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Author Topic: Strike ballot over rail rosters at Cardiff (18/11/2009)  (Read 15511 times)
Lee
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« Reply #30 on: December 12, 2009, 18:29:03 »

From Wales Online:

Quote from: Wales Online
Managers drafted in to minimise rail strike disruption

Network Rail yesterday moved to reassure train passengers that strikes due to start next week would not cripple Christmas travel across South Wales.

Signalling staff will walk out on Monday morning for six days of industrial action at the peak of the Christmas shopping period following a dispute about working hours.

The strike by the Rail Maritime and Transport Workers^ union (RMT (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers)) is separate to planned engineering work on the South Wales mainline that will see trains from Newport to Bristol Parkway replaced with bus services for 10 days from Christmas Eve until January 4.

Network Rail said yesterday that it had drafted in managers from across the UK (United Kingdom) to staff signals during the strike next week and hoped to have 95% of services running throughout the period from Monday to Saturday.

Chris Rayner, route director for Network Rail, said: ^We will not allow this unnecessary strike to cause major disruption to passengers. We have a tried and tested contingency plan in place. Trained staff will be standing in for strikers, so that passenger services run pretty much as normal.^

Union members in the affected area ^ Network Rail^s Wales and the Marches region ^ said they believed the 95% figure was ^optimistic^.

Cardiff RMT branch secretary Greg Harrison said: ^It is very difficult to say what they will be able to deliver.

^Certainly a few years ago in the last national strike services were reduced by 50%. This is different as they can draft in managers from across the UK to break the strike but 95% is still optimistic.^

Full-time branch officer Phil Bialyk rejected reports there was opposition to the strike among some branch members who were leaving the union.

He said the new five-day weeks of eight-hour shifts being brought in at the new ^17m South Wales signalling centre were widely opposed by members used to working three days of 12 hour shifts. And he raised concerns about safety on the network if inexperienced managers were being brought in to operate signals with only a few hours of training.

He said managers had been given just five hours of training to do jobs that normally required seven weeks of instruction.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said: ^Our members are rock solid in their determination to stop the bulldozing through of rosters at the new South Wales Control Centre which we believe are all about saving money and which unilaterally rip up existing agreements.^

Simon Pickering, of Passenger Focus, said: ^In industrial disputes, it is the passenger that suffers. We encourage all involved to get round the table and get a resolution as quickly as possible. If disruption does occur, it^s important the train companies do as much as they can in terms of advising passengers on the impact on their journeys and making alternative arrangements.^

HOW YOUR TRAIN SERVICES COULD BE AFFECTED

Buses: may replace late-night services on the Penarth to Rhymney line and the Vale of Glamorgan line.

Altered timetable: will operate on the Coryton, City Line and Penarth to Rhymney Lines on Monday and Tuesday.

No changes: on the South Wales main line, Pontypridd, Treherbert, Merthyr Tydfil, Aberdare, Maesteg, Ebbw Vale line and services further afield to Manchester, Gloucester, the West Midlands and North Wales.
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« Reply #31 on: December 15, 2009, 15:58:12 »

Services were suffering slightly disruption at lunchtime today at Cardiff Queen Street anyway. Interesting posts by the way. I'm a shiftworker in a control centre- 7 on (7hr mornings, 7hr afternoons, 10hour nights then 4/5 off.

I have had to relocate twice, and been employed in my current role for 2.5 years, but some people here have had to relocate in their careers 6 or 7 times!! All round this sceptred isle. (similar agegroup; mid 30s to early 50s)
Interestingly the company I worked for relocated to Newport about 3 years ago having been based in Cardiff and Bristol for years. None of us threatened strike action and we work in a safety prioirity industry

I'm all for up the workers, seriously, but sometimes I think the rail industry does take the pith.
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #32 on: December 25, 2009, 18:14:41 »

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

Quote
New year strikes for rail workers over rosters

Railway signalling workers who took six days of strike action in the run-up to Christmas are expected to walk out again in the new year.

Hundreds of Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers)) union members based in south Wales and the Marches are expected to go on strike from 4 to 9 January. It is in protest at the "imposition" of rosters at a control centre due to open in Cardiff in January.

Network Rail insisted passengers would not be inconvenienced.

The union is also banning overtime as part of the action and announced it would be balloting more signal workers in south Wales for strikes, escalating the dispute.

It comes after signalling workers from areas including Cardiff, Newport, Port Talbot, Vale of Glamorgan and the Rhymney valley walked out between 14 and 19 December.

General secretary Bob Crow said: "After six days of rock-solid strike action, which saw managers drafted in from England with a few hours training to run the signalling with serious consequences for services and safety, RMT members are even more determined now to stop the ripping up of agreements and the imposition of new rosters that would wreck their work/life balance. This dispute is all about money. It's about cutting corners and demanding that staff are at management's beck and call regardless of the impact on home lives. Senior Network Rail bosses have refused point blank to negotiate a settlement to this dispute."

But Network Rail said its plan to hold talks with to the union on 30 December had been broken off by the RMT. It said it had "tried and tested contingency plans", which were brought in during the previous strike. The company has extra staff who can step in to ensure a full service, it added.

