnnualGeneral Meeting‘s youngmembers’ course in Dundee. TheNational Executive member,Brian Whitehead, handed me aRAA campaign leaflet. Ithought it was great that myunion was making direct linkswith our sister union so Iwanted to help.

I teamed up with foundermember and RAA organiserGeoff Revell, who was also onour National Executive. Arejuvenated SARHWU was onceagain in the frontline ofstruggle in a country livingunder a state of emergency.

Under the cover of that stateof emergency the infamousGermiston massacre took placeon January 9 1990, on theoutskirts of Johannesburg.Striking SARHWU members

were brutally attacked, killedand maimed by thugs workingfor the regime.

COSATU general secretaryJay Naidoo met with Geoff inLondon and urged a visit withthe same objectives as before.So Geoff and I flew toJohannesburg just days after themassacre.

On landing at Jan Smutsairport Geoff was taken awayand detained by South Africansecurity. Geoff hadunknowingly become a ‘listedperson’.

In the confusion surroundingGeoff’s detention, I managed toslip in and avoided subsequentarrest attempts for a week. I waswell protected by the 40 strongstrike committee.

RAA activists along with theunion’s national leadership andour Parliamentary Group of MPswere soon kicking up a storm.One RMT tutor abandoned hiscourse and took direct action atthe South African Embassy inLondon by holding his own sitin. He held a homemade placardthat read ‘Release Geoff RevellNow!’ His name was Bob Crow.

GERMISTON MASSACRE

A train of striking SARHWUmembers arrived in Germistonstation and was met by 1,000heavily armed vigilantes, set upby the authorities to kill strikers.The police stood at the back andwatched as a slaughter tookplace. Terrified passengers triedto keep the train doors closed bypulling them shut only for theirfingers to be hacked off bymachetes.

After twenty long minutes

ORGANISE OR SAlan Pottage, Head of RMT organisingand education, looks at the struggleagainst Apartheid in South Africa

I had just been advised that Geoff Revell was not getting released from detention


27

R STARVE!

the police intervened by firinggas canisters into the packedtrain and SARHWU membershad to flee either to safety orinto the hands of the mob. Itwas horrific carnage.

I managed to smuggle swornaffidavits out the country thatmake a gruesome read. All thevigilantes were dressed in brownrailway overalls and includedsix local police officers – agentsprovocateurs. Terrified railworkers tried to climb fences toescape but were hacked todeath.

I met with one youngsurvivor whose skull was

crudely stapled together. Bloodstains covered his ‘NUR 75thAnniversary’ t-shirt, a gift fromGeoff’s previous visit.Unbelievably, he was moreconcerned about Geoff’s fate inthe detention unit than thehorrors that surrounded him.

Eight were murdered and 50seriously injured yet the Chief ofPolice said to the media ‘thevigilantes were not arrestedbecause they had done nothingwrong’.

I spoke at several massmeetings of strikers. Tensionswere incredibly high and at onean undercover cop wasmanhandled out after his gunhad been spotted inside hisjacket. I was then smuggled intothe Soweto township at night. Ihad to lie on the back seat of acar under a blanket. I met manySARHWU members and theirfamilies in the huts they wereforced to live in. I’ll neverforget the image of Soweto inthe dark as the township waseerily lit by millions of candlesdue to the absence of electricity.

VICTORY

In 1990 SARHWU won theirstrike and the racist regime alsocrumbled. So it’s a timelyreminder to us all that adetermined fight can overcomehuge odds and defeat thestrongest of enemies.

I learned a lot during thosedays. Workers were able toorganise despite facing a hostileemployer where bullying andtorture was common. SARHWU’snational president, JusticeLanga, told me how he had tohide in the boot of a car and besmuggled into the workers’compounds in order to organise.He also suffered torture indetention.

ORGANISE OR STARVE

Despite huge obstacles,SARHWU was able to organise45,000 members, which gavethem the power to win majorbattles. One of their slogans was

‘Organise or Starve’. Twenty years after we were

both arrested and expelled as‘enemies of the state’, Geoff andmyself are helping to organiseworkers into our own union. Weare part of a very motivated anddedicated organising unit thathelps activists set up organisingcampaigns. We need to ensurethat RMT is strong enough towin victories.

My experience and theprivilege of meeting so manybrave fighters have definitelystrengthened my resolve.SARHWU’s fighting spirit stillremains a huge inspiration tome.

