Essential reading for today’s transport worker · 2013-07-26 · Essential reading for today’s...

Essential reading for today’s transport worker

www.rmt.org.uk

ISSUE NUMBER 2, VOLUME 8

INSIDE THIS ISSUE...

FEBRUARY 2007

DEFEND STANDARDSON UK SHIPPINGPAGE 15

TEBAY - THREE YEARS ONPAGE 16

KEEP THE GUARDAT SWTPAGE 4

www.rmt.org.uk :: february 2007 :: RMTnews

3

This month an RMT delegation willtravel to Paris to take part in an

international demonstration againstEU diktats that demand theprivatisation of rail networks acrossthe bloc.

Rail workers across the EU do notwant to see their industry endure thedisastrous British experience offragmentation and privatisation andwe should know by now what so-called rail ‘liberalisationÕ re allymeans.

Even MEPs are turning against railprivatisation after over 200 of themwent absent without leave last monthrather than rubberstamp the EU’s so-called third rail package, leaving theplans in limbo.

EU demands for the tendering ofCaledonian MacBrayne’s lifeline ferryroutes have also been a colossalwaste of money after it emerged thatpublicly-owned CalMac was the onlybidder.

The hard reality is that theprivate-sector’s supposed ability toconjure up savings is an illusionachieved simply by slashing servicesand cutting jobs, pay and conditions,and the public ends up paying morefor less.

This process can be clearly seen asthe motivation of ISS in its plans tosack more than 200 cleaners onLondon Underground after Tubelinesslashed the value of their contract.The union has asked mayor KenLivingstone to intervene to stop thiscallous cull.

However, the mayor seems morepreoccupied with blaming RMT forhis plans for late-night running beingin disarray. Yet it was the mayor whohas insisted on a link between lastyear’s pay rise and late-nightrunning, not RMT.

There are also many issues still tobe resolved around late-nightrunning, including rosters, how staffare going to get home, how manyextra days holidays there would beand the need for increased levels ofpolicing.

On the third anniversary of thetragic events at Tebay, when fourRMT members were killed by a

runaway trailer, nothing much haschanged which would make a similartragedy less likely. In fact, sinceTebay, there have been ten otherreported runaway incidents withinengineering possessions.

Again and again RMT has askedNetwork Rail for an action plan todeal with deficiencies identified, butso far they have failed to deliver.

It is unacceptable that NR doesnot have direct control of road railvehicles for the simple reason that itdoes not own any. Currently, RRVsare still used on renewals by privatecontractors. The obvious thing to dowould be to bring renewals back in-house.

This union has been at theforefront of the campaign for tradeunion rights and next month sees thepublication of John McDonnell MP’sTrade Union Freedom Bill.

Therefore it is deeply troublingthat the European Commission hasseen fit to launch a green paperproposing an end to collectiveworkers’ rights as we know them.

RMT will be arguing strongly tooppose these proposals as well asdemanding that this governmentgives us back trade union rightstaken from us by successive Toryregimes.

I would urge members to getalong to a public rally in the Houseof Commons on March 1 at 7 pm topromote John’s excellent bill.

There will also be a demonstrationin London on February 24 againstplans to renew the Trident nuclearmissile weapons system. The TUC hasmade clear that the hugely expensivedevelopment of weapons of massdestruction will not stop wars.

Moreover, billions upon billions oftaxpayers’ money will be wasted.Those billions should be spent inmore constructive ways - such asfighting poverty and combating thepressing issue of climate change.

Best wishes

Page 4

SOUTH WEST TRAINS THREATENGUARDS’ JOBS

Page 5

MORE TRAIN LESS STRAIN

Page 6

NO TICKET OFFICE CUTS

Page 7UNION WINS INCREASED LEAVEPAYMENTS FOR NETWORK RAIL NIGHTWORKERS

Page 8 EU RAIL ‘LIBERALISATION’ PLANS HITSTHE BUFFERS

Page 9

PARLIAMENTARY COLUMN

Page 10RMT CLEANERS LOBBY TUBELINES OVERMASS REDUNDANCY THREAT

Page 12EU ATTACKS TRADE UNION RIGHTS

Page 14SHIPPING

Page 16TEBAY - THREE YEARS ON

Page 18SAYING NO TO TRIDENT

Page 20THE THREAT OF SUPER TRUCKS

Page 22NEVER ON OUR KNEES - REVIEW

Page 24INTERNATIONAL FOCUS/PRESIDENTSCOLUMN

Page 26AWARDS

Page 27REMOTE ACCESS PROJECT

Page 29

CROSSWORD/CLASSIFIED ADS

0CREDIT UNION

contents EDITORIAL

RMT News is compiled and originated by National Union of Rail,Maritime & Transport Workers, Unity House, 39 Chalton Street,London NW1 1JD. Tel: 020 7387 4771. Fax: 020 7529 8808. e-mail [email protected] The information contained in thispublication is believed to be correct but cannot be guaranteed. Allrights reserved. RMT News is designed by Bighand Creative andprinted by Leycol Printers. General editor: Bob Crow. Managingeditor: Brian Denny. No part of this document may be reproducedwithout prior written approval of RMT. No liability is accepted forany errors or omissions. Copyright RMT 2005

PRIVATISATIONIS NOT WORKING

RMTnews :: february 2007 :: www.rmt.org.uk

4

More than 550 RMT seniorconductors in dispute over

the imposition of a centralisedrostering system at CentralTrains are to be balloted forfurther industrial action.

The conductors struck solidlyfor three days over Christmasand New Year and their ballotfor strike action remains valid.

Despite some subsequentprogress at talks through Acas,the dispute remains unresolvedand the conductors are votingon action short of strike toenable members to refuse toundertake revenue duties.

The company has agreed notto introduce the disputedrostering system any furtherwithout agreement, but refused

to withdraw it from the ninedepots where it has already beenimposed.

They have also made it nextto impossible for the union totalk to members about theprogress of negotiations byobstructing RMT reps fromgoing about their business,including the bizarre decisionnot to pay those who attendedthe recent talks at Acas.

"Strangest of all they havemade an absurd attempt to holdthe union to ransom by sayingthey will drop disciplinarycharges arising out of thedispute against one of ourmembers if we drop thedispute," RMT general secretaryBob Crow said.

RMT renewed its call for theelimination of level

crossings with public roadsfollowing a tragic accident atDelny near Invergordon.

"It is tragic that there hasbeen another death and seriousinjuries in another collisionbetween a train and a roadvehicle at a level crossing," RMTgeneral secretary Bob Crow said.

"It is fortunate that the trainwas not derailed and thatserious injury to the train'spassengers and crew appears tohave been avoided.

"But the tragic fact is thatevery level-crossing collision isavoidable, and the time is longoverdue for a programme toeliminate level crossings fromBritain's railway network,” hesaid.

Every year there are scoresof level crossing incidents,including a number of collisionsbetween trains and roadvehicles, and the RailwaysInspectorate has long identifiedlevel crossings as the biggestsingle danger on today's railwaynetwork.

On Network Rail's ownfigures it would cost an averageof £1 million to replace eachlevel crossing with an underpassor road-bridge - that's abouthalf the cost of a mile ofmotorway.

A ten-year programme toreplace the 1,700 crossingswhere the railway interfaceswith public roads would costless than £2 billion - that'sabout £200 million a year.

In a clear breach of existing agreements,South West Trains wants to remove the

guards’ responsibility for opening traindoors during station stops by transferringthe task to drivers by the end of the year.

Presented as a measure to improveperformance and safety, it is, in fact,anything but. It is a creeping attempt toultimately introduce driver-only operation(DOO) onto the franchise and transformthe guard’s role into a morecommercially-oriented one, concentratingon revenue-collection and the like.

In addition, drivers will be burdenedwith an extra responsibility when theyshould be concentrating solely on theirtask at hand – namely, driving the train.

SWT reps met at RMT head office inLondon earlier this month for a fullbriefing on the issue and to discuss astrategy to defeat the plans.

“The company has stated that driverswill now be responsible for opening traindoors at stations and guards will nowonly close them,” said RMT general

secretary Bob Crow.“There can be no doubt that such an

arrangement will be a breach of currentagreements the union has made with thecompany and will, if implemented, furtherdiminish the operational role of the guard,putting members’ jobs and safety at risk,”he added.

RMT has made clear it will not acceptany dilution of the guards’ responsibilityor role on the train, as this will be afurther attack on jobs.

The union is initiating a campaign,with the co-operation of regional councils,branches and the wider membership, inorder to defend the role and responsibilityof guard members.

“These moves represents the thin endof the wedge and if unopposed willcertainly lead to the imposition of DOO.

“That’s why RMT advice to ourmembers at South West Trains must be:Keep your key – keep your job. Let thedriver drive and the guard guard. Say noto driver-only operation,” he said.

SOUTH WEST TRAINSTHREATEN GUARDS’ JOBS

LEVEL CROSSING CALLAFTER DELNY COLLISION

CENTRALTRAINS BALLOT

More Train Less Strain’s farestrike caught the publicimagination and struck a rawnerve with the Department ofTransport and FGW.

The illegality of the protestalso seemed to excite the media.

Over 2000 normallyquiescent commuters showedthemselves willing to riskprosecution in the name of adecent train service. But whatelse could we do?

We were and still are at ourwits end. We are ordinarypeople who just want to knowthat we can get to and fromwork or college more or less ontime.

Until December 10 there werefew cancellations, three quartersof trains arrived more or less ontime, and you could always getonto the train, though youmight have stand for yourjourney.

From December 11,

cancellations rocketed as FGWtried and failed to operate aslimmed down timetable.Punctuality became anirrelevance as train timetablestotally disintegrated.

The greatest concern was notwhether your train would arriveon time but whether you couldget on the next train or the oneafter that. There are manystories of scores of people lefton station platforms whilstseveral full trains passedthrough, and they are all true.

I have seen them and beenwith them. I doubt that TomHarris or Alison Forster risktaking a FGW train to work.

So have we achievedanything? We have raised thepublic profile with huge supportfrom RMT, MPs and the media.Both FGW and the governmentcontinue to deny responsibilityand blame each other but thereis some movement.

