Train Operating Companies v Trade Unions dispute - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[bobm]

Meanwhile it would seem Southern still have their public relation problems....



Amazing the difference a comma makes.

[TonyK]

Amazing the difference a comma makes.

Could be intentional!

Grammar and punctuation can be critical. As can using the correct case of character. Those who insist on tweeting in lower case only need to remember that there is a difference between "Helping my Uncle Jack off a horse" and "helping my uncle jack off a horse".

[grahame]

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/chris-grayling-threatened-with-judicial-review-over-southern-rail-report-delay-a3576056.html

The Transport Secretary could face a judicial review of his handling of Southern Rail if he fails to make a key decision on the crisis-hit franchise within two weeks.

The High Court made the ruling on Thursday after hearing an application by the Association of British Commuters (ABC) for a judicial review into the way Chris Grayling has dealt with Southern.

The operator has been hit by a year of disruption because of industrial action taken by unions over driver-only controlled trains, staff shortages and other problems.

The judge was told by James Hodivala, for the ABC group, that there had been an unreasonable delay in the government deciding whether the disruption was caused by so-called force majeure, and so was outside Southern's control.

Mr Justice Ouseley said he was requiring the minister to make his decision within 14 days, something the Department for Transport said was imminent anyway. The Transport Secretary had taken 14 months to make a decision, which amounted to an "unreasonable" delay and was at the heart of whether he had complied with his public law duty, the judge was told.

Mr Hodivala also claimed there had been a "lack of transparency" over the benchmarks Southern had to achieve under its contract.

Clive Sheldon, for the Transport Secretary, said Mr Grayling was "fully aware" of the inconvenience suffered by Southern's 300,000 passengers.

A decision on the force majeure issue was "imminent", which would be followed by the question of whether any enforcement action needed to be taken.

"The question of remedy will be a later decision, but not a significantly later decision," he said.

The process of deciding if the disruption was outside Southern's control had been "complex and difficult" but a decision was about to be made, the judge was told.

Mr Sheldon suggested it was acceptable to give an order that Mr Grayling will produce a report on the issue within 14 days.

The judge rejected the commuter group's argument that the Government was in breach of equality legislation because of problems with access suffered by disabled passengers.

He ordered that the ABC should pay two-thirds of the Transport Secretary's £25,900 legal costs.

A Department for Transport spokesman said: "We are pleased the High Court has thrown out the application for a judicial review by the Association of British Commuters.

"An independent report by rail expert Chris Gibb, which was published last week, made it very clear that the responsibility for disruption on Southern was primarily caused by industrial action led by RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) and Aslef and exceptional levels of staff sick leave.

"We have been considering whether the extensive disruption to the line last year was entirely beyond GTR's control and our decision was due to be communicated to the company imminently. We are more than happy to inform GTR of the verdict within the 14 days required by the judge."

The ruling came on the first day of an overtime ban on the franchise, with commuters warned more than 1,100 trains would be axed in the next 48 hours.

[Electric train]

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/chris-grayling-threatened-with-judicial-review-over-southern-rail-report-delay-a3576056.html

The Transport Secretary could face a judicial review of his handling of Southern Rail if he fails to make a key decision on the crisis-hit franchise within two weeks.

The High Court made the ruling on Thursday after hearing an application by the Association of British Commuters (ABC) for a judicial review into the way Chris Grayling has dealt with Southern.

The operator has been hit by a year of disruption because of industrial action taken by unions over driver-only controlled trains, staff shortages and other problems.

The judge was told by James Hodivala, for the ABC group, that there had been an unreasonable delay in the government deciding whether the disruption was caused by so-called force majeure, and so was outside Southern's control.

Mr Justice Ouseley said he was requiring the minister to make his decision within 14 days, something the Department for Transport said was imminent anyway. The Transport Secretary had taken 14 months to make a decision, which amounted to an "unreasonable" delay and was at the heart of whether he had complied with his public law duty, the judge was told.

Mr Hodivala also claimed there had been a "lack of transparency" over the benchmarks Southern had to achieve under its contract.

Clive Sheldon, for the Transport Secretary, said Mr Grayling was "fully aware" of the inconvenience suffered by Southern's 300,000 passengers.

A decision on the force majeure issue was "imminent", which would be followed by the question of whether any enforcement action needed to be taken.

"The question of remedy will be a later decision, but not a significantly later decision," he said.

The process of deciding if the disruption was outside Southern's control had been "complex and difficult" but a decision was about to be made, the judge was told.

Mr Sheldon suggested it was acceptable to give an order that Mr Grayling will produce a report on the issue within 14 days.

The judge rejected the commuter group's argument that the Government was in breach of equality legislation because of problems with access suffered by disabled passengers.

He ordered that the ABC should pay two-thirds of the Transport Secretary's £25,900 legal costs.

A Department for Transport spokesman said: "We are pleased the High Court has thrown out the application for a judicial review by the Association of British Commuters.