Justice Langa, National President


28

ROBERT TRESSELL’S timelesssocialist classic The RaggedTrousered Philanthropists takesto the stage this summer in ahilarious two-handed musicalversion – and RMT memberscan get to see it FREE in aspecial staging at the TUC’sCongress House Theatre.

The acclaimed singing,musical and acting talents ofNeil Gore and Fine TimeFontayne have been combinedwith Stephen Lowe’s adaptationof the novel by director LouiseTownsend to create an eveningof songs, pathos, passion andlaughter that captures thenovel’s socialist vision.

The fast-paced show, whichbegins touring in July, shareswith its audience a year in thelife of a group of painters anddecorators as they renovate theCave, a three-storey town house,for Mayor Sweater, and tracestheir struggle for survival inEdwardian England.

These workers are the‘philanthropists’ who throwthemselves into back-breakingwork for poverty wages in orderto generate profit for theirmasters.

Included is the Great Money

Trick – the pointeddemonstration by the novel’shero, Owen, of how capitalismgenerates poverty for workingpeople and enormous wealth forthe few.

The story is brought to lifeusing comedy routines, music-hall songs and uplifting hymnsfrom the chapel and temperancehalls sung in graceful harmony.

“RMT jumped at the chanceto sponsor this production andwe are delighted to offermembers the chance to see it forfree at a special performance atthe TUC’s theatre in London,”said general secretary Bob Crow.

“The power of thePhilanthropists has drawncountless people into working-class and socialist politics, withits withering portrayal of lifeunder capitalism in‘Mugsborough’ – based on theHastings in which Tressellworked.”

“This production brings thePhilanthropists to life with witand power, and I hope that itinspires a new generation toread the novel and become partof the struggle for a betterworld.”

PHILANTHROPISTSTAKE TO THE STAGE

See RTP for free – claim your tickets nowRMT has joined with the TUC’s Southern and Eastern RegionTheatre Club to stage a performance of The Ragged T rouseredPhilanthropists at Congress House in London on the evening ofFriday July 29.

To reserve your FREE tickets – maximum four per person –contact Derek Kotz at Unity House, on 020 7529 8803 or [email protected].

Tour datesJuly 19: Marsworth Village Hall, Marsworth, Bucks

21: Hertford Theatre25-17: Theatre by the Lake, Keswick29: TUC, Congress House (RMT/SERTUC Theatre Club)30-31: The Rosemary Branch, London

Sept 2: Library Theatre, Birmingham7: The Met, Bury, Lancs14: Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal15-17: Arts Out West21-27: Carn to Cove, Cornwall28: Plough Arts Centre, Great Torrington, Devon

Oct 4-8: Citizens’ Theatre, Glasgow12-16: Live and Local, Midlands18-23: Highlights (in the North West)

A new production of The Ragged TrouseredPhilanthropists promisespassion, pathos, songs andlaughter – and RMTmembers can see it for free

• For details of performances, contact venues or seewww.townsendproductions.org.uk.

• To enquire about hosting a performance, [email protected] or call Louise Townsend on 07949 635 910


29

Both Plymouth number 1 andnumber 5 branches hosted thisyear’s young membersconference with both providingan exceptional social event.

I had the honour to openconference and it was verypleasing to see that the roomwas full of vibrant faces, readyto take on the bosses.

Around 50 delegatesattended the conference thisyear, over the past few years,delegation numbers arebuilding, which can only be agood thing.

The theme was fighting thecuts, assisted by Alan Pottageand Dave Marshall from theRMT’s organising unit, IvorRiddell and Bill Hendy of RMTLearning and education officerAndy Gilchrist who is also

secretary of the young members’conference.

The meeting promotedteamwork through learning andsmall groups were given topicsto choose from, research andfeedback in a presentation atthe end of the conference. Thisensured everyone was involvedand given the option ofdebating people’s viewsthroughout the workshops.

Richard Williams from theFire Brigades Union (FBU)addressed conference about howthe FBU is fighting the cuts andthe recent industrial action inLondon. Richard admitted thatthe FBU doesn’t have a youthsection but said that he wouldbe requesting that the FBU startone.

Conference was also

privileged for the second yearrunning to be addressed bygeneral secretary Bob Crow andpresident Alex Gordon, bothhaving to travel from differentconferences to get to Plymouth.

Bob and Alex both re-iterated the need to fight for ourrights and to remember thatworkers had fought hard forrights to leave, conditions andto work safely.

Both speakers said that theConDems would stop at nothingto push through their savagecuts which would affect theyoung generation more.

Vice Chair of the conference,Ashley Farrant from Plymouth1, presented me with anengraved tankard after I haveserved three years and chair.