FGW has got hold of eight or12 coaches from its sistercompany Trans Pennine, and (ifwe are to believe governmentpromises) they assure us thatthey are here to stay. However,that still means we are anumber of caches short of thecomplement on December 11.

Punctuality remains a wordthat FGW still don’t understandand the level of cancellationsremains appalling. A newphenomena is that we nowfrequently see HST’s cancelled.

But at least we do have abetter chance of getting on thetrains as some have increasedby one or two coaches even ifthey remain full to bursting.However, the number of coachesremain unpredictable from one

day to the next and people arestill being left behind at OldfieldPark and Keynsham.

So what do we want? First,we want others to organise theirown protests from Penzance toPaddington. Second, we wantthe DfT to admit their share ofresponsibility and to review theterms of the franchise. FGWalways had a poor punctualityrecord and they should lose thefranchise, giving thegovernment the opportunity torewrite it. Thirdly, we must havethe re-nationalisation of ourrailways and this chaoticfranchising system. Whoeverdreamt it up must have beenreading too much Kafka.

www.moretrainlessstrain.co.uk


5

Tony Ambrose of More TrainLess Strain outlines whypassengers are revoltingagainst First Great Western

MORE TRAINLESS STRAIN


6

NO SOUTHEASTERN TICKETOFFICE CUTS

RMT has produced postcards tooppose plans by theSoutheastern franchise holdersto reduce ticket office openinghours at dozens of stations fromApril.

Former franchise operatorSouth Eastern Trains (SET) alsoproposed these cuts. But,following a huge public outcryand a determined campaign,they were withdrawn.

However, Southeastern wantcuts to ticket office hours atstations including Ashford,Crofton Park, Dover Priory,Hastings, Lower Sydenham, NewBeckenham, Rainham,Sandwich, Swanley and Wye.

These latest plans will lead toa reduction in service quality,discourage rail use and meanthat more passengers will be leftalone, particularly in theevening and at the weekend.

The use of ticket machines

are no substitute for trainedstaff that can advise on the fullrange of ticket and routeoptions available..

HOW CAN YOU CAN HELP

Ask your MP to sign Early DayMotion 751 against the cutstabled by Gwyn Prosser MP.

Send off the two postcardsavailable from head office toshow your opposition.

‘ONE’ RAILWAY CUT TICKETOFFICE JOBS

Ticket queues are growinglonger on ‘one’ Railway becausethe company has cut dozens ofticket-office jobs.

When 'one' was awarded thefranchise they promised to takeon an extra 40 front-line staff –but last summer they cut 32ticket-office jobs.

As a result, more windowsare closed more often, while

some ticket offices are closedaltogether for parts of the day.

The union has pointed outthat self-serve machines areunreliable, tickets bought onlineare often wrong - yet ‘one’Railway's approach has made itmore difficult to sort things outwith a real live member of staff.

“As the queues grow, there ismore frustration and moredelay. Hardly surprising that‘one’ Railway came rock-bottomin last year's national passengersatisfaction survey.

“For the rail staff trying hardto provide a service, it meansmore stress, more abuseand, worst of all, moreassaults,” said generalsecretary Bob Crow.

Thanks to RMT campaigning,a few ticket-office jobs arebeing restored, but there are stillfar too few to cope withgrowing passenger numbers.

The union advises any iratepassenger not to take theirfrustrations out on staff but towrite to ‘one’ Railway managingdirector Andrew Chivers atOliver's Yard, 55 City Road,London EC1Y 1HQ, or email himon [email protected]

You can also write to yourMP and urge him or her to takeup the issue - you can emaileasily by visiting

www.writetothem.com

NO TICKET OFFICE CUTSRail franchise holders at ‘one’ and Southeastern are bothattempting to reduce ticket office opening hours and cutjobs and RMT has launched campaigns to stop the cuts


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Network Rail has finally accepted liabilitythat it had incorrectly calculated annualholiday pay entitlement for night workers.

This will mean that Network Railemployees from signallers to maintenancestaff that engage in night work will now beable to claim holiday pay based on thenight rate rather than receiving day rate asis currently the case.

General secretary Bob Crow said that itwas a “massive victory” for night workers atNetwork Rail and called on the company todeal with the issue of arrears for staffaffected.

For some time the union had beenpursuing a Employment Tribunal case withNetwork Rail bought by night shift workersformerly employed by Balfour Beatty overthe refusal of the company to pay the rateof pay for nights when members are onannual leave.

“The union has always taken the view, inaccordance with the Working TimeRegulations and backed by legal advice, thatmembers who regularly work nights mustreceive the enhanced rate of pay when onannual leave,” Bob said.

The Working Time Regulations 13 and 16

provide that a worker is entitled to fourweeks’ leave per year and that payments forsuch periods of leave is to be made at therate of a week’s pay in respect of each weekof leave.

Reg 16 clarifies that a week’s pay is to becalculated in accordance with the provisionsof sections 221-224 of the EmploymentRights Act 1996.

Payment when attending training courseswas also part of the ET claim. This is notcovered by legislation but by the terms andconditions of employment.

RMT has requested an undertaking thatmanagement will pay members inaccordance with current agreements anddeal fairly with the issue of the amount ofthe payment and arrears owed staff as aresult.

The company is presently claiming that itonly has to pay the enhanced rate for 20days of holiday entitlement and will onlypay date rate for the remaining days.

“This sort of penny-pinching may bewithin the law but it is not in the spirit ofNetwork Rail’s admission that it has beenillegally underpaying staff for some time,”Bob Crow said.

Around 6,500 RMT members working inall grades across London Underground

are to vote on strike action over the failureto pay a four per cent rise that should havebeen signed and settled by April 1 last year.

The RMT executive is urging members tovote decisively for action after the unionspent ten months in fruitless attempts to getLondon Underground to enter meaningfulnegotiations. The ballot will be concludedby mid-February.

"We have spent months trying to getLondon Underground to negotiate sensiblywith us, but our members have still not

received a pay increase that was due onApril 1 last year," RMT general secretaryBob Crow said.

"We were asked to submit our pay claimin good time and we did so, but LUL did notenter talks at all until after last April'sanniversary date.

"They have since spent the best part often months stonewalling, insisting on amulti-year deal and attempting to link thepay talks with entirely unrelated issues,” hesaid.

LUL could not even give a pledge not toimpose new draconian disciplinary and

attendance policies over the course of anylong-term deal.

RMT has made it clear to LUL for sometime that failure to pay the four per centthat should have been implemented lastApril would result in a ballot for strikeaction.

"LUL can avoid industrial action bypaying the increase that is due to ourmembers, but they should understand thatRMT members are prepared to defend thegains they have made in recent years," BobCrow said.

UNION WINS INCREASED LEAVEPAYMENTS FOR NETWORK RAILNIGHT WORKERSNetwork Rail finally acceptsliability that it incorrectlycalculated annual holiday pay

TUBE STAFF BALLOTED OVER PAY

Over 200 Members of the EuropeanParliament failed to turn up last month torubber stamp the Third Railway Packagewhich would have enforced competitionwithin and between national EU railnetworks.

As a result, the proposals to ‘liberalise’domestic railways from 2017 did not gainthe required majority of 393 votes and willbe put on ice indefinitely.

The Jarzembowski report had demandedthe 'liberalisation' of rail passenger transportin the form of 'open access' for internationaltransport from 2010 and national railpassenger transport from 2017.

The Third Railway Package was proposedby the European Commission in March 2004and focused on international services andproblems related to cross-border operation(so-called ‘interoperability’).

The rules would also extend to suburbanand regional railways.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow wrote toBritish MEPs urging them to reject proposalsfor the privatisation of rail passengerservices.

"Rail workers and the travelling publichave had considerable experience of thedevastating failures of rail privatisation andthese proposals will make matters evenworse in the UK," he wrote.

Report author and German MEP GeorgJarzembowski complained that MEPs fromFrance and the Netherlands did not vote infavour of the liberalisation deadline,although "the proposal was based on acompromise between the conservatives andthe socialists".

He also ranted about the fact that"France and the Netherlands protect their

state-owned operators and favour marketshares over citizens' interests".

French and Dutch citizens also votedagainst the EU Constitution which Brusselscurrently trying to impose anyway.

PRIVATISATION

Bob Crow pointed out that ‘open access’competition would only introduce furtherfragmentation, fewer services or even morepublic money to keep the current level ofrail services.

"These proposals entrench the disastrousseparation of rail infrastructure from railoperations and perpetuate the system whereprivate train operators will seek to maximiseprofits from direct public subsidy or theindirect subsidies that states provide for railinfrastructure," he said.

He also warned that rail passenger'liberalisation' would force smaller andpoorer member states simply to sell offnational assets to virtual monopolies basedin the larger states.

"Before Brussels decides how memberstates should run their railways why not askwhat rail workers and the travelling publicthink of these plans which only benefitcorporate interests?" Bob Crow said.


8

DESERTED: Rail strikes in Belgium, France, Greece, Spain, Luxembourg and Portugal were called late last year in protest against a proposal by the European Commission to open25 per cent of the rail freight market to ‘competition’ over the next 10 years.

EU RAIL ‘LIBERALISATION’PLANS HITS THE BUFFERSEuropean Union plans to develop a‘market’ in the rail sector across bloc tooka blow last month after the so-called‘third rail package’ failed to get throughthe European parliament

9

www.rmt.org.uk :: june 2006 :: RMTnews

RMT’s parliamentary group recentlymet Rail Minister Tom Harris whoagreed that unions should be fullyconsulted in the development ofthe forthcoming revised railstrategy and also agreed to be akeynote speaker at an RMTparliamentary rail seminar in thespring.

The group, chaired by JohnMcDonnell MP, has been active inopposing rail cuts on GreatWestern Services, intervening inthe recent adjournment debate andlaying down early day motion 331.The RMT group is also organising adelegation of MPs from the regionto meet both the minister and FirstGreat Western.

On London Underground, thegovernment has agreed to settingup a working party made up of thegovernment/RMT/FBU/TUC/London Underground and the FireBrigade.