Chris Rayner, route director for Network Rail, said: "Despite our best efforts to resolve this dispute, we are bitterly disappointed that RMT do not appear to want these discussions to happen with the latest strike action," he said. "We urge RMT to suspend this latest strike to come back to the table so that we can get this matter sorted as quickly as possible. Limiting passenger disruption remains our top priority and we are confident to be able to achieve that with our robust contingency plan. There will be full staff strength with competent and trained signallers stepping into the breach, so that passengers will remain unaffected by this futile strike action."

The action is in response to a consultation by Network Rail about changing roster hours to eight hours, which the company said will provide "more productive hours for employees while lowering the level of fatigue risk".
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William Huskisson MP (Member of Parliament) was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830.  Many more have died in the same way since then.  Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.

"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner."  Discuss.
John R
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« Reply #33 on: December 25, 2009, 22:43:53 »

Well on the basis of the effectiveness of the last strike, they will have to think of something else other than a mere repeat performance.
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #34 on: January 04, 2010, 18:44:15 »

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

Quote
Fresh walk-out for south Wales rail signalling workers

Rail managers say they are "bitterly disappointed" signalling workers are staging another six days of action.

Hundreds of Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers)) union members based in south Wales and the Marches are expected to join the strike from Monday. It is in protest at what they call the "imposition" of rosters at a control centre opening in Cardiff this month.

Network Rail said it was "confident" its plans would limit inconvenience to passengers to a minimum. A spokeswoman said: "Despite our best efforts to resolve this dispute, we are bitterly disappointed that RMT do not appear to want these discussions to happen with the latest strike action. We urge RMT to suspend this latest strike and come back to the table so that we can get this matter resolved as quickly as possible."

She added: "Limiting passenger disruption remains our top priority and we are confident our robust contingency plans will achieve that. There will be full staff strength with competent and trained signallers stepping into the breach, so that passengers will remain unaffected by this futile strike action."

The RMT said it was also banning overtime as part of the action and it is to ballot more signal workers in south Wales for strikes, escalating the dispute.

Already, signalling workers from areas including Cardiff, Newport, Port Talbot, Vale of Glamorgan and the Rhymney valley held a six-day stoppage in December.

General secretary Bob Crow said since the last action members were "even more determined" to stop the imposition of new rosters, which he said would wreck the work-life balance of staff. "This dispute is all about money," said Mr Crow, who is expected to address workers at a meeting in Cardiff later. "It's about cutting corners and demanding that staff are at management's beck and call regardless of the impact on home lives."
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William Huskisson MP (Member of Parliament) was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830.  Many more have died in the same way since then.  Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.

"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner."  Discuss.
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« Reply #35 on: January 05, 2010, 15:38:21 »

General secretary Bob Crow said since the last action members were "even more determined" to stop the imposition of new rosters, which he said would wreck the work-life balance of staff. "This dispute is all about money," said Mr Crow, who is expected to address workers at a meeting in Cardiff later. "It's about cutting corners and demanding that staff are at management's beck and call regardless of the impact on home lives."

Good old Bob. Managing to cram 'determined', 'dispute', 'cutting corners', 'demanding', 'management', 'beck and call' and 'impact' in only two sentences is pretty impressive.
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paul7575
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« Reply #36 on: January 05, 2010, 16:39:13 »

Highly unusual that he didn't include 'bullying'. 

Paul
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JayMac
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« Reply #37 on: January 05, 2010, 17:02:49 »

....or 're-nationalisation'
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #38 on: January 09, 2010, 18:22:28 »

From the Network Rail press release:

Quote
RMT (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) URGED TO ACCEPT OFFER ON TALKS ABOUT SOUTH WALES DISPUTE

Network Rail repeats its offer in an open letter to the union today urging them to talk and not walk away again from opportunities to resolve the dispute in south Wales.

Chris Rayner, route director for Network Rail said: ^We remain committed to seeking a resolution to this issue and urge the union to allow sufficient time for talks, rather than revert to strike action, threatening to hold passengers hostage and costing their members money.^ 

^Strike action is not the answer to resolve the dispute and they should not put passengers in the firing line.  Passengers want a safe, reliable and modern railway and so do we.  Our doors remain open for discussion and we urge the union not to walk away again.^ 

A meeting, called by Network Rail and scheduled for 30 December aimed at discussing the dispute, had to be cancelled when the RMT announced further strike action held this week.

Trains are operating as normal and passengers remain unaffected by the strike action this week.

The current strike action is in response to the company^s move to establish an 8-hour roster at its new signalling centre to improve productivity and lower the chances of fatigue risk. 

More than half of the signallers in the new south Wales signalling centre have already agreed to, or have previously worked an 8 hour roster.  Around 80% of the signallers across the country are also on the 8-hour roster system.

The new practice is also compliant to existing national agreement.

The contingency plans laid down by Network Rail have been reviewed by the Office of Rail Regulation.
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William Huskisson MP (Member of Parliament) was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830.  Many more have died in the same way since then.  Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.

"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner."  Discuss.
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« Reply #39 on: January 09, 2010, 18:41:01 »

Why is it NR» (Network Rail - home page) are saying things like "holding passengers to hostage", when they have such "robust plans" in the event of strike action?

My opinion is that strike action probably is not going to make much difference as NR are generally coping to date, but I am not sure what the answer is.
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