Great Western Coffee Shop

A passionate debate over burkas ends in smiles when union leader Bob Crow asks a member of the audience to prove he really is a man.

The leader of the Rail Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) was responding to an audience member's comment that there is no way of knowing if the person under a burka is female or not.

RMT union leader Bob Crow has said there should be a co-ordinated "resistance" to public sector cuts.

Speaking ahead of the TUC conference, Mr Crow told the BBC that while bankers were still getting "massive bonuses", ministers' "first line of attack" was public sector workers. The RMT is asking the TUC to back calls for co-ordinated industrial action "to defend jobs, pensions and conditions".

Ministers say they must take action to tackle the ^155bn budget deficit. Without "decisive action", Chancellor George Osborne argues that Britain's economic stability and reputation would be put at risk. He has asked all departments, excluding the NHS and international aid, to find four-year cuts of between 25% and 40%, to begin in April 2011. But his plans are expected to come under fire at the gathering of trade union members in Manchester this week.

Rich 'let off'

He has asked all departments, excluding the NHS and international aid, to find four-year cuts of between 25% and 40%, to begin in April 2011. But his plans are expected to come under fire at the gathering of trade union members in Manchester this week.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber has already accused the government of "making struggling families bear the cost of the recession, while the rich have been let off". And Mr Crow, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union, told the BBC the government had its priorities wrong. He said the economic crisis had been caused by bankers, yet it was public sector workers and people on benefits who were the first to be "attacked".

Bankers' bonuses

Mr Crow said: "If there is a concerted effort by this new government to attack workers in all different parts of society, then my belief is that if one group of workers are taking action on one day and another group of workers are taking action on another day that we should co-ordinate that resistance to defend working men and working women."

Asked if action this autumn would be too early, he said: "If there's no attacks take place until next March, next April or next May - that will be the time the resistance will take place, I think it will be earlier than then." He said people had yet to feel the effects of cuts: "What do you want, do you want bankers to have bonuses or do you want police on the street?"

Labour's leadership candidates will attend a hustings at the TUC conference - hoping to attract union members' support before the winner is named on 25 September. The current acting leader Harriet Harman told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show her party backed the right to strike, but "no one wants to see strikes" - including public sector workers. But she said she expected local communities to campaign alongside trade unions when public services were threatened.

She added: "We feel very concerned indeed, yes, about threats to jobs and we don't accept the argument that somehow this is entirely necessary to cut the deficit at this speed. We think it's actually a threat to the economy.
And the arguments that the 'Big Society' can take the place of public services are we think are disingenuous. So to that extent yes, we do feel militant about it."

While millions take pay cuts, union leaders rake it in
...
The figures are:
Bob Crow (RMT) - ^79,564 in salary, ^26,115 in pension contributions, ^13,013 expenses
...

Stephen Sackur talks to Bob Crow.

How will Britain's labour movement respond to a Conservative led Government about to embark on the deepest public spending cuts in a generation? The answer may hinge on the relationship between the Labour party's newly elected leader Ed Miliband and the trade unions, whose support propelled him into the party's top job. Bob Crow, militant leader of the RMT, talks of a looming class war, but what will Ed Miliband's Labour Party do if the unions take to the barricades?

Ed Miliband challenged by rail union leader Bob Crow

The new Labour leader, Ed Miliband, is facing a challenge from union leader Bob Crow.

Mr Crow, general secretary of the RMT union, claims Mr Miliband might break his pledge to attend a rally against public spending cuts.

"It will be a clear signal he's already abandoning working people," he said.

Mr Miliband beat his elder brother David to the leadership thanks to votes from trade union members and affiliated societies.

The TUC is planning to hold the rally on 19 October and Mr Crow says there is speculation that Ed Miliband will fail to appear.

Mr Crow said a Labour leader who failed to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the party's core supporters would "get slaughtered at the polls".