It will identify the differencesbetween the regulations introducedafter the Kings Cross Fire and thegovernment’s Fire Safety Order.

ISS plans to sack over 200 LondonUnderground cleaners on theJubilee, Northern and PiccadillyLines has been opposed by thegroup. PPP consortium Tubelinesis cutting the cleaning contract,resulting in ISS ordering theredundancies by the end of April.Discussions have been held withLondon mayor Ken Livingstonewho is opposed to the cuts.

Discussions have also taken placewith the mayor who insists that theprivatisation of the East Londonline was forced upon him by thegovernment. Nevertheless, thecampaign is continuing with EDM286 and communications with railminister Tom Harris.

On the maritime front, it appearsthat the union’s campaign againstthe privatisation of Scottish ferryservices may be coming to asuccessful conclusion as it

emerged that the publicly-ownedCaledonian MacBrayne is now theonly bidder.

Discussions are still taking placewith the government on thetonnage tax. The Chamber ofShipping have moved their groundslightly and are now proposing thatshipping companies should berequired to have a mandatorytraining link for either ratings orcadets. The union is alsoconsidering a joint approach withshipping employers to thegovernment.

The promised governmentconsultation on the exemption ofseafarers from Race Relations Actand the minimum wage has yet tobegin. The Shipping Minister hasnow agreed to be the keynotespeaker at the RMT ParliamentaryMaritime Seminar on March 13(see page 14).

Following a long campaign andrecent adjournment debate ontraining for Thames Boatmasters,the union narrowly failed to preventthe introduction of the dilutedtraining arrangements. At therecent delegated legislativecommittee representation fromRMT group members andsupporters saw the governmentonly narrowly win the vote by ninevotes to eight.

The government has published itsconsultation for “PuttingPassengers First”, which seeks toallow local authorities to regulatebuses. RMT is broadly supportiveof the proposals, however, wishesto see a far high priority given tobus workers conditions and weshall shortly commence a nationalsurvey of our members.

The TUC has now published thefinal version of the Bill on theirwebsite and the second reading ofJohn McDonnell’s Trade UnionFreedoms and Rights Bill will takeplace on March 2.

SHAPINGTRANSPORT POLICY

Parliamentary column

New research shows that EU rail‘liberalisation’ would be “bad

for commuters” and hinder thedevelopment of suburban railwaysthat are “essential to tacklecongestion and environmentalproblems”.

With climate change andenvironmental issues topping theagenda, there are increasing callsfor more energy-efficient means oftransport, including rail.

However, with the adoption oftwo packages of rail legislation thataims to open up rail transport tocompetition, the focus of the EUover the past 20 years has been tohand rail over to the private sector.

This process is most advanced inthe UK, after the privatisation ofBritish Rail in 1996 carried out onthe basis of EU rail directive 91/440introduced on July 29, 1991.

New research warned that thethird legislative package couldseverely hinder the development ofshort-distance operations,according to rail and publictransport operators.

The new study, conducted by theInternational Association for PublicTransport (UITP), reveals that theapplication of ill-adapted, overlybureaucratic rules could hinder thedevelopment of a transport sectorcrucial to helping European citiesdeal with congestion and pollutionproblems.

According to UITP figures, theuse of regional and commutertrains helps the EU avoid each year24 million km of traffic jams, 30million tonnes of CO2, and 1,312human deaths and 36,800 injuries.

UITP Regional RailwayCommittee chair Michel Quidortsaid: "The trend to encompass allrailways in the same policies andto request the same inter-operability demands and technicalspecifications is hindering thedevelopment of regional rail".

On certification of train crew,the UITP also believes that thesingle driver licence proposed bythe Commission is "in contradictionwith the need to have specificknowledge of the line and therolling stock".

EU RAIL PLANS“BAD FORCOMMUTERS”

RMTnews :: january 2007 :: www.rmt.org.uk

RMT has been campaigning to halt plans by ISSto sack more than 200 cleaners after Tubelinesslashed the value of their contract. Tubelinesmade £160 million in profits over the last threeyears and ISS stands to gain £38 million forsacking some of the lowest paid people of theTube network. The union has asked mayor KenLivingstone to intervene.

RMT CLEANERS LOOVER MASS REDUN

10

www.rmt.org.uk :: january 2007 :: RMTnews

Cleaners endure some of theworst conditions and lowest

pay on the national railnetwork, London Undergroundand other urban rail systems.

Paid on or around thenational minimum wage of just£5.35 an hour, they lack propersick pay or pension schemesafforded to their colleagues andwork unsocial hours, such asnight shifts and bank holidays,without compensation.

RMT demands a living wagefor rail cleaners of at least £7.05per hour rising ultimately to £10

per hour (at today's rates) to liftcleaners out of poverty.

Before rail and LondonUnderground privatisation,cleaning was done in-house andcleaners had the opportunity forcareer development within theorganisation.

Today services are contractedout to the likes of ISS, GBM andBlue Diamond. RMT wants thesituation reversed and servicesbrought back in-house. Theunion launched its Rail Cleaners'Charter to campaign towards theobjectives opposite:

A FAIR DEAL FORRAIL CLEANERS

Tube cleaners facing the threatof redundancy thanks to cuts

ordered by fat-cat LondonUnderground consortiumTubelines lobbied the privateer’sCanary Wharf headquartersrecently.

RMT cleaners employed byISS on Tubelines' contract arefighting to save more than 200jobs under threat thanks toTubelines' decision to pocket£3.5 million a year by cuttingthe value of the contract by 27per cent.

The union is demanding thatISS withholds the 90-dayredundancy notices expectedtomorrow, and instead negotiateswith the union and Tubelines toavoid job losses.

"There are serious safety andsecurity issues involved incutting Tube cleaning staff, butall these bosses care about issqueezing more profits out ofpeople who already do thedirtiest jobs for the lowest pay,"RMT general secretary Bob Crowsaid.

He said that ISS andTubelines both know that there isno way they can maintain levelsof cleanliness if they sack morethan a quarter of the cleaningworkforce, but they have made itclear that they couldn't care lessabout cleaning standards or thewelfare of their workers.

Tubelines also know thateven if they are held to accountthe most they can be fined is£100,000 a year - a small priceto pay for pocketing the £3.5million a year they stand to gainby sacking 204 cleaners.

"Obviously the £160 millionthey made in the last three yearsisn't enough.

"The mayor has said heagrees that there is nojustification for theseredundancies, and it is goodnews that dozens of MPs havesigned a commons motioncondemning them.

"But what we really need tosee now is some action that willstop these cuts happening," Bobsaid.

OBBY TUBELINESNDANCY THREAT

Early day Motion 533Tabled by John McDonnell and signed to date by35 others

LONDON UNDERGROUND CLEANINGSERVICESThat this House notes that under the terms of the LondonUnderground Public Private Partnership (PPP) Tube Lines, aconsortium of Amey and Bechtel and its multinationalcleaning contractor, ISS, are responsible for cleaning trainsand stations on the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines andthat since the introduction of the PPP Tube Lines hasreported pre-tax profits of £150 million; is concerned thatTube Lines has ordered a substantial cut in the value of itsstation and train cleaning contract; further notes that this cutwill mean the loss of 100 station cleaning jobs amounting toa 50 per cent. reduction in cleaning staff working on stationsand bring additional pressure to bear on a poorly paid andvulnerable group of workers; and therefore supports the RMTcampaign to reverse these cuts and urges Tube Lines and ISSto reconsider their plans.

11

• A living wage, as a minimumat entry, rising to at least £10per hour at today's prices

• A pay increase each yearand every year

• A proper career path andencouragement to apply forother jobs in the railwayindustry

• A decent pension • Free travel on the railways • Additional payments for

unsociable hours and bankholidays

• A minimum of 20 days basicannual leave plus eight bankholidays - aiming for therailway

• Industry's average of 32days per year

• A fair sick pay scheme • A 35-hour week without loss

of pay • Clean and properly equipped

mess rooms, changingrooms, showers and decentshelter

• Regular provision of uniformsand safety wear

• Full employment rights - no'third party' sackings

• Direct employment, an endto contracting-out ofcleaning

• Freedom from discrimination


12

EU ATTACKS TRADEUNION RIGHTS

The EuropeanCommission has

launched a GreenPaper which

attacks trade unionrights across theEuropean Union

The European CommissionGreen Paper, “Modernisinglabour law to meet thechallenges of the 21st century”,is part of a consultation endingin March which promotessomething called ‘flexicurity’.

This concept makes the falsepromise that if workers embrace“flexibility” then job “security”will follow.

The Green Paper goes on toargue for an end to protectionfor workers in a number of waysincluding the abolition of“overtly protective terms andconditions” in contracts whichsupposedly “deter employersfrom hiring during economicupturns”.

In plain language, it wouldmean the end to collectiveworkers’ rights as we knowthem.

The paper also claims that“stringent employmentprotection tends to reduce thedynamism of the labour market”– i.e. preventing bosses hiring

Join the

Public Rally forthe Trade UnionFreedom BillThursday March 1 2007, 7pm, Committee Room 10,House of Commons, (Nearest Tube Westminster)CONFIRMED SPEAKERSJohn Hendy QC (chair) John McDonnell MPBob Crow, RMT GeneralSecretary Katy Clark MP


13

cheap labour. It suggests that contractor

obligations to monitoremployment legislation amongsub-contractors “may serve torestrain subcontracting byforeign firms and present anobstacle to the free provision ofservices in the internal market”– that means goodbye tominimum standards.

President of the left group inthe European parliament FrancisWurtz has warned that theCommission believes individualworkers should have individualcontracts and it opposes alllabour law which recognisescollective trade union rights.

Such a course would allowthe development of the singlemarket unhindered bytraditional forms of union rightssuch as collective bargaining.

RMT general secretary BobCrow has warned that theproposals should concern everyworker in the EU as it wouldgive employers the power todrive down wages and introduce‘social dumping’ on a hugescale.

“We have already seen thisapproach adopted during theIrish Ferries dispute whenunion-organised Irish seafarerswere replaced by exploited EastEuropean workers on rock-bottom rates of pay andindividual contracts,” he said.