I was very moved and

honoured to serve the union inthis role but I believe that it wastime to let somebody else moveinto the chair .

Resolutions to the conferencethis year were on the subjects ofpensionable age, education feesand cuts, young members agelimit and youth employmentand apprenticeships.

These were wide-rangingdebates, with some motionsfalling, but two were chosen forthe AGM.

I closed conference as chairfor the last time, thankedeveryone for attending, andhoped to see them all next year .So if you are a young memberget to the 2012 young membersconference to be held in Londonand ensure you bring a friendtoo!

YOUNG MEMBERS MEET Young members conference chair AdrianRowe reports on the annual meeting this yearheld in Plymouth


31

Despite RMT objections, manyemployers that operate pensionschemes for employees haveintroduced salary sacrificearrangements as a way ofreducing National InsuranceContributions (NIC).

Whilst staff are promisedlower NIC contribution, whichmarginally increases their take-home salary, employers are thereal winners when it comes tothese savings.

Salary sacrifice schemes havea number of aliases includingPaySave or Smart Pensions, andthese arrangements allowemployees and employers tosave NIC on their pensionpayments. They work byreducing each individual’ssalary by the amount of theircontribution of their pensionscheme; thus the employee’s payis lower and NIC are reducedaccordingly.

The NIC rates for 2011/12 for

employees is 12 per cent or 10.4per cent for those who arecontributing members of apension scheme which iscontracted-out of the StateSecond Pension. An employeeearning £27,000 and makingpension contributions of sevenper cent will save less than £5 aweek. However, employers’savings are potentially muchgreater.

NIC rates for 2011/12 foremployers are 13.8 per cent, andfor employers who operate apension scheme which iscontracted-out the NIC rate is10.1 per cent. For everyemployee who agrees toparticipate in a salary sacrificearrangement there is a potentialsaving to the employer of up to13.8 per cent on their grosssalary. It goes without sayingthat this saving is worth a lotmore than £5 a week to theemployer.

Participation in salarysacrifice should not affect otherterms and conditions ofemployment; however, incertain circumstances, such asthose on low incomes, it canaffect entitlements to statebenefits such as the Basic StatePension, Jobseekers Allowance,Incapacity Benefit, MaternityAllowance and BereavementBenefits.

This is because the reductionin salary would take earningsbelow the Lower Earning Limit,currently £102 per week for2011-12, which would reducethe build up of entitlements tothese benefits.

RMT policy is opposed tosalary sacrifice schemes as thesearrangements effectively reducethe value of NIC collected bythe Treasury, which are, ofcourse, used to fund theNational Health Service andState Pensions.

RMT believes that wheresalary schemes are introducedall savings should be paid intothe employer’s pension schemeto improve the funding positionand reduce contribution levels.This is particularly essential

where company pensionschemes are in deficit. It is theunion’s experience that whereemployers have made extrarevenue, this profit has not beenput back into the pensionscheme.

RMT is also totally againstemployees being automaticallyopted-in to such schemes.Management should not assumethat employees wish toparticipate because they willslightly increase their salary. Itis clear that many employers areautomatically enrollingemployees in so that they cancream off the significantlyhigher financial gains fromsalary sacrifice. As a result RMThas campaigned actively toencourage workers to opt-out bysending them individual RMTopt-out forms to be sent to theiremployer.

The union will continue toorganise and campaign againstemployers who intend tointroduce salary sacrifice as away of inflating their profitmargins at expense of statebenefits and members’ futurepension entitlement.

Many employers that operatepension schemes are introducingsalary sacrifice arrangements toinflate profit margins

BEWARE SALARY SACRIFICE


32

In 1936 hundreds of men andwomen began making thejourney to Spain to join theInternational Brigades to opposeGeneral Franco’s fascist-backedcoup.

And in that same year thepeople of London’s East Endstopped Sir Oswald Mosley’sBlackshirts from marchingthrough their streets – adoptingthe slogan used by thedefenders of Madrid: “They shallnot pass” – “No pasarán”.

Many of those who took partin the Battle of Cable Street onOctober 4, 1936 went on tofight for the Spanish Republic’sdemocratically electedgovernment during the SpanishCivil War of 1936-39.

The International Brigadesrallied over 35,000 people frommore than 50 countries to theanti-fascist cause. Some 2,500of them came from Britain andIreland, of whom 527 died inSpain.