He also told the BBC that unions should get support from the new leader. "If the Trade Unions at the end of the day fund the political party, you fund on the basis that you want to put your political views up," he said. "... we're not seeing proper representation for working men and women taking place. We keep on getting told there's no other opportunity except for big business, there's no other way out of this except for cuts, there's no other way than privatisation. We think there is a different way out of it, that the deficit can be paid back, but we can do it in a different kind of way and not make savage blows."

Ed Miliband has dismissed suggestions that the party will lurch to the left under his control. Since being elected on Saturday, he has repeatedly asserted that he "his own man" and would not be unduly influenced by the unions that helped him get the job.

He is set to make his first Labour Party conference speech as leader later on Tuesday.

He is expected to distance himself from his predecessors by acknowledging voter "anger" at the failings of the party in government - particularly its claim to have ended "boom and bust".

Speaking at the conference in Manchester on Monday, David Miliband called for the party to unite behind his brother who he described as a "great leader".

Although David won a higher percentage of votes from Labour MPs, MEPs and party members, Ed Miliband's success with trade union members and affiliated societies pushed him into first place in the leadership contest.

An article on 15 September reported RMT General Secretary Bob Crow had a union-subsidised home and luxury car.

In fact, Mr Crow's home has never been subsidised by the union and he does not own a car, union or otherwise, and champions public transport.

We are happy to set the record straight and apologise to Mr Crow.

RMT union leader Bob Crow has told an inquiry into press standards the union has been the victim of "harassment" by journalists for the past 10 years.

Mr Crow said he understood why the media might object to strikes - but said it was not acceptable "to infringe on RMT staff's personal lives".

He had been followed and shouted at in the street, the Leveson Inquiry heard.

He had also been watched by private investigator Derek Webb on behalf of News International, Mr Crow said.

Describing a story in the Mail on Sunday in February 2003 - when Mr Crow was photographed being given a lift on his personal assistant's scooter when the Central Line on the Underground was closed - he said the timing of it was "strange".

"It was strange as I would normally get a bus; it was strange that at that moment a photographer was there to take a picture of me on a scooter," he said.

He said there was no proof his phone was hacked to get the information, but he was told by police that they are investigating whether his phone was targeted by a private investigator on behalf of a newspaper.

The information on the identification of the scooter rider was blagged from the DVLA and given to the Mail on Sunday by private investigator Steve Whittamore, the hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London heard.

Mr Crow also told the inquiry a Sun newspaper-branded bus blocked him on his way to work during a strike.

He said a man with a microphone stood on his feet and said: "What's it like not to get to go to work? You stopped people going to work this week so get a taste of your own medicine."

The Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers general secretary also described being put under surveillance in the Caribbean.

"Our trade union over the last 10 to 12 years has been the victim of victimisation, harassment... for standing up for good honest working men and working women," he said.

A fatal heart attack being reported by some media sources.

"I won^t shed one single tear over her death. She destroyed the NHS and destroyed industry in this country and as far as I'm concerned she can rot in hell"

Union officials and members, politicians and members of the rail industry have been among those paying tribute to "admired and feared" RMT union leader Bob Crow, who has died aged 52.

Many have expressed sorrow at the loss of a "fighter" and "defender of public safety".

Say what you like about the man, he certainly knew his own mind, and made sure everyone else did too. His untimely death will leave a big gap, at a time when a number of major negotiations are under way, not least about the Underground. Expect genuine expressions of sadness from both sides of the table.

Seems Boris has also been paying tribute to Mr Crow. Despite being on opposing sides I do think there was some mutual respect from both of them towards each other

Bob made me honorary member of RMT

As chairman of First Great Western Trains I knew Bob Crow pretty well and leaving aside the politics of the re-nationalisation of the railway, (a strategic objective upon which he had pretty fixed views), he was a ferocious fighter for his members at a tactical level.

It has to be said he would exploit any weakness in management generally, and perhaps that was good for customers indirectly, as in our case it helped us in our determination to improve.