These concerns were alsooutlined by Amicus generalsecretary Derek Simpson whosaid “The Green Paper hidesbehind the language of equalityto propose measures to forceexploitation and insecurity onto every worker in Europe”.

THE VIKING CASE

The Green Paper was launchedfollowing the postponement ofany decision on the Viking LineFerries case currently before theEuropean Court of Justice (ECJ)previously highlighted in RMTNews.

The Viking Line caseconcerns industrial action takenby the Finnish Seamen’s Union(FSU) against the companywhich tried to replace Finnishseafarers with lower-paidEstonian labour.

The employer was able toinitiate proceedings before aBritish High Court due to thefact that International TransportWorkers Federation (ITF) officesare based in London.

The employer’s claim wasbased on EU law whichpresumes that the industrialaction had violated theemployer’s ‘freedom’ to provideservices.

This approach directly echoesthe Victorian attitude that tradeunion action is ‘in restraint oftrade’ and, therefore, illegal.

This exploiters charter wasbroken by Taff Vale Railwaystrikers of 1900 in a strugglethat led to the 1906 TradeDisputes Act, which for the firsttime legalised the right to strike.

In their defence, the Finnishseafarers invoked the FinnishConstitution which protects thefundamental right to strike.

In June 2005 The High Courtupheld the employer’s complaintthat EU law overrode anynational law, even the nationalconstitution of a member state.The case was then taken to theEU court where it has beensitting ever since.

This case highlights how EUtreaty provisions on ‘freemovement’ are being used as abattering ram against tradeunion rights to take collectiveindustrial action even if it islawful under national law.

In a submission to the court.the UK government even arguedthat the ‘freedom to provideservices’ should override theright to strike.

The European Commissionhas also made clear it supportssuch union-busting activitiesand believes trade unions actioncontravening EU rules on ‘freemovement’ should not betolerated.

EU internal marketcommissioner Charles McCreevysaid that the proposed

controversial Services Directivealso “fully recognises the rightto provide services on a cross-border basis and sets out clearlythe kind of requirements onincoming service providers thathave to be abolished in linewith ECJ case law”.

However, the right tofreedom of association and tonegotiate collective trade unionagreements is recognised as afundamental right ininternational law.

As Swedish TUC vice-president Wanja Lundby-Wedinput it recently: "What, untilnow, have been regarded asfundamental rights of workersin all democratic states wouldbe undermined in the name offree movement".

If this anti-trade unionapproach in the Green Paperand the Services Directive isadopted it would clearly makethe need for a ruling on theViking case redundant.

Moreover, effective tradeunionism would be deemedillegal unless, of course, workersacross the EU resist in thetraditional manner.

*You can read the contents of a GreenPaper and respond athttp://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/labour_law/green_paper_en.htm


14

The union’s parliamentary groupwill be holding a specialMaritime Seminar on TuesdayMarch 13 2007, 2pm to 4.30pmin Committee Room 12, and allinterested RMT members areinvited to attend and giveevidence.

The aim of the seminar is toraise awareness of the lack ofsocial protection for seafarers;in particular we are seeking tohighlight the low pay andconditions of many foreignnational seafarers which ofcourse continues to reduceemployment for UK seafaringratings.

Shipping minister StephenLadyman MP has agreed toattend the seminar and theunion aims to engage with himin a positive dialogue on theproblems experienced byseafarers with the aim ofinfluencing the outcome of theforthcoming consultation on theRace Relations Act.

The fact that the nationalminimum wage only covers UKinternal waters is also ofimportance in this area.

In order to help convince theMinister and his officials of theoverall merits of RMT’s case theunion will be invitingrepresentatives from across theindustry and supported byrepresentatives from elsewherein the labour movement

together with representatives ofthe RMT Parliamentary group.

It is important that membersattend to support the union andin particular provide evidence ofpoor practices in UK shipping.

The union has alreadyrequested that members orbranches to send in details ofany examples that they canhighlight at the seminar onissues such as low pay on UKflagged ships and poor practiceson any ships trading in UKterritorial waters.

“I look forward to aproductive seminar at which wewill again be seeking todemonstrate why action must betaken to tackle thediscrimination and low pay thathas become endemic within theUK shipping industry,” BobCrow said.

The seminar will be chairedby John McDonnell MP and keynote speakers confirmed at timeof writing include Minister ofState, Stephen Ladyman MP,TUC Deputy General SecretaryFrances O ‘Grady, RMT GeneralSecretary Bob Crow andChamber of Shipping DirectorGeneral Mark Brownrigg.

For Further information and toregister for the seminar please callRMT on 020 7387 4771, [email protected], [email protected]

A new report from CardiffUniversity’s Centre forOccupational and HealthPsychology has revealed fatiguein the maritime industry isendangering crews, vessels andthe environment.

The report – Adequate Manningand Seafarers’ Fatigue: theInternational Perspective –commissioned by theInternational Transport WorkersFederation (ITF) reveals how farbehind the industry is in tacklingthe problem.

The report found overwhelmingevidence of the existence ofmaritime fatigue yet the industryhas been reluctant to investresources into monitoring orpreventing it.

It notes that in civil aviation, forexample, flight time is regulatedby the International CivilAviation Organisation (ICAO)Agreement, with a limit ofbetween 70 and 100 hours offlight time allowed over a periodof a month (times varyaccording to different countries’rules), compared with the 98working hours a week permittedby maritime regulation.

In spite of the long periodsspent away from home and theclear risks to the long term

health of seafarers and theevident association betweenfatigue and accidents at sea,little progress has been made toregulate and enforce hours ofwork in the industry.

The report also highlights theworrying phenomenon of falserecord keeping, where seafarersare bowing to pressures thatundermine onboard safety andhealth.

ITF’s Seafarers’ SectionAssistant Secretary JohnBainbridge said that seafarersare routinely workingexcessively long hours,endangering themselves and themarine environment.

"It’s time to stop puttingseafarers at risk and to learnfrom the examples of bestpractice in other industries,” hesaid.

The report encourages thedevelopment of an onboardsafety culture underpinned byrealistic levels of staffing, and amore robust approach toregulation.

The report and a brief summarycan be found on the ITF website www.itfglobal.org/press-area/index.cfm/pressdetail/1133

RMT TO HOLDPARLIAMENTARY MARITIMESEMINAR Convening in the House ofCommons on March 13 at2pm, a meeting will highlightissues including low pay andpoor practices on shipstrading in UK waters

REPORT EXPOSESOVERWORK AT SEA

SHIPPING

SEMINAR: John McDonnell will chair the meeting’s


15

RMT has called for urgentaction to end the erosion of

standards on UK-flagged ships,following the grounding of theNapoli off the ‘Jurassic coast’ ofDevon.

The incident underlines thegrowing problem of sub-standard vessels on the UKregister and marks another blowto the reputation of the UK flag.

RMT has called for an urgentinvestigation and action totackle operators whose safetyculture and employmentstandards are lacking.

The same vessel wasinvolved in another accident inthe Strait of Malacca in 2001and there must be questionmarks over the operation of thevessel and whether or not it wasseaworthy.

The stricken container ship’sowner Zodiac Maritime is wellknown to the InternationalTransport Workers' Federation,(ITF) as a company which doesits best to evade trade-unionattention and decent safety andemployment standards.

Despite registering its vesselsunder the UK flag, the Napoli isamong Zodiac ships declared tobe 'flag-of-convenience' vesselsby the ITF.

RMT general secretary BobCrow said that UK registrationonly provided a cloak ofrespectability and enablescompanies like Zodiac to

operate without effectiveregulation of employmentstandards for non-domiciledseafarers

"Safe working also demandsa common on-board language,and there must be seriousquestions over the safety of avessel crewed by low-paidseafarers of five differentnationalities.

"An expanding UK register iswelcome, but the governmentshould ensure that all thevessels on it are operated tohigh standards, and that theyalso play their part ingenerating future UK maritimeskills,” Bob said.

However, the number of UKseafarers continues to declinewith official figures showingthat numbers have declinedfrom 30,000 in 1980 to 9,300.In addition there have sincebeen a further 1,200 dismissalsfrom P&O Ferries with numberscontinuing to decline.

"That must mean an end toUK shipowners' exemption fromthe 1976 Race Relations Act,which allows them todiscriminate against non-UKnationals and pay exploitativewage rates,” he said.

The union has also arguedthat shipowners who takeadvantage of the £100 million-plus tonnage-tax shouldcontribute in return tomaintaining UK maritime skills.

Early Day Motion 807 on the Napoli

That this House is deeply concerned at the recent grounding of theUK flagged ship the Napoli on the south west coast; regrets theenvironmental damage that is being caused through the leakage of oiland other materials; notes that the vessel also grounded in 2001 andthe fact that the company have been blacklisted by the UK maritimetrade unions; notes that the vessel was flagged in the UK and hadeight different nationalities on board; notes the continued concernsover sub-standard shipping that continues to spoil the image of theUK Flag; calls on the UK Government to urgently consult on whatmeasures can be taken to improve safety and working conditions onUK flagged vessels.

RMT CALLS FOR AN END TO EROSION OFSTANDARDS ON UK-FLAGGED SHIPS

WRECKED: Onlookers at the stricken cargo ship MSC Napoli at Branscombe beach inDevon

RMT ship inspector Bill Andersonhas won back pay for the

Ukrainian crew of MV Archon(opposite) recently.Port State Control Belfast haddetained the Bahamas-flagged vessel,a tanker over 30 years old, and theUkraine union contacted Bill, an ITFinspector for assistance.

Bill managed to obtain a backpayment of outstanding wages ofover $50,000 from the Greek ownersfor the Ukraine/Georgian crew.

Bill said that the ship was in asorry state, and when she is releasedby PSC she will be sailing to India onher final voyage to be scrapped.This will take some time as the vesselcan only steam at seven knots (10miles per hour).The ABs earnt $600 per month yetthe ITF minimum is $1550 per month,revealing that the maritime industrycontinues to have unscrupulouscompanies exploiting seafarers andpaying low wages.