Meanwhile Britain’sConservative-led governmentwas eager to appease NaziGermany and fascist Italy.Indeed a large part of the rulingclass admired Hitler andMussolini for the way they dealtwith their opponents on the left.Those same people detestedSpain’s government and itsmodest programme of social andeconomic reform.

So the British governmentsupported a hypocritical policyof “non-intervention” in theSpanish Civil War, which meantenforcing an arms embargo onthe Spanish Republic andturning a blind eye to the hugemilitary assistance given toFranco by the fascist dictators.

But just as the people of theEast End forcibly prevented thepolice from clearing the way forthe Blackshirts to marchthrough their streets, so theInternational Brigade volunteersdefied government threats toprosecute them for enlisting in aforeign war.

Brigaders and theirsupporters warned that thebombing of Guernica, Barcelonaand Madrid would soon meanNazi bombers over Britain

unless fascism was crushed inSpain. They were proved right:five months after the SpanishCivil War ended on April 1 1939with victory for the fascists,Britain and Germany were atwar.

With only the distant SovietUnion and Mexico willing tosupply it with arms, the SpanishRepublic was doomed. The causeof freedom in Spain was lost –democracy was not restoreduntil after Franco’s death in1975 – but the resistance of theSpanish people and theInternational Brigades cruciallychecked the advance of fascismin Europe.

The International Brigadesalso showed the world anexample of internationalsolidarity and selflesscommitment to anti-fascism.Inspired by the International

Brigaders who took the road toSpain via Cable Street, a newgeneration must say once again:“No pasarán”.

The annual InternationalBrigades commemoration takesplace in Jubilee Gardens onLondon’s South Bank onSaturday July 2 at 1pm.

A weekend of events is alsobeing organised in London onSeptember 30 - October 2,coinciding with thecommemoration of the Battle ofCable Street.

For more details contact:[email protected] The International Brigade MemorialTrust6 Stonells Road, London SW11 6HQ20 7228 6504Charity no. 1094928www.international-brigades.org.uk

FROM CABLE STREET TO SPAIN:THE FIGHT AGAINST FASCISMJim Jump previews events to mark 75th anniversaryof the start of the fight against fascism

NO PASARAN: A demonstrator is arrested by policeofficers after a mounted baton charge, in East London, onOct 4, 1936, in a failed attempt to clear the way for OswaldMosley's fascist blackshirts to march through the area.


33

The winner of prizecrossword no. 68 is LConway of Ramsgate.

Send entries to PrizeCrossword, RMT, UnityHouse, 39 Chalton Street,London NWI IJD by June 14 with your name andaddress.

Winner and solution in nextissue.

ACROSS7 Power store; gun

emplacement (7)8 Ties up (7)10 Where flour becomes

bread and cakes (6)11 Tries (8)12 Payment for transport (4)13 Fought over; opposite of

walkover (9)14 What the government

should do to transport (11)19 Remains beyond one’s

welcome (9)21 South African currency (4)23 Of an important moment

in time (8)24 Pieces of music for nine

players (6)25 Cooking instructions (7)26 Three-dimensional

representations (7)

DOWN1 Mad fruit? (7)2 And so on, in Latin (8)

3, 5 Victimised Tubedriver (5, 6)

4 Non-drinking (8)5 See 3 (6)6 Male union member (7)9 Victimised Tube driver

(6,5)15 Buried (8)16 22 is this, as the slogan

goes (8)17 Kept away from (7)18 One more? (7)20 Keep, or hold back (6)22 State of one-ness - gives

trade unions 16 (5)

£25 PRIZECROSSWORDNo. 70. Set by Elk

No. 69 solution...

PRODUCTIVITY V JOB SECURITYDear editor, In the Ragged Trousered PhilannthropistsRobert Tressell described the The GreatMoney Trick thus: “Those who control themeans of production will always controlthe price and profit margins ofcommodities produced, to the point thatthe commodities workers produce cannot beafforded by the workers who producethem”. There is, however, another money trick:one of productivity verses job security.Why pay two employees £100 a week eachwhen, via productivity, you can get oneemployee to do both jobs for £150? Thecompany gets greater profit and a lowerpay bill, and one worker gets an extra £50a week – but the sacked worker getsnothing. In a valiant attempt to reach harmonisedpay rates and T&Cs, RMT recently enteredinto an agreement with Network Rail overchanges in working practices, and added tothat was an incentive scheme. They camein two separate parts, the first for theacceptance of the change in workingpractices, for which we received a taxable,one-off lump sum of £2,000 and a one per