Back in 2007 he made me an honorary member of his union after making a formal written complaint against me objecting to my wheeling a refreshment trolley and serving drinks (taking a member's job!) one Friday evening in one of our high speed express trains that had broken down in Paddington fully loaded with increasingly stressed commuters. This was in the bad old days when almost everything about FGW was in a far less good state than it is in today, I am pleased to be able to say.

Following a 'tooing and froing' of both official and personal letters sent by courier over the weekend, we managed to end the incident in great good humour and on Christian name terms, exchanging the very real threat of potential industrial action with a level of mutual role recognition, and, at my end, a rather nice gold and green enamel union members tie badge... which I always keep handy nowadays, when...... I'm helping with the refreshment trolleys on our trains, which I am delighted to declare that I continue to do frequently!

I am hugely proud of all of our FGW staff, and its good to note that as a company we have since enjoyed a pretty good and mutually respectful, (if occasionally feisty!) relationship with the RMT, as one would perhaps expect, and I'm personally very sorry that Bob has left us all so early and unexpectedly in this way."

RMT leader Bob Crow's funeral to be private, says union

The funeral of Rail, Maritime and Transport union leader Bob Crow will take place on Monday and will be a private service, the union has said.

The general secretary died last week of a suspected heart attack, aged 52.

Mr Crow's family have requested the City of London Cemetery and Crematorium funeral be private but trade unionists, friends and colleagues will be invited to line the route of the procession.

A bigger event is being planned for May Day, the union said.

Mr Crow had led the RMT since 2002, and became one of Britain's most high-profile union leaders.

Mick Cash, the RMT's senior assistant general secretary, said the union was hoping for a big turn-out at the annual May Day march in London to honour Mr Crow. "On behalf of Bob Crow's family, we are able to confirm arrangements for the funeral and commemoration of the life and work of our general secretary, whose death has rocked the trade union movement, both in this country and around the world, to its very core," he said.

"The thousands of messages of condolence from every part of the globe are a testament to the courage, leadership and strength that Bob shared with so many people. Whilst Bob Crow's funeral itself will be a strictly private affair his friends and family recognise that many people will want to show their solidarity, respect and support, both on the day itself and on May Day. These arrangements give everyone a chance to play their part."

Union members pay tribute at RMT leader Bob Crow's funeral

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A banner was held by RMT members at the gates of the City of London Cemetery and Crematorium

Thousands of people have turned out to pay their respects at the funeral procession of Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union leader Bob Crow.

The union general secretary, who led the RMT from 2002, died of a suspected heart attack, aged 52, on 11 March. Friends and colleagues lined the route of the procession ahead of a private service.

Mr Crow's coffin was carried in a horse-drawn carriage from his house in Woodford, east London. The four horses were dressed in blue and white, the colours of Mr Crow's beloved Millwall Football Club.

Hundreds of union banners were displayed along the route, alongside flags from groups including the Stop The War Coalition, which Mr Crow supported.

The procession finished at City of London Cemetery and Crematorium, where a private funeral was held at the request of the Crow family.

Posters featuring a photograph of Mr Crow were also displayed at Tube stations across the capital.

Paul Kenny, leader of the GMB union, said: "Bob was a remarkable fighter for working people, but he was also passionate about protecting the health and safety of the public, which he never got any credit for. He was a funny, witty, interesting man, and the union movement - in fact the whole country - will be a duller place without him."

RMT president Peter Pinkney said: "Bob's death leaves a massive gap in the lives of everyone who was fortunate enough to know him and represents a huge loss to the trade union and labour movement both in this country and internationally, and specifically, for the RMT members Bob led with such stunning success."

Tributes to Mr Crow will also be paid on May Day, with a special event planned in London.

Bob Crow Obituary

March 11th, 2014 Guardian

Bob Crow, the leader of the RMT (the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers), who has died of a suspected heart attack at the age of 52, managed to popularise the cause of trade unions at a time of declining membership and increasing hostility. He was often the face of trade unionism in the media, and had a higher profile than leaders of much larger unions.