RMT INSPECTOR WINS BACK PAY FOR ARCHON CREW


16

TEBAY–three years on

On the third anniversary of thetragic deaths of four RMTmembers at Tebay, RMT Newsasks whether anything haschanged to stop the re-occurrence of deadlyrunaway vehicles


17

February 15, 2007 marks the thirdanniversary since the tragic occurrence atTebay when four track workers were struckand killed by a trailer loaded with sectionsof rail that had run away from a possessionhigher up the West Coast Main Line.But has anything much changed in the timesince then which would make a similartragedy less likely?

It is now a matter of record that the sub-contractor who supplied the trailer hadpreviously doctored it to give theappearance that the brake was working, andthe operator who worked for him assisted inthis criminal deception.

At their subsequent trial early last year,both men were found guilty on four countsof manslaughter and other health and safetyoffences.The sub-contractor was jailed for nine yearsand his employee two years.

In order to correct some of the identifieddeficiencies that lead to this situation,Network Rail have since made the audit andapproval process for suppliers morestringent.

They have also tightened up the checkingprocedures on the fitness of road/railvehicles and trailers when they arrive atsite, and have introduced a formalcompetency assessment scheme for allmachine controllers.

BUSINESS AS USUAL

So given these developments, we come backto the basic question as to whether therecould be another Tebay tomorrow, and thefrustrating answer is yes.

The industry still has a high dependencyon tens of thousands of contractors andsub-contractors, so regardless of whatadditional checks may be in place, thepossibility of deliberate safety violations forfinancial gain is still with us.

Network Rail have the ability to bringtheir renewals work back in-house to reducesuch a possibility, but keep refusing to doso.

In addition, since Tebay there have beenten other reported runaway incidents withinengineering possessions, all with differingcauses, but with very little evidence of any

decisive or focussed action on the part ofNetwork Rail to do anything about it,despite the fact that every one of themcould have resulted in a multi-fatality. Thelast of these incidents was only a fewmonths ago, and was almost a mirror imageof a similar incident some two yearsprevious.

In both cases the vehicle becameunbraked on all axles simultaneously duringthe on/off tracking process, and once thevehicle began to run away the externalemergency stop button was pressed whichthen prevented the operator from raising orlowering the vehicle to recover braking.Fortunately the line ahead was cleared andthe vehicle eventually brought to a stand.

RMT was told at the time of the firstincident that actions were being taken withrespect to the design and operation of thevehicle, and the training of the operator.However, it is now obvious that nothingmuch actually took place. There was a laterindication that a competency assessmentscheme would be developed for machineoperators as well as machine controllers, butwhen the time came nothing happened.

While improved design standards forroad/rail vehicles and associated trailershave been recently approved by Network

Rail, for the existing fleet it only requirescompliance when the vehicle or trailer hasto be recertified which could be seven yearsaway. This gap was pointed out by theUnion in early 2005, and as a resultNetwork Rail convened a special riskworkshop to identify what more may needto be done. However, nothing then seemedto come from the findings of that workshop.

Consequently, RMT again raised the issueand were assured that the output from theworkshop was being validated against thenew standard, and any remaining risksconsidered to warrant further actions wouldbe the subject of discussions with the plantsupplier community and allocated to theorganisation best placed to manage anycontrol measures required.

Once again everything then went quiet,and all efforts to obtain details on progresswere ignored until October of last year whenthe latest runaway incident took place.

Following a somewhat heated discussionat a subsequent Joint Safety Councilmeeting, Network Rail has now said theywill begin to catalogue the variousequipment types currently in operation andthe engineering controls each will need toavoid runaways.

In other words, despite all their promises,Network Rail has sat and done nothingabout the obvious deficiencies for well overa year. Furthermore, it has been suggestedthey have only now agreed to do somethingbecause at long last HMRI have threatenedthem with enforcement action.

However, it should be noted that whatthe company has undertaken to do stopsshort of actually implementing any controlmeasures.

Again and again RMT has askedmanagement for a timed action plan to dealwith the various deficiencies identified as aresult of all the reported runaway incidentsover the past few years, but so far they havefailed to deliver.

So until we can be sure that thesedeficiencies have been dealt with and therisks controlled, the RMT will continue topressurise Network Rail to do much morebefore there is a repeat of the terrible eventsat Tebay three years ago.

Darren Burgess Gary Tindall Colin Buckley Chris Waters


18

Saying Noto Trident

RMT News looks at why Britaindoes not need a new generation ofthe Trident nuclear weaponssystem and how we can diversifyand expand our manufacturingand skills base instead

TUC Congress last yearoverwhelmingly backed an RMTmotion arguing that the tens ofbillions of public pounds thegovernment intends to spend onnew weapons of massdestruction should be spent onpublic services.

As the government publishedits White Paper on Tridentreplacement, RMT called for thecash earmarked for it to beploughed instead into helpingBritain meet its climatechallenge.

"We need to spend money onsaving the planet, not onweapons that can help destroyit," RMT general secretary BobCrow told Congress to applause.

The union has argued thatthe £25 billion that thegovernment still wants to spendon replacing Trident - and itcould be three times that - couldgo a long way to helping Britainreduce carbon emissions, buildsome of the transportinfrastructure we desperatelyneed and to help bolster ourpublic services.

NO to TRIDENT

DEMONSTRATION

FEBRUARY 24 ’07

Assemble 12 noon

Speakers’ Corner

Rally in Trafalgar Square,

London

More information from

http://www.cnduk.org/


19

ARMS CONVERSION

Having now launched its WhitePaper and announced its viewon the future of the UK’snuclear weapons, thegovernment is now attemptingto whip a motion throughParliament with little time fordebate.

RMT, which is affiliated tothe Campaign for NuclearDisarmament, has argued for thefullest public debate and, whilstwelcoming a Commons debateand vote on the matter, believesthe decision should include areal consultation, whichconsiders contributions from allsectors of society.

There are real andunderstandable concerns of theworkforces at locations such asBarrow, Devonport, Faslane andDerby over their futures ifTrident is not renewed.

Therefore, research isrequired in order to campaignfor a world of peace and nucleardisarmament, allowing billionsof pounds in the UK to be spenton pensions, health, educationand other vital sectors whilstalso engaging with emergingindustries where scientists,engineers and technicians couldbe re-employed using thespecialist skills they alreadyhave.

A recent report by theDefence Select Committee raisesserious questions about thefuture of employment in UKsubmarine production but makesclear that the employment issueshould not be the decidingfactor in any decision to replacethe current Vanguardsubmarines - the launchplatform for the Trident nuclearweapons system.

Indeed, the report stated:“The fact that this inquiry hasfocused on the submarinemanufacturing and skills baseshould not be taken as anendorsement of the existingsubmarine-based nucleardeterrent, or as an indication ofour collective support for, oropposition to, the renewal ofthat deterrent, submarine-basedor otherwise.Nor should it be taken to meanthat we think industrial andemployment factors should bedecisive in the debate on the

future of the deterrent ... webelieve that employment factorsshould not be decisive in thedebate on the future of thedeterrent”.

If this is the case then anydecision on a replacement forTrident, having both nationaland international implications,should be made on the basis ofnational security interests.

Concerns about the gapbetween the commissioning ofthe Vanguard and Astutesubmarine programmes having aserious impact on the UK’ssubmarine industry areunderstandable but not anargument for developing a newweapons of mass destructioncapability.

The significant trend of lossof jobs dependent on militaryexpenditure over the last twodecades has been a result of theend of the Cold War and cuts inmilitary spending.This is a long term trend whichwill not be resolved by adecision either for or againstTrident replacement and raisesthe question of how to make useof the skills of those leavingmilitary-dependent employment.

Employment reliant on theMinistry of Defence has beenfalling for the past two decadeswhilst new science andengineering employmentopportunities are appearingelsewhere.

CND welcomes this statementand similarly calls on theMinistry of Defence to publishits analysis on the possibility oflong-term science andengineering employment thatwould continue to be necessaryfollowing a possible decisionnot to order a replacement forthe Vanguard submarines.

CND believes if Trident wasnot replaced and some of theTrident facilities were closed

down, then dealing with thewaste and the decommissioningprocess from these facilities,other nuclear-poweredsubmarines and all of our oldnuclear power stations wouldprovide crucial alternative andregional employment for manyyears to come.

An example of this is at theDounreay nuclear plant where,according to the UK Atomic

Energy Authority (UKAEA),responsible for ‘cleaning up’ thissite, the decline in employmentat the end of the Dounreayresearch programme has beenreversed, with 1,200 people nowemployed in engineering,radiological protection,planning, environmental andwaste management.

OTHER EMPLOYMENT AREAS

There are many areas whichwould benefit from increasedinvestment and employment ofskilled science, engineering andtechnical staff.

Many believe that renewablesources can realistically andeffectively provide sustainableand low-carbon energy, andmajor job opportunities alsoexist in these sectors should thegovernment effectivelyencourage investment.

According to the BritishWind Energy Association, over4,000 jobs are sustained bycompanies working in the windsector, and this is projected toincrease as the industry grows.The Department of Trade andIndustry has estimated thatRound Two of offshore winddevelopments alone could bringa further 20,000 jobs for Britain.

For instance, the recentannouncement of planningpermission for the London ArrayWind Farm in the North Sea islikely to create 800 newconstruction jobs.

As Bob Crow told TUCCongress last September, whilethere is starvation, poverty,homelessness, illiteracy and agrave environmental threathanging over our planet itwould be nothing short ofobscene to go ahead withreplacing Trident, whether it'swith 200 warheads, 100 or justone.

"The brave MPs who havecome out against Trident are tobe congratulated, but there arefar too many, across the parties,that are totally out of step withwhat people in the real worldwant,” Bob said.

THE RMT MOTION ONTRIDENT ADOPTED BY TUC2006 CONGRESS

Congress notes that the PrimeMinister has stated a decisionon whether or not to replaceBritain's nuclear weaponssystem, Trident, will be takenthis year.

Congress welcomes thedemand of the Defence SelectCommittee for a full publicand Parliamentary debate onthis issue.