cent increase in basic pay. The next two steps depended on increasesin productivity of five per cent whichwould add one per cent on to our basicrate of pay over a set period of time.How can we have a policy of ‘nocompulsory redundancies’ yet agree to aproductivity deal? It is hypocritical and tobe frank, if we accept it, downrightshameful.The productivity deal will only legitimisejob cuts, allowing NR to claim that its cutsfigures were right. It will also lower thepay bill, so for NR it’s win-win. But it willprobably sound the death knell foremployees who are displaced and waitingfor January 2012. If we continue toincrease productivity, it can only threatenwhat is left of the workforce.It is true that the members accepted the£2,000 and the one per cent increase, butthat was just to accept the change inworking practices: the further one per centis for increases in productivity, and then ifonly if we hit the five per cent target.We need to make a clear distinctionbetween what constitutes an agreement andwhat is an attempt to reach a productivitygoal, because they are different things.

The five per cent target is set by NR: it isnot an agreement that we will reach thefive per cent but an understanding that ifwe reach the five per cent increase inproductivity, the one per cent rise will betriggered.NR has not said what will happen if wedon’t reach the goal, or if we reach six orseven per cent – and we will not knowbecause guess who does the calculations?We must therefore look very carefullybetween how much productivity we canachieve and at what point it drives downemployment. Do not be mistaken in thinking we haveagreed a watertight deal, or that we needto re-ballot members because I don’t believewe do. The ballot was for accepting thechange in working practices and thecompany will not want to go back on that.We shouldn’t kid ourselves that jobs aresafe, as the greater the increase inproductivity the greater the chance of joblosses.We should all think twice before we see thepound signs: are they the bait leading us tothe scrapheap?Greg Hewitt, Brighton

letters


Here at RMT Credit Union weknow how important it is forfamily members to understandmoney even at an early age. Wealso recognise that parents andgrandparents often want to setaside some money or build up alump sum for their children orgrandchildren to provide themwith a good start in life.

It is never too early to startand the longer the savings areheld, even when saving smallamounts, with a regulardividend they soon mount up.With this in mind RMT CreditUnion has developed a JuniorSavings Account which can betailored to suit your needs.

WHO CAN OPEN AN ACCOUNT?

The account needs to be openedby an existing RMT CreditUnion adult member but it can

be opened for any child livingat the same address. Accountscan be opened from birth, rightup to the age of 16. The juniorsaver must be living at theirparent or guardian's address andan original birth certificate mustbe produced to be able to join.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

The account is opened by themember on behalf of the juniorsaver. The account will be in thechild’s name but control of theaccount will remain with theadult.

HOW DO I OPERATE THEACCOUNT?

Unlike full members, juniors donot have a regular income sothe parent / guardian openingthe account for the juniormember will have to set up theaccount to save a minimum of£5.00 every month / 4 weekly orweekly. The savings is collectedby Direct Debit from a bankaccount

HOW DO I KEEP UP TO DATE WITHTHE ACCOUNT?

A statement is sent out to thejunior members once a yeararound Christmas time and ofcourse you are able to keep intouch via the usual methodssuch as phone and email. Yourchild will be able to view theirown account online to see howmuch they have saved.Additional statements can berequested at no extra charge atany time.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEYREACH 16?

At the age of 16, the junioraccount must change to adultstatus. At this point, the juniorwill now be considered an adultmember and will automaticallygain full control of the account.They will therefore have fullaccess to any funds you havedeposited in their accounthowever, at this stage they mayneed to provide identificationprior to withdrawing any funds.

ONCE 16, DO THEY HAVE TO SAVEREGULARLY EVERY MONTH TOKEEP THE ACCOUNT OPEN?

We recognise that they might begoing on to higher education ormay not even have left school atthat stage. We do not want tolose them as a member,particularly as they may not beeligible to join again shouldthey leave, so we are happy tomaintain the account while theyare in full time education. Don’tforget that once they are 18they gain all the benefits ofbeing a full member and abilityto use all the Credit Union’sproducts.

HOW SAFE IS IT?

Just like all savings held withthe Credit union they are fullyguaranteed by the FinancialServices Compensation Schemeup to £85,000.00.

You can apply for amembership form to join theCredit Union by writing to RMTCredit Union Ltd, Unity House39 Chalton Street, London NW11JD or downloading a formfrom the RMT website.

OPEN A JUNIORDEPOSIT ACCOUNT!RMT Credit Union offers membersthe opportunity to open anaccount for their children to allowthem to save for the future

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 also important to note that inorder to keep members informed your union r equiresyour 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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