This was achieved through a mixture of militancy, media savvy and charm, backed by a very keen brain and strong emotional intelligence. Crow^s public image as a troublemaker and bully boy was misplaced. Of course he was prepared to talk aggressively on television and radio as a way of ramping up support for his cause and ensuring that the bulk of his members were behind him. However, behind the scenes it was another story. The rail industry managers who had to sit on the opposite side of the negotiation table from Crow were virtually unanimous in their assessment that ^you could always cut a deal with Bob^.

Unlike Arthur Scargill, the miners^ leader who founded the Socialist Labour party that Crow briefly joined, Crow always put his members first. According to a manager who frequently negotiated with him: ^Yes, he wanted to change the world, but he saw his first task as bettering the lot of his members rather than encouraging some kind of revolution.^

That said, he did not like his aggression being met with a commensurate response. Crow took a particular dislike to the London Underground boss Derek Smith, who pushed through a public-private partnership in the late 1990s against both union and Labour opposition. At one point, coming into a meeting to discuss a disputed ballot that was heading for the courts, Crow threw a newspaper with an article that he felt was offensive on the table and was surprised to find Smith throwing it back with greater force.

The word ^moderate^ to describe Crow popped up surprisingly often in conversations with railway managers. This was partly because Crow was wont to warn negotiators that his executive was on the warpath and he would need concessions to keep them happy. However, it was also the case that there were executive members who were further left politically than Crow and far more eager to see disruptive industrial action.

Crow, born in east London, left Hainault high school at the age of 16 and soon became interested in trade unionism after joining London Transport in 1977, initially as a member of a tree-felling gang. In 1983 he became a local trade-union representative and two years later the national officer for trackworkers in the National Union of Railwaymen, which became the RMT when it merged with the National Union of Seamen in 1990.

Crow established himself as a powerful voice in the union, often speaking out against the leadership of Jimmy Knapp over fears that the union was becoming too distant from its members. This enabled him to create a strong base in the grassroots, which stood him in good stead when Knapp died in 2001 while still in office as general secretary. Crow won the subsequent election easily, polling almost two-thirds of the votes.

The union was often in the spotlight and under his leadership membership grew from 57,000 to about 80,000 today, bucking the general trend among other unions. This was undoubtedly helped by the strong line taken in many disputes, but although there were often successful ballots for industrial action, for the most part agreements were reached before workers walked out. The strike calls were part of the negotiating position and Crow was adept at wading through the anti-union legislation introduced by Margaret Thatcher and largely left by Labour, which was one of his reasons for falling out with the party.

While Crow was generally happy to negotiate with managers, there were limits to his tolerance. One fellow trade unionist remembers travelling to Washington with him as part of the International Transport Workers^ Federation for discussions with the World Bank and seeing Crow ^finding it hard to restrain himself. He wondered why we were speaking to these people at all, a position which several other trade unionists, but not all, agreed with.^ For the most part, though, Crow was an extremely skilled negotiator and in public speeches knew exactly what buttons to press. Sure, there would be jokes and routine denunciations of the Conservatives, but these were only padding for the two or three key messages Crow wanted to get across.

Within his union, there were dissenters from the right, too. Crow was very keen on defending the rights of low-paid workers, such as cleaners, who for the most part worked not for the rail companies but were outsourced. Some of his well-paid members, such as drivers, queried why the union should concern itself with these lower-paid workers whose lack of job security meant they were far more difficult to reach and retain in the union, but Crow, true to his principles, always argued in favour of supporting them.

The RMT was expelled in 2004 by the Labour party for supporting rival candidates. Crow was not a member of a political party when he died, though he had supported the now disbanded Socialist Alliance, and believed socialist parties should unite to fight Labour.

Not surprisingly, Crow did attract hostility. Most notably, he was seriously injured in an attack by two men with an iron bar in January 2002, six weeks before his election, which he put down to ^management^, but the culprits were more likely to have come from the then quite active far-right in Dagenham, where he lived. Such attacks were encouraged by coverage in the rightwing press, which regularly called him ^the most hated man in Britain^.