Congress believes thatBritain's nuclear weapons areweapons of mass destruction,capable of killing millions ofpeople and are tied into USmilitary and foreign policy andthat far from deterring nuclearthreats, replacing Trident mayincrease the risk of nuclearconflict.

Congress is alarmed that asuccessor to Trident couldcost tens of billions of pounds.

Congress believes that in theabsence of any rationalargument for Tridentreplacement such expenditurewould not only be immoral buta scandalous waste of publicfunds that could otherwise beinvested in health, education,pensions, transport andmanufacturing.

Congress also notes that theUK is a signatory to thenuclear Non-ProliferationTreaty and has made 'anunequivocal undertaking' toaccomplish the totalelimination of its nucleararsenal.

Congress calls upon theGovernment not to replaceTrident and also requests thatthe General Council urgentlyexplores how it can work withthe Campaign for NuclearDisarmament to oppose thereplacement of Trident.

Finally Congress urges theGovernment not to reach afinal decision on Tridentreplacement before issuing aconsultative Green Paper onall the options forreplacement, including non-replacement and a policy ofarms diversification, followedby a White Paper and adeciding vote in Parliament.

The road train debate is back onthe agenda as the Departmentfor Transport is reviewingwhether to allow trials of LongerHeavy Goods Vehicles (LHVs).

The two types of applicationsundergoing research, which isdue to report back in summer2007, are for maximum weightsof 60 and 84 tonnes.

The 60-tonne 25.25-metresupertruck is the same weight ofa Challenger tank and the lengthof a competition swimmingpool. The 84-tonne HGV wouldbe twice the weight and almosttwice the length of existingHGVs. There are huge questionsover the safety, environmentaland social costs these vehicleswould impose on society as wellas the impact on moresustainable forms of transportsuch as rail and water.

The lorry manufacturers, thelogistics and road haulageindustry both here and inContinental Europe claim that,what they call the Eco link, themost favoured option (seediagram), will reduce congestionby having fewer vehicles on thehighway and reduce pollutionper tonne kilometre.

The two units are designed sothat they can be split and drivenseparately.

However, the claimedenvironmental and congestionbenefits are unlikely to be

realised. LHVs will compete with rail

freight and are likely to causemodal shift from rail, which hasa much better environmentalrecord than road haulage.

The real costs of roadtransport, including all theadditional external costs such asaccidents, pollution and roadmaintenance, are already asignificant burden to thetaxpayer and mean that there isnot a level playing field betweenthe modes now.

Such vehicles would decimateintermodal rail freight and somebulk flows forcing trainloads offreight back into our congestedroad network. Remember pertonne carried by rail producesbetween four to ten times lessemissions than road transport,depending on the weight ofproducts, and an average freighttrain can remove 50 HGVs fromour roads.

The promoters are claimingthat these vehicles will berestricted to motorways anddual carriageways, but there isno mechanism available to keepthem to this.

The reality is that thesevehicles will need local access to

THE THREAT OF Philippa Edmunds ofFreight on Railwarns that plannedsupertrucks aredangerous and badfor the environment

20

“B-double” - articulated vehicle towing a semi-trailor with the second semi trailor resting on the first - Up to 25.5 metres long and 60 tonnes

SUPER TRUCKSdistribution hubs which wouldnot be on motorways/dualcarriageways, but on roadswhich are totally unsuited tovehicles of this scale. There arealready are concerns – ashappened with a previousconcession of 44 tonne vehiclesto railheads only – that therestriction proposed will not beenforced or enforceable.

Unlike other Europeancountries, the UK allows allvehicles to operate on any roadand at any time unlessspecifically prohibited fromdoing so.

Local authorities can imposeaccess bans on HGVs, but theseare difficult to enforce inpractice and usually opposed by

the industry anyway. As a result, we will get these

very large vehicles travellingdown local roads that arewholly unsuitable, withconsequent intrusion, noise androad damage and safetyimplications.

The impact of these vehiclesin safety terms if they areinvolved in an accident will beproportionately greater becauseof their extra weight and anyloss of control, with severeimplications on brakingdistances, maneuverability,possible jack-knifing andovertaking. A recent researchreport by the DfT found thatHGVs were more to blame foraccidents involving them thanother vehicles, borne out by aquote from Richard Eastmandivisional Director for NetworkStrategy Highways Agency:

“Many of the worst incidentsinvolve HGVs. It takes time tophysically clear heavy vehiclesfrom the carriageway and, bytheir nature accidents involvingthem tend to be more serious”.

OPPOSITION

The public are opposed to thesesuper trucks on our roads whichare already the most congestedin Western Europe. An opinionsurvey carried out in August2005 by NOP showed that overtwo-thirds of the public areopposed to a proposal – underconsideration by government -to increase by one-third thelength and weight of lorriespermitted on the UK’s roads.

Freight on Rail iscampaigning for enhancementson the rail network which willcater for longer and heaviertrains. Rail also providesanother option at a time whenthere is uncertainty aboutenergy sources, road reliabilityis worsening and rail freightprovides a low carbon option.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

You can ask your MP to lobbythe Minister of State forTransport Dr Stephen Ladymanand sign Early Day Motion 730Rail freight and theenvironment, signed by over 50

MPs and initiated by RMT,which asks the government tosupport steps to encouragemodal shifts from road to railand to oppose the introductionof LHVs. Visitwww.parliament.uk to get the e-mail address of your MP.

*Philippa Edmunds Campaigner 020 8241 [email protected] Membersare - EWS, Freightliner, Rail FreightGroup, RMT, TSSA, ASLEF,AMICUS, Network Rail andTransport 2000

EARLY DAY MOTION 730KELVIN HOPKINS MP‘That this House notes theenvironmental benefits of railfreight over other transportmodes; recognises that anaverage aggregate freight traincan remove up to 120 HGVlorries from the road network;supports Government steps toencourage modal shift from roadto rail; and is therefore opposedto the introduction of longer andheavier goods vehicles that couldweigh up to 60 tonnes and be aslong as 25.25 metres onto theUK road network.’

21ROAD TRAINS: Campaign grows against use of road trains similar to those used in Australia


22

Everyone who is involved in thelabour movement should make apoint of reading this bookwhich presents the best andmost vivid account of, not onlyRMT, but of trade unions in theyears that followed MrsThatcher’s election as primeminister, right up to the presentday.

It begins with an historicalsurvey that takes the story rightback to the nineteenth centurywhen the unions were beginningto act strongly and actpolitically. The foundation ofthe Labour RepresentationCommittee and the Labour Partyitself provides a very usefulperspective against whichsuccesses and setbacks can beassessed.

We are reminded of theTriple Alliance, the role of theNational Union of Railwaymenin the twenties and thirties,post-war nationalisation and onto the Beeching cuts.

But it was only when theTories returned to the power in1979 that the real onslaughtbegan with the economicrecession, direct attacks on theunions and the weakness ofsome trade union leaders thatseemed to go along withgovernment policy. However,the NUR fought hard to help theminers in the 1984/85 strikewhen Neil Kinnock and the TUCwere lukewarm in their support.

The effect of that defeat wasthe decline in unionmembership as the Tory laws bit

deep into the rights and role oftrade unions. During this timethe merchant maritime fleet wasshrinking due to flags ofconvenience and creepingprivatisation.

Even so, NUR members didwin a battle over pay with strikeaction in 1989 over pay and,after becoming RMT in 1990,the union took action in 1994against Railtrack. Like all of us,RMT looked forward to theelection of Labour in 1997 as asignificant turning point, onlyto be disappointed.

Clause Four, whichrepresented a commitment tosocialism, was dropped and anopposition pledge to bring therail network back into publicownership was dropped.

Moreover, a Labourconference decision to call for

rail re-nationalisation wasignored by New Labour, a pointunderlined by the privatisationof London Undergroundinfrastructure against the viewsof the elected mayor of LondonKen Livingstone.

The disillusionment followedquite quickly after the 1997election and, when RMT inScotland decided to backTommy Sheridan and theScottish Socialist Party, theLabour Party expelled the union.

A decision by the FireBrigades Union conference todisaffiliate also deprived theParty of two of its most radicaland affective unions at a timewhen their influence is mostneeded as their votes couldinfluence the choice of Labour’snext leader.

But today, RMT is stronger

and more effective than everwith a determined leadershipand loyal membership. Its roleand influence have extendedbeyond their own ranks and arehelping to shape the publicperception of the policiesneeded at this time.

When Jimmy Knapp died theentire labour movement felt apersonal sense of loss and thosewho believe – as I do – that thestruggle for democracy, politicaland industrial, has to be foughtall over again, were reminded ofthe key role played by transportworkers. This work must becarried on, as it is now, soeffectively by Bob Crow and hiscomrades in RMT.

Anyone reading this bookwill inevitably come to the sameconclusion and its publicationnow is so important.

NEVER ONOUR KNEESTony Benn reviews a new history ofthe RMT from 1979-2006


23

Orphan fundcalendars for sale!Calendars featuring either steam trains,modern trains or vintage buses areavailable for £5 each. Orphan fund diariesalso available for £2 each.

Please send your order to

Mark HardingUnity House39 Chalton Street London NW1 1JD

In September 2003 the union’ssolicitors Thompsons launched acompensation case on behalf offormer NUR/RMT assistantgeneral secretary Andy Doddsfollowing a diagnosis ofasbestos- related mesothelioma.

Sadly Andy passed away onJanuary 4 2004 but the case wasfinally settled for £174,885 inDecember.

Before his death, Thompsonsprepared a detailed statement ofAndy's work history, recordingthe circumstances in which hewas exposed to asbestos and thedevelopment of his symptoms ofthe asbestos-related disease.

Andy worked from 1943to1954 as an engine cleaner forthe London, Midland & ScottishRailways based in Muirkirkdepot. When cleaninglocomotive engines he had todisturb the asbestos claddingaround the boilers which hedescribed as often in poor repair.

He also renewed and repaired

asbestos joints on steam pipesusing asbestos cord.

In 1954 he was employed asa fireman in Hurlford depotwhere he continued to beexposed to asbestos. In 1958 heleft footplate duties to undertakeclerical work for the Railwaybefore securing a job in 1960with the NUR at head office.

