September 2022
REGIONAL NEWSLETTER
Issue 5
CONTACT US: Your North East Regional Council can be contacted at N69a2e@rmt.org.uk
North East Region CONTINUING TO DEFEND RAIL JOBS, CONDITIONS AND PAY
The North East Regional Council and Branches within the Region are responsible for supporting and facilitating representatives and members in achieving our collective desired outcome. The Region is aware that industrial action will have a financial impact on members and acknowledges that this will impact on some grades and members more than others, due to the different pay cycles and rosters. Industrial action is always a last resort, but we cannot sit back and see our industry destroyed: we must stand up and fight. The National Executive wisely took the decision not to also impose action short of a strike alongside the strike action. The region acknowledges that in a major dispute such as this there will always be differences of opinions on what the right course of action is and that the National Executive will ensure that all views are taken into consideration before calling strike dates. It is therefore imperative that members ensure that their views are relayed to their Company Council representatives who are required to feed these into National Executive. Additionally members should be attending their Branch Meetings; here, they can raise their concerns and these can be fed back to our North East National Executive member. An example of this is the resolution submitted by the York & District Branch in relation to taking joint industrial action with ASLEF, which members at York opposed.
USE YOUR VOICE IN OUR ONGOING DISPUTE In between taking strike action your Union continues to pursue negotiations to resolve this dispute, and some progress has been made in relation to Network Rail, but little with regards to the TOCs. The union is required by law to reballot its members by 24th November to keep its mandate live to be able to call industrial action; at that time members will be provided with a full update and the opportunity to vote to continue the dispute. We note that the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, stated in her election campaign that within thirty days of her taking office she would legislate to strengthen the Anti-Trade Union Legislation. Should the new Prime Minister be successful in strengthening the Anti-Trade Union Legislation, this may be your last opportunity to take the decisive action. Unity is Strength and this is the only way we will achieve the required outcome is by standing together and demanding better.
CUT FARES, NOT STAFF – THE STAFF OUR STATIONS CAMPAIGN CONTINUES RMT continues to fight against the imminent closure of ticket offices and the proposed de-staffing of stations across our region and the country. A national day of action took place on August 23rd, with rallies and protests held in our region at Berwick-uponTweed, Scarborough and York. We will not stand still and let our stations become nogo zones; where vulnerable passengers feel unable to travel because there are so few visible staff. This is all being done in the name of protecting profits – with TOCs still unable to give any guarantee that stations will remain fully staffed beyond the end of 2022. Search on ‘Megaphone’ for the petition ‘Cut Their Profits, Not Our Ticket Offices’ to get your voice heard, and attend your local branch to find out about future action.
RMT TAKES ON VTEC IN A FIGHT FOR JUSTICE Leeds Employment Tribunal upheld RMT's claim that pay awards to staff in 2017 by Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC) were an unlawful inducement to give up collective bargaining. It was decided that VTEC had breached trade union laws when they sent an email to staff offering them the chance to opt out of a pay deal (which RMT had already rejected). The tribunal has ordered payment of £3907 to each claimant. VTEC have 42 days in which to appeal against the ruling but RMT strongly believes that the company should comply with the findings and give our members justice. This is a perfect example of a reason why every worker needs to be part of a fighting trade union: without RMT, our members would stand no chance of this financial compensation. Affected members are asked to await further communication from the union's solicitors.
SHAPPS OUT: TREVELYAN IN Members will be delighted to see the departure from the Cabinet of failed Transport Secretary Grant Shapps - but we are not out of the woods yet! New Transport Secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, may be known to some members as the MP for Berwick-uponTweed. She is on record as being in favour of keeping ticket offices open, stating the essential nature of staffed travel centres.
ANTI TRADE UNION LEGISLATION Hitachi Rail members in our region have had their current industrial action suspended due to the company using anti trade union laws to challenge their ballot.
"It's so important to have access to ticket office staff, especially for more elderly or vulnerable passengers," the new Transport Secretary is quoted as saying in November 2021.
This is yet another example of the Tory government's continued attacks on lawful industrial action.
General Secretary Mick Lynch has already written to Ms Trevelyan, expressing his encouragement at her previous support of ticket offices, and hoping that she will be more interested in coming to the negotiating table than her predecessor.
Liz Truss may only have gained 47% of her party's vote to become Prime Minister, but a similar number would be considered illegal in a trade union ballot. One rule for them, one rule for us!
It remains to be seen whether Ms Trevelyan will renege on her previous support in the name of following her party line - new Prime Minister Liz Truss is strongly opposed to trade union activism in general and we must wait and see if her new cabinet will support her in this.
REGIONAL CONTACTS NERC CONTACTS Dave King - Executive Member North East d.king@rmt.org.uk Martin McCleary - Lead Recruiter Tel: 07711 570848 berwickrail@rmt.org.uk Donald Graham - Org Unit Tel: 07753 748074 d.graham@rmt.org.uk Jessica Robinson - Women's Officer Tel: 07784 224412 jpleather89@gmail.com
REGIONAL OFFICES Thomas Steels House 49a Thorne Road Doncaster DN1 2EX Tel: 01302 760694
We welcome contributions to this newsletter - if you would like to write an article, please contact any one of the officers above.
BRANCH EMAILS Bedlington: bedlington@rmt.org.uk Berwick Rail: berwickrail@rmt.org.uk Newcastle & Gateshead: newcastlegateshead@rmt.org.uk Newcastle Rail & Catering: newcastlerailcatering@rmt.org.uk North East Shipping: northeastshipping@rmt.org.uk Darlington: darlington1@rmt.org.uk Teesside: teesside@rmt.org.uk York & District: yorkdistrict@rmt.org.uk North York Moors: north.moorsRail@rmt.org.uk Hexham: hexhamrail@rmt.org.uk
North East Shipping Office Unit 17 Cookson House River Drive South Shields NE33 1TL Tel: 01914 561308
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