In fact, the frequent media attacks upon him largely did not stick, because of Crow^s skill at handling the broadcast media, which meant he always came across as straightforward and honest on both radio and television. Even when espousing ideas that most of the public would regard as outlandish, he managed to sound reasonable and matter of fact. He was a regular on the BBC^s Question Time and for the most part his interventions received enthusiastic approbation from at least a major section of the audience.

Whenever I bumped into him, he did not forget that I had once called him a ^bit of a political dinosaur^ but nevertheless was always charming and ready to thrash out differences. Indeed, few people who met him disliked him and interviewers report how he was always engaging and he generally managed to get the better of them.

Crow was lucky in two respects. First, he was general secretary of a union that still had industrial strength because of its ability to be able to paralyse the railways or the London Underground by withdrawing labour. Not many other unions have that ability. Secondly, he became general secretary of a rail union at a time when the industry was booming, which gave him a strong negotiating position.

The last major dispute in which he was involved, in February this year, played to his strengths. As it was centred on an issue that chimed with the public, the closure of all the ticket offices in the Underground system, the public was surprisingly supportive of the tube workers despite the fact that their journeys were disrupted for two days. In fact, the second strike was called off when Transport for London agreed to further talks, and certainly the London mayor Boris Johnson, who had always refused to meet Crow officially, came off surprisingly badly in the dispute. The fact that it was Johnson rather than Crow who had been obdurate was highlighted by the fact that TfL had all along planned to retain ticket-selling facilities at several busy stations, but, prompted by Johnson, had publicly suggested that they would all be closed.

Crow^s weak point was his lifestyle. He earned a package worth ^145,000, far more than any of his members, and yet lived in a council house. He defended this strongly, saying social housing should be for everyone, which rather betrayed a blind spot over the perception of his salary and his housing. It was apt that Crow supported Millwall, a football club with a similar reputation to his own and whose fans^ favourite chant, ^No one likes us, we don^t care^, could equally have applied to him.

Capital man aims to take over UK^s rail union

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Alan Pottage leafleting outside Haymarket. Picture: Ian Georgeson

A former Waverley Station train guard is in the running to become the most powerful union boss in the country.

Alan Pottage, who took a job on the railways at 18 to help pay for a new amplifier for his band, could replace Bob Crow, below, as the leader of RMT union, with the power to bring the UK to a standstill.

Mr Pottage, a former Leith Academy pupil, will inherit his late friend Mr Crow^s ^145,000 salary and his mantle as the UK^s most ^controversial union baron in the country if he wins a national leadership ballot on September 22.

He brought his leadership campaign to Edinburgh yesterday, handing out leaflets to commuters at Haymarket Station, criticising rail-fare increases and plans to remove train guards.

He said: ^ve been a train guard, and I^ve intervened in situations on trains. If you take away that, the trains will still run, but the public will get less for the money it^s spending.

^I started off when there was a nationalised industry under British Rail. The problem then was that successive governments starved it of investment.

^What we^ve had since 1995 is the complete break-up of the industry. We^ve now got over 500 different companies competing against each other. It^s confusion, and it^s not good. As we^ve exposed time and time again, there^s more money going into private railways now than there ever was when it was nationalised.

^That^s why time and time again polling shows the public support bringing the railways back into public ownership.^

The election was triggered by the shock death of Mr Crow, who served as general secretary since 2002, dividing opinion with uncompromising ^tactics and flamboyant style.

Mr Pottage, who describes himself as a ^frontrunner^ for the RMT leadership, said: ^My views are the same as Bob^s, that we need to have a strong union, one that will stand up and make a case against things like rail fares going up, and cutting staff to add to the profits of private operators.^

His 32 years in the union have taken him as far as South Africa, where he was arrested and expelled in 1990 for demonstrating against apartheid. But his railway career was only sparked by his musical desires. He said: ^When I was 18 I was in a band, so I wanted an amp. My brother worked in the railways, so he got me a job, but I didn^t really see it as a long-term thing.^

Indeed.