He continued to be employedby the union serving as a fulltime officer from 1966 until hebecame senior assistant generalsecretary to Jimmy Knapp,remaining in that position untilhis retirement in 1991.

Andy had suffered healthproblems for approximately twoyears prior to his diagnosis ofmesothelioma.

In 2002 doctors noted ashadow on his lung anddetected the presence of fluid.Andy was kept under review butthe clear suspicion was that hissymptoms were indicative ofmalignancy, despite ambiguous

test results. Andy's health then

deteriorated rapidly, he hadsubstantial weight loss, lackedenergy and suffered fromincreasing and relentless painand breathlessness. Following abiopsy in November 2003 thediagnosis of mesothelioma wasconfirmed and he was given alife expectancy of no more thanthree months.

The union made a claim fordamages against BRB(Residuary) Limited who areresponsible for the liabilities ofthe Railway employers who hadexposed Mr Dodds to asbestos.

The solicitors presented awide ranging and specificallegations of negligence andbreach of Statutory duty in theclaim based on the extensiveknowledge Thompsons haveacquired over many years aboutthe use of asbestos in the rail

industry and the employers’systematic disregard for the riskswhich they knew at the timecould cause fatal lung disease.Detailed witness statements froma number of Andy's unioncolleagues and formerworkmates were also collectedin support of the case.

The Coroner conducted aninquest into Andy's’ death and averdict was returned of deathdue to industrial disease.

The solicitors then obtainedmedical evidence from leadingspecialist Dr R M Rudd, whoconfirmed the diagnosis ofasbestos-induced mesothelioma.

Court Proceedings wereserved direct on BRB (Residuary)Limited which brought about anoffer of £174,885.60p.

RMT general secretary BobCrow said that it was sad thatAndy did not live to see justicedone but hoped that thecompensation may provide somesmall comfort for his family thathad to suffer so much.

“Whether it is an officer ofthis union or a rank and filemember, this union is preparedto fight for justice for thosesuffer this terrible disease andother work-related hazards,” hesaid.

RMT wins settlement for theestate of deceased formerassistant general secretaryAndy Dodds (right)

Legal update UNION WINS ASBESTOS CASE


24

INTERNATIONAL FOCUS

Venezuela’s national assembly recentlygranted president Hugo Chavez

additional powers for 18 months to transformthe country, which is still plagued by povertyand inequality.

Thousands of Chavez supporters took tothe streets as lawmakers read out theproposed bill in public meetings.

Huge sums of oil money have already

been diverted towards the country's poormajority, funding education and healthprogrammes, and providing cheap food.

One of the most significant of the reformsis giving funding and powers to "communalcouncils" which are springing up in theirthousands all over the country.

The nationalist leader has been in powereight years and survived a western-backed

coup in 2002. He has made clear that thegovernment wishes to develop industries fromoil, gas, electricity and telecommunicationsand to extend land reform as a first steptowards rural development.

Guatemalan STEPQ dockers’ unionleader Pedro Zamora was murdered by

multiple assailants who ambushed him lastmonth as he collected his sons from ahospital appointment.

After firing 100 shots one walked up tothe wounded Zamora and shot him at pointblank range in the face – in front of hischildren, one of whom, three year oldAngel, was wounded in the attack.

Zamora’s last act had been to push the children to the floor to try and

protect them.Pedro Zamora had known he was being

followed for several months, in response tohis role in defending workers’ jobs atQuetzal, while police were also sent tointimidate him, reportedly at the orders ofthe port company.

The ITF had protested to the governmentabout this last October and notified theInternational Labour Organisation (ILO),which has remonstrated with Guatemalabefore over the number of killings of trade

unionists. At the time of his murder Pedro was

continuing to negotiate on behalf of hismembers over the future of the port.

Just before the execution-style murderthe government had committed parliamentto reinstate nine unfairly sacked workers, asrequested by STEPQ.

Reportedly, this had angered the port’sgeneral manager, who was implicated asthe man who ordered police to go into theport and arrest union leaders last year.

A car of the new Paris tramway is seen at Porte de Versailles, South of Paris, shortly before itsinauguration in Paris. The tram will transport some 100,000 travellers a day to and from thesouthwest area of Paris.

Emergency personnel transport a Washington Metro system passengeraway from the Mount Vernon Square station after a subway trainderailed last month, near downtown Washington, sending 16 people tothe hospital and prompting the rescue of 60 people from a tunnel.

GUATEMALAN DOCKERS’LEADER MURDERED

VENEZUELAN LEADER TOTRANSFORM THE COUNTRY

WASHINGTON DC SUB

VIVA: A supporter of Venezuela's PresidentHugo Chavez holds a photo of him duringan outdoor legislative session at PlazaBolivar in Caracas.


25

Just a month into taking up the role ofpresident and things are moving very swiftlyon a number of fronts.

One very exciting development is the growingrelationship between RMT and the union forOil workers who work offshore, which isknown as Offshore Industry LiaisonCommittee (OILC).

Both unions, whose members work alongsideeach other, have many issues of mutualconcern.

The Council of Executives has set up aworking party which will look into thepossibility of a closer working relationship inorder to represent the interest of offshoreworkers in the oil industry.

We will be looking at our rules andconstitution to see how this issue can be bestprogressed.

Two new general grades members have beenelected onto the CoE. Pete Gale, representingthe south west and Bob Potts from the northeast. Alex Gordon and Dave Gott have alsomade a welcome return to take up their CoEseats for or South Wales & West andYorkshire and Lincolnshire respectively.

One issue that will be of common concern toall members will be the growing level ofinflation.

News that RPI has reached 4.4 per centmeans that pay deals based on RPI plus willautomatically go up. For instance theMetronet deal of RPI plus one per cent meansthe company will now be paying 5.4 per cent.Similarly, Tubelines must pay staff 4.9 percent.

However, it may not be so simple with othercompanies. Indeed, it is appalling that LondonUnderground is refusing to pay a four per centrise that should have been signed and settledby April 1 last year.

The RMT executive is urging members to votedecisively for action after the union spent tenmonths in fruitless attempts to get LUL toenter meaningful negotiations. The ballot willbe concluded by mid-February.

Make no mistake RMT will fight to ensure thatworkers receive real above-inflationimprovements in pay where possible.

The general secretary and I had an interesting

meeting with London mayor Ken Livingstonerecently to discuss a number of issuesincluding the proposed privatisation of theEast London Line.

He claimed that his deal to put the line intothe private sector was the ‘least worst option’.However, we pointed out that fragmenting theline by allowing at least eight differentcompanies run the signalling, maintenanceand running of the extended line was a recipefor disaster.

It was useful to hear that the terms andconditions of staff would be protected, butwarned that the union was determined toresist this privatisation as it was a dangerousprecedent which would undermine the safetyof Tube workers and passengers.

We also raised the issue of Tube Lines plansto rid itself of 25 per cent of its cleaners onthe contract sub-contracted to ISS.

While Mr Livingstone made clear hisopposition to this cull of cleaning staff weurged him to intervene to stop it.

He needs to demand answers from TubeLines and ISS as to exactly how less cleaningstaff will contribute to a cleaner Tube at a timewhen the network is awash with freenewsprint.

I will also be taking part in a protest in Paristhis month as part of the union’s delegationagainst the EU’s drive to force rail networksinto the private sector.

Despite the failure of the European parliamentto endorse the Jarzembowski report lastmonth, demanding the wholesale‘liberalisation’ of national passenger railnetworks by 2017, Brussels is still pushingahead with its plans to privatise internationalpassenger lines by 2010.

However, the fact that over 200 MEPs duckedthe vote by not turning up reveals that there isgrowing opposition to rail privatisation acrossthe EU following the havoc wreaked on theUK network.

Unions on the continent are asking theirgovernments, do you really want a repeat ofHatfield, Potters Bar and Tebay on our railnetwork? We will be going to Paris to let themknow of the experience of UK rail workers andexactly where RMT stands.

Fighting for members

President’s column

BWAY DERAILS


26

General secretary Bob Crowand outgoing president

Tony Donaghey celebrated withAnglia region recently in aspecial 40-year badge ceremony.Receiving the honours wereTommy Nicholls, Ken Bellfield,Frank Atkinson, Brian Long,

Andrew Fontenelle, John Shaw,Reg Hopkins, DuncanBraithwaite, Ron Douglas, SidSheldrick and Joe Welby. ArthurRyland and Roy Wilson werealso due to attend but preventedby ill health.

Bob Crow joined other RMTmembers at Ash House

recently to visit thecommemorative plaque and treein memory of the late DaveHatt. Dave was a member of

Finsbury Park Branch and was afounder member of the RMTCouncil of Executives on themerger of the NUR and theNational Union of Seamen onSeptember 10, 1990.

London Regional Transportregion RMT Rep of the Year

Martin Valente is congratulatedon his award by generalsecretary Bob Crow and regionalorganiser Bobby Law.

Martin, who spearheaded thesuccessful campaign for RMTrecognition at Grant Rail, wassingled out among more than

350 reps in the region in theannual vote among the region’sbranches.

“Martin’s contribution towinning recognition at GrantRail was immense, building theunion and leading the campaignon the ground in often difficultcircumstances,” said Bobby Law.

Preston branch has unveiled anew banner incorporating a

red LMS "Big Lizzie" steamlocomotive City of Chester inthe design. The Locomotive laterknown as Duchess Class wasdesigned by William A. Stanier.

In the banner is Preston CityCouncil's Harris Museum andArt Gallery designed byunknown Preston ArchitectJames Hibbert himself an

Alderman. The PP municipal symbol has

two meanings Proud Prestonand Princeps Pacis (Prince ofPeace) after Preston's Patronsaint St Wilfred.

At the bottom is a tribute toBritish Railways with the foursymbols that were used over its48 year history. Renationalisethe Railways is slogan.

Pete Skelly won the electionfor RMT relief divisional

organiser south recently andwith serve from 2007 to 2011.

Pete was formerly NetworkRail RMT infrastructureconvenor for South Wales, westand west Midlands. A long-

standing RMT member of 28years, Pete joined British Rail inthe P-way department.