"An independent report by rail expert Chris Gibb, which was published last week, made it very clear that the responsibility for disruption on Southern was primarily caused by industrial action led by RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) and Aslef and exceptional levels of staff sick leave.

"We have been considering whether the extensive disruption to the line last year was entirely beyond GTR's control and our decision was due to be communicated to the company imminently. We are more than happy to inform GTR of the verdict within the 14 days required by the judge."

The ruling came on the first day of an overtime ban on the franchise, with commuters warned more than 1,100 trains would be axed in the next 48 hours.

I also think HM Opposition will look for an opportunity to apply pressure on the Government, especially if they smell blood of a Minister or Sectary of State in trouble 

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Rail strikes: Fresh walkouts in row over conductors' role


Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union are staging walkouts on 8 November

Fresh rail strikes by workers at five rail companies have been announced by the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers)) union.

Members at Southern, South Western Railway and Greater Anglia are to stage 48-hour strikes on 8 November in a row over driver-only trains.

Merseyrail and Arriva Rail North (Northern) are to walkout on the same day, but for 24 hours.

Greater Anglia said it was disappointed and wanted to resolve issues with RMT.

The union is in dispute with the rail companies over driver-only-operated trains which the RMT claim would be unsafe and lead to job losses.

Rail companies say a guard would no longer be needed but deny jobs would be lost.

The RMT says it has made "every single effort" to resolve the disputes, accusing the train operators of "suspending" normal industrial relations.

The union has been in dispute with Southern for over 18 months, involving more than 30 days of strike action.

It has spread to Merseyrail, Arriva Rail North and Greater Anglia, which have also been hit by walkouts.

But this is the first time South Western Railway, which only recently took over the franchise from South West Trains, will be targeted for a strike. It has been accused by the union of refusing to give a "cast iron guarantee" that a second, safety-critical member of staff, will be retained on trains.

Richard Dean from Greater Anglia said: "We value our conductors highly and have guaranteed their jobs until the end of the franchise in October 2025. In fact, we will be recruiting additional conductors as we are replacing all of our trains with brand new trains from 2019 which will enable us to run more services."

South Western Railway described the strike as "unnecessary and disruptive". "No-one wants this, least of all our passengers and staff who will be the ones to suffer."

Govia Thameslink Railway, parent company of Southern, said it was "very disappointed" and also described the action as "unnecessary" adding the union had continued to refuse to engage with it in modernising the railway.

Richard Allan, from Arriva Rail North (Northern), said: "We are prepared to guarantee jobs and pay for conductors for the next eight years if we can reach agreement on how our colleagues deliver better customer service using those fantastic new facilities. We remain available for talks that are meaningful and clearly focused on how we deliver better customer service in the future."

Andy Heath from Merseyrail said: "Just a few weeks after the last round of industrial action, the RMT has announced it will strike again, targeting commuters and leisure-travellers alike. The union claims to be open to talks, but failed to respond to our most recent offer of a meeting."

All of the rail operators said they had contingency plans in place to minimise disruptions during industrial action.

[ChrisB]

Shouldn't cause as much disruption on Southern as their ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about) drivers have been offered a 28.5% payrise over 5 years...and their drivers are very much ASLEF. The RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) aren't happy...

[John R]

Shouldn't cause as much disruption on Southern as their ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about) drivers have been offered a 28.5% payrise over 5 years...and their drivers are very much ASLEF. The RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) aren't happy...

Maybe not this time, but the agreement struck seems to suggest that a strike isn't one of the few "exceptional" reasons that can cause a train to run without a second person. Which could mean that once effective the strikes would again have more impact.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Transport for London 'to cut 1,400 jobs'

Transport for London (TfL^» (Transport for London - about)) is cutting 1,400 jobs as part of plans to save £5.5bn by 2021, according to unions.

The cuts will affect engineering and parts of London Underground (LU), said the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers)) union.

It said the figure emerged at a meeting on Tuesday, but TfL said it did not recognise the RMT's number.

The RMT criticised the move on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the King's Cross fire in which 31 people died.

TfL said: "Over the next few months we will be consulting on further plans in a number of other managerial, support and other non front-line areas across TfL and London Underground (LU).  None of this will compromise safety, which will always remain our top priority."

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: "As part of the Mayor's efforts to slash spending by £5.5bn by 2021 we are now being told that the company plans to cut up to 1,400 jobs in engineering in TfL and in some areas of LU.  RMT demands that no cuts take place, so close to the King's Cross fire anniversary.  It would be appalling if there was any hacking back on safety.  The Mayor needs to stand up for TfL and demand restoration of the full capital grant and proper central government funding for the Tube."

TfL said it was "undertaking the largest ever overhaul of our organisation to provide the most efficient and cost effective transport service for Londoners".

"We have already reduced management layers and bureaucracy and merged functions in other areas to eliminate duplication and reliance on expensive agency staff", it said.