One of the greatest cost increases in the privatised rail industry has been the wage bill. Sadly, to the detriment of the travelling public.

Competition between TOCs to retain staff after training, has pushed the wage bill up and up. Qualified drivers circa ^47,000 basic. Guards circa ^27,000 basic. Train dispatchers circa ^20,000 basic. Train controller circa ^35,000. Overtime pushes these basic salaries up considerably.

Short franchises of 5-7 years prevent the TOCs from going head to head with the unions over pay and conditions. One short strike and a TOCs small profit margin could be wiped out.There have been above inflation wage rises almost universally for drivers and guards every year since privatisation.

We see strong resistance from the unions against measures to reduce the wage bill, such as further roll-out of DOO.

The rail unions have done very well for their members. I don't think they've helped the passenger or the wider rail business though. Nonetheless, well done to them.

Wow, i'm quite surprised at your viewpoint BNM, but each to their own..

We have one of the safest railways in the World - who is that down to ultimately?  Managers and shareholders, or perhaps the staff and ultimately the jobs the unions protect and fight for?  Union subs are not just paid to get pay-rises.. on the contrary I could pull out of a union and still get the same pay-rise.

Mick Cash elected general secretary of RMT union

Rail, Maritime and Transport Union acting general secretary Mick Cash has been elected its leader following the death of Bob Crow in March.

The 54-year-old, who was Mr Crow's deputy for 12 years, said he was "proud and honoured" to be given the "enormous responsibility".

Mr Cash beat four other candidates to become general secretary of the union.

He has been a member of the RMT, and its predecessor the National Union of Railwaymen, for 35 years.

Mr Cash thanked RMT members for giving him an "overwhelming mandate" and said the union was "in fighting shape".

He said: "I am proud and honoured to have been given the enormous responsibility of now taking our fighting and militant union forwards, six months after the bitter loss to the Labour movement of Bob Crow.

"Let me make this clear. There will be no deviation from the industrial, political and organising strategy mapped out by RMT under Bob's leadership.

"Our fight on pay, jobs, working conditions, pensions and safety continues on every front and in every industry where we organise members."

'United and determined'

Mr Cash, who worked as a railway engineer before becoming a union official, thanked the other candidates for a "comradely and hard-fought campaign".

He added: "RMT stands united and determined in the on-going struggles we are engaged in on London Underground, on the railways, offshore, in the shipping industry and on the roads and buses.

"This union is in fighting shape for the battles that we know lie ahead."

Mr Crow died of a suspected heart attack on 11 March.

He had been elected general secretary of the RMT in 2002 following the death of former leader Jimmy Knapp.

Under his leadership, the RMT's membership increased by more than 20,000 to 80,000.

Earlier on Monday, the RMT announced plans for an overtime ban on the London Underground as part of its campaign against Transport for London plans to close all ticket offices and cut about 900 jobs.

The ban will take effect from a minute past midnight on Wednesday.

A driver's salary in 1996 was around ^22,000 fully qualified. For a longer working week than today, but with better staff travel facilities.

Today it is around ^47,000.

^22,000 in 1996 is now ^37,000 adjusted for inflation.

Guards salaries have not risen as much in that period but they've still easily outstripped inflation. As have those in retail, clerical, back office and train control positions.

Personal comment:

Mr Cash said, "I am proud and honoured to have been given the enormous responsibility of now taking our fighting and militant union forwards..."

Plus ^a change?  ::)

TRANSPORT UNION RMT confirmed this afternoon that Mick Cash has won the election for General Secretary.


RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said:

^I want to thank the membership of RMT for giving me an overwhelming mandate as the newly elected General Secretary. I am proud and honoured to have been given the enormous responsibility of now taking our fighting and militant union forwards, six months after the bitter loss to the Labour Movement of Bob Crow.

