Potential industrial action over IEP introduction

[whole diary]

[ChrisB]

To keep money flowing into the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) coffers basically at the current rate.

No compulsory job losses already on the table

[Timmer]

And once again it's the long suffering passengers who will pay the price if this strike goes ahead to add to the growing list of what so far has been an awful year for the railways of overrunning engineering works, infustructure failure, threat of national strikes and news that Network Rail are running late and way over budget with the GW^▸ (Great Western) electrification.

On the plus side NR^» (Network Rail - home page) have done a great job of Reading station, something easily overlooked when the above is taken into consideration.

[paul7575]

From the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) website

^    To keep safety critical station Despatch staff.
^    No job losses.

All of them?   It's perfectly obvious that places like Reading would have far too many dispatch staff on the main line platforms if there were no HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) calling...

[grahame]

Slightly (!) selfish question.  I bought a Freedom of the South West / 8 out of 15, valid until 12th July which I hope to use significantly on 9th and 11th (and 12th too).  I'm also headed out of area on 6th (using ticket to the border of the area and coming back on 9th, but may have to drive / fly on 6th if I need to get back on 9th and can't rely on the trains.  If industrial action takes place from 18:30 on 8th for 48 / 72 hours, where do I stand on my ticket and plans?

[broadgage]

What's the reason for this week's strike threat exactly?

Who opens and closes the new IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) train doors.

It is not JUST over who controls the doors, but that seems to be a significant part of the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) case. I do not care whom controls the doors and I am happy for railway management to decide on this.

I have more sympathy with the RMT over the downgrading of catering to only a trolley for steerage. For years I stated as an opinion, and then stated as a fact that the "new trains don't have buffets" These views were widely condemned as being unduly negative, and FGW^▸ (First Great Western) put out a number of vaguely reassuring statements that did not actually give a clear answer as to whether or not the new trains would have buffets.
They don't have buffets. So much for "purpose designed inter city trains" and for "FGW having input into the design"

As for keeping maintenance in house, I don't care ! The new trains will clearly need maintenance staff, and these staff are presumably free to join the trades union of their choice. I do not care if said staff are employed by FGW or by the train builders, or by some third party.
Any anyway it is now said to be a done deal.

[sprinterguard]

But do you care if there is an onboard presence from a trained member of staff other than the driver? In most circumstances every IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) will have a "train manager" (be it competent current form guard or a non-competent so called onboard manager ) rostered but in times of disruption (arguably one of the best times to have a TM^‡(resolve), especially a decent one) are you happy to travel on a train with upwards of 500 people hurtling through rural countryside without a TM?

What happens if the train hits someone? What happens if the train hits a bridge parapet?  breaks down for hours on end in the middle of nowhere? Gets stranded in flood water? All these things have happened recently.

DOO^▸ (Driver-Only Operation (that is, trains which operate without carrying a guard)) works on the tube and on suburban railways etc, don't get me wrong. DOO would not be the usual method of working for the IEPs... but when does "it's okay we're picking up a TM at Reading" become "we're picking up a TM at Taunton"

[bobm]

Slightly (!) selfish question.  I bought a Freedom of the South West / 8 out of 15, valid until 12th July which I hope to use significantly on 9th and 11th (and 12th too).  I'm also headed out of area on 6th (using ticket to the border of the area and coming back on 9th, but may have to drive / fly on 6th if I need to get back on 9th and can't rely on the trains.  If industrial action takes place from 18:30 on 8th for 48 / 72 hours, where do I stand on my ticket and plans?

Not all the selfish. I have the same ticket starting on the 8th July!

[rogerw]

And I have an all line rover starting 5th July, planning to return home on evenings of 8th and 9th

[bobm]

I feel your pain.  I had an ALR^▸ (All Line Rover) valid during the planned NR^» (Network Rail - home page) strikes earlier this month.  Spent a while working out alternatives - hopefully, fingers crossed, it will be called off as mine where.

[Western Pathfinder]

Can anyone tell me what the legal position is with Reguards to having a guard or not ?
I for one would wish to see train staff that know how to do the job as we have at this time.

[dog box]

not sure there are any legal regulations. one of the factors of this dispute centres around safety of the platform train interface, in the present proposal the Driver will have full control of opening and closing the doors and ensuring the train is safely clear of the platform by the use of in cab cctv, whilst also ensuring that he or she concentrates on the actual task of train driving.
At present safety of the platform train interface is under the auspices of the guard and station staff at manned stations and guard at un manned stations.
The present proposal states that a guard will be provided for and in customer service role, with some of the recent sad accidents of people being pulled under trains departing stations is this new proposal the safest option

[JayMac]

The present proposal states that a guard will be provided for and in customer service role, with some of the recent sad accidents of people being pulled under trains departing stations is this new proposal the safest option

Many of those sad accidents of people being pulled under trains or along platforms were on trains with staff present, either a guard or a despatcher. In fact I'm struggling to recall a recent such incident on DOO^▸ (Driver-Only Operation (that is, trains which operate without carrying a guard)). Just one from 2006 that may not have happened with a guard or despatcher present. The official report made no recommendations that DOO was less safe.

At present safety of the platform train interface is under the auspices of the guard and station staff at manned stations and guard at un manned stations.

Or just the driver at unstaffed platforms in DOO areas.

[JayMac]

As to the strike itself and the reasons. From what FGW^▸ (First Great Western) have said, there are to be no redundancies, in fact extra staff are to be hired, and there are no changes to terms and conditions for existing staff.

How trains are despatched varies widely across the network and the proposals for IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) do not, to me, seem any less safe than other methods used.

Maintenance of rolling stock by its manufacturer seems eminently sensible to me. And as the contract with Agility Trains/Hitachi has been signed off I can see no point in industrial action there.

Catering is one I'm a little concerned about, but while I'll miss the buffets I'm sure I'll get to used to them not being there.

Yet again we see a minority of those balloted holding sway. Why, if these issues are so important to the staff, was there only a 50% turnout? 

All told I'm sadly not on the staff's side for this dispute.

[JayMac]

I'm not really on FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s side either. With less than a week to go before the start of the strike there hasn't been a peep from FGW about contingency, what will and won't be running, ticket acceptance with other operators on different routes, and so on.

I'm wanting to travel next Wednesday and Thursday. I'd kinda like to know whether that will be possible. 

[ChrisB]

They'll still be working on the contingencies. They'll need to know how many staff will be turning in to start with, then they can work things further. Give 'em a break....