^Let me make this clear. There will be no deviation from the industrial, political and organising strategy mapped out by RMT under Bob^s leadership. Our fight on pay, jobs, working conditions, pensions and safety continues on every front and in every industry where we organise members.

^I want to thank the other four candidates for what has been a comradely and hard-fought campaign that has engaged RMT members the length and breadth of the country.  RMT stands united and determined in the on-going struggles we are engaged in on London Underground, on the railways, offshore, in the shipping industry and on the roads and buses. This union is in fighting shape for the battles that we know lie ahead.^

For the last 2 years, pay has been at inflation levels

Above, but only slightly. At least +0.5% and possibly slightly more. One reason why the RPI+1% was introduced, to cover the above inflation increases. With these RPI% fare increases, the Government are losing out on increasing their stated aim of the passenger increasing their contribution to covering the cost of running the railway....

Mr Cash said, "I am proud and honoured to have been given the enormous responsibility of now taking our fighting and militant union forwards..."

Rail union's day of action to fight First Great Western plans to cut staff and axe buffet cars

Rail union RMT will be stepping up the campaign to fight plans that would lead to the axing of buffet cars, on-board staff and maintenance workers on First Great Western with a series of events on January 5 in response to moves the union has blasted as ^ushering in an ^Upstairs-Downstairs^ service on Inter-City services while British passengers pay the highest fares in Europe.^

First Great Western is the major operator of trains through Kemble station.

As part of the on-going RMT campaign to defend jobs, services and safety on First Great Western and East Coast events will take place on Januray 5 from 7am until 9am at Bath Spa, Bristol Temple Meads, Exeter, Paddington, Plymouth and Swansea protesting about the configuration of the new Inter City Fleet trains.

RMT has been battling against proposals for driver-only operation and the removal of buffet cars and their replacement by a trolley service only catering facility, the sacking and reducing of the safety critical operational role of train guards /conductors as well as station de-staffing and ticket office closures.

The union has also objected to proposals that could see the loss of skilled safety critical train maintenance jobs as part of the deal.

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said ;‎ ^RMT will be hitting the ground running right from the start of the New Year with a ramping up of the campaign against cuts to jobs and services on First Great Western on the day that Britain gets back to business after the extended festive break.

^This Government of the rich, for the rich and by the rich now intend to introduce an ^Upstairs-Downstairs^ service on Britain^s long haul rail services which would condemn the vast majority to pay through the nose to travel in rammed-out carriages where the catering trolley is jammed at one end while the elite glide through the country like extras from Downton Abbey.

"This move has got the stamp of Cameron, Osborne and the posh boys from the Bullingdon Club plastered all over it. RMT believes that all rail users deserve a high quality service and that means employing the staff to deliver that rather than cutting corners to maximise profits and targeting what^s left at the rich.

^RMT is throwing it^s full resources and industrial and political clout in 2015 behind the fight to stop this attack on jobs, services and safety arising from the introduction of the Inter-City fleet on both the East Coast and the Great Western routes.

"These new Hitachi trains have been explicitly commissioned by the Government to allow the sacking of on-board staff, the axing of buffet cars and have left a question mark hanging over the future of the existing maintenance depots.

^RMT^s campaign will point out the public that they have a massive stake in this drive to milk the Inter-City routes for every penny the private companies can extract. They would be forced to pay higher fares to travel on crowded and unsafe trains where they will struggle to even get a drink of water on a long haul journey.

"We will be calling on the passengers to join us in piling pressure on their MP^s to reverse this latest assault on rail services and jobs in the name of private greed.^

First Great Western is the major operator of trains through Kemble station.

Strong words from Mr. Cash.  However, I was pretty unimpressed when I saw him do a media interview the other day as he looked flustered, nervous and unsure of himself when answering pretty simple questions.

No doubt he'll become more media savvy in the future, but I didn't get the impression of strong charismatic leadership that will be required.