He said that he would like tothank everyone that voted forhim and looked forward todefending the interests of all RMTmembers while in the post.

ANGLIA CELEBRATES 40-YEAR BADGE HOLDERS

DAVE HATT REMEMBERED

SKELLY - NEW RELIEF ORGANISER

MARTIN SCOOPS REPOF THE YEAR AWARD

PRESTON BRANCHUNVEILS NEW BANNER

BANNER: ChesterBranch SecretaryJohn Whittinghamholds the banner withBob Crow.


27

RMT News recently reportedon the union’s successful

bid to the government’s UnionModernisation Fund for moneyto introduce a new web-basedmembership records system.

Since that report, the projecthas progressed, with detailedwork being done to design,develop and test the system,and, if all goes to plan, it will‘go live’ in April this year.

Evidence of the project canbe seen in the newly-openedEducation Centre at Doncaster,where highly-specified IT andprinting equipment, includingfully networked computers, highspeed data lines and wirelessfacilities for fast anduninterrupted access to theinternet have been installed.

As soon as the new system isup and running, Branch andRegional Council Secretaries willhave the opportunity to betrained in its use, and so will beable to access and amend theirmembership records; maintainBranch web pages and use thesystem to communicate withmembers more speedily.

In this way, it is intended toimprove the service available toindividual members, which isthe whole point of the project.

Project manager Peter Watersis pleased about the progressmade so far but says there’s ahuge amount still to do.

“We have learned many

lessons from past installations.That is why we have specified ingreat detail what we want andwe are making sure everythingis tested and tested until we areabsolutely sure it is workinghow it should.

“The other essential elementis training users and you can besure we will not be scrimpingon that,” he said.

Peter believes that the truemeasure of a good membershipsystem is the accuracy of itsrecords.

He maintains that the newsystem giving wideopportunities to easily updaterecords, directly onto thedatabase, which means theunion will have the mostaccurate and up to date systemaround.

“Along with all the otherimprovements, it will meanbetter reporting and we will beable to equip officials andrepresentatives with up to dateinformation and a better andfaster means of communicatingwith members.

“We will also be able torespond more quickly and caterfor members’ needs,” he said.

Members will be kept informed ofthe progress of the Remote AccessProject through RMT News. In themeantime, if there is anything elseyou would like to know about it youcan contact Peter [email protected]

Dear editor,

In December last year Southeastern Trains were forced to run an openelection for their Drivers Company Council as, for the second time,RMT fielded two candidates Alan Pierson and Ken Slade.For me, this was the second attempt as I had run for office three yearsago with Brian Whitehead who is now relief regional organiser for theSouth of England. For Alan it was his first attempt. However, he was not fazed and withthe help of the org unit, we managed to put together a really goodpackage to try and win a seat on this one of the most prized CompanyCouncils on the railway.We used some of the information and knowledge gained from ourprevious attempt and some other innovative stuff like beer mats withour names and vote RMT on either side as well as posters.A sound battle plan was crucial with an affordable list of demands forDrivers from T&Cs, rostering to diagramming of work. Like all goodplans this was thrown into confusion when, after there had beenagreement between RMT drivers lead officer Brian Whitehead and SETover the implementation date, SET put the ballot papers out a weekearlier than agreed and not allowing us release until the followingweek. However, the ASLEF were out on the day the papers came out,work that out if you can. We were released for three days the following week, a week after theballot papers had been issued. We were out in the very early hours andit was a 03.00 start and a drive to meet Alan and too as many depotsas possible. We met many drivers who were very impressed and said that they onlywished they had met us the week before. We did manage to gain somevotes and some friends for next time, many of these drivers also saidthat they only wish they could meet the sitting company council atthat time of day, I said elect us and you will. Alan was the real beneficiary with 116 votes, I scored 102. However,we did manage to recruit eight new drivers into RMT and pick upvotes from drivers who did not know that there was an election takingplace.Although we did not win a seat, RMT drivers on Southeastern havebeen able to force our TOC to have an open election enabling alldrivers on the franchise to have a vote on who represents them.We urge all RMT drivers in every TOC to go for election to LDR/LDCand Stage Two/Company Councils. Regardless of the number of drivermembers in each depot, RMT is entitled to have elected by the brancha Health and Safety representative in every depot.We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those drivers whovoted and supported us. This has given us some real motivation tocarry on the fight to have an RMT representative elected onto everyCompany Council in every TOC in the country.

Ken Slade and Alan PiersonBoth RMT Drivers and Health and Safety Representatives on SET

REMOTE ACCESSPROJECT

DRIVING HOME THE MESSAGEAT SOUTHEASTERN

Calling notice forLGB conferenceThe 2007 conference for lesbian, gay and bi-sexual members will be taking place inManchester, Mechanics Institute on FridayMay 11.

This is an ideal opportunity for lesbian, gay and bi-sexual members to discuss formally and informallyissues concerning your work and the union in general. Ifyou need any further information contact your branchsecretary.


29

Last month’ssolution...

The winner of prizecrossword no. 31 is A H Butler of Par, Cornwall.

Send entries to Prize Crossword,RMT, Unity House, 39 ChaltonStreet, London NWI IJD by March 1 with your name andaddress.

Winner and solution in next issue.

RMT £25PRIZE CROSSWORDNo. 32. Set by Elk

ACROSS1 Cheapest fares on passenger ship, of old

(8)6 Place housing collection of artistic,

scientific or historic artefacts (6)9 Moving away from the north (10)10 Slightly open (4)11 Inconsistency, or statement expressing

the opposite (13)13 Levies on people, goods, homes, incomes

etc (5)14 Prised or forced out; removed (9)17 Variety of peach with smooth skin (9)18 Peel this and weep! (5)20 Relating to industry or science of

petroleum products (13)23 Indulge in sport, theatre or toys (4)24 Removal, of tooth for example (10)25 Items of bedding or paper (6)26 Lasting (8)

DOWN2 Implement (4)3 Outgoing person (9)4 Abbey chiefs (6)5 Seat of learning: RMT’s new one is in 15

(9,6)6 Between defence and attack (8)7

Standard connector for audio-visualequipment (5)

8 Steeping in wine, herbs, sauce etc beforecooking (10)

12 Usually temporary water-dispensingpoints, attached vertically to hydrant (10)

15 South Yorkshire home of racecourse andRMT’s new 5 (9)

16 Crazy - about biscuits for cheese? (8)19 Scaly reptile with legs (6)21 A short poem, or similarity in sound (5)22 Depressed (4)

INDIAN WELLS KISSIMMEE

Villas 10% discount on rates forRMT members. Beautiful 3 bedroom2 bathroom villa in Florida. 5 minutesdrive from Disney. Exceptionallycentral location. Own pool withscreen, porch and overlooking alake. Will sleep 8 and cot facilitiesare available Tel. 01202 427854www.indianwellskissimmeevillas.co.uk

AIRPORT CAR PARKING

5% additional discount for RMTmemberswww.flypark.co.uk/discount 0870 733 0545. Get a quote and seesavings

VICTORIAN FARMHOUSE B&B

plus s/c lodge, sleeps 4, also B&B.Set in farmland overlooking forest.Direct access to trailway. Smallheated pool. Pets welcome. Ideal forwalking, riding and cycling. Close toNew Forest. For brochure call 01425472115

TENERIFE, LAS AMERICASApartment in 3 star hotel on seafront.Quiet area. From £75pppw. Tel: 01803 526168

SPANISH HOLIDAYS

Costa Blanca House sleeps 6. Costadel Sol Apartment, sleeps 4. £120-£320pw. Lovely locations. Beautifulbeaches. Pools. Golf. Wonderfulweather. Brochure available.(01344)425247

MATTINGLEY HEIGHTS, STKITTS, WEST INDIES

Self-catering house for rent. 3bedrooms, 1 with en-suite. Fullyfurnished with all mod-cons. CableTV etc.. £250pw per person. ContactLennox: 07831 862369 or 07771 830594 or leave a messageon: 01132 628828

CLASSIFIEDADS

RMT Credit UnionRMT ADVANCEa great new savings & credit account for RMT membersThe RMT ADVANCE account is a great new way forRMT members to have access to a guaranteed lumpsum once or twice a year, while building up asavings reserve.

The key features of the RMT ADVANCE account are:

• A fixed monthly premium which guarantees ayearly cash Advance paid directly to you

• You can set up two schemes so that you havea payout to coincide with the Christmas andsummer holidays

• Choose the premiums and cash advance to suityour needs

• Continual growth of a cash reserve whichattracts a dividend to boost savings

• The premiums are structured so that in each12 months you have repaid the value of yourAdvance in full.

By paying the regular premium of your choice youset up a credit agreement for the Advance that willgenerate an automatic payment to you at thefollowing times:

• Christmas ADVANCE paid on the secondFriday of December

• Summer ADVANCE paid on the second Fridayof June

This will mean that you will have ready cashavailable for the Christmas spending spree or yoursummer holidays, or both.

The RMT Advance loan is at a very low cost 9.9%APR, which is extremely good value. For every£100 you borrow you will only pay £5.48 in interestover the 12 months. Of course your savings alsoattract our Credit Union dividend (equivalent tointerest) which in the last 2 years has been 3%. Thismeans that while you have access to a guaranteedlump sum, your savings will continue to accumulate.

The RMT ADVANCE account offers great value andbenefits for RMT members. If you wish to apply foran account please complete the application formattached.

• You can still get a Christmas 2007 advance ifyou submit your application before 12th May2007, but the savings accumulated in the firstyear will be reduced compared to thoseillustrated below.

• For a Summer ADVANCE 2008 we will needyour completed application before 12thNovember 2007 so that we can get yourpremium payments established.

Don’t forget to include your proofs of identity andaddress, which are required by law. We will returnyour documents straight away, or you can send uscopies if they are verified by your branch secretaryor employer etc.

30

sgnivaS detalumuccA tsoc tiderC

nalP 5 raeY3 raeY1 raeYraey repecnavdAmuimerP

A 052£72£ 465£444£423£07.31£

B 003£13£ 616£694£673£44.61£

C 004£04£ 227£206£284£29.12£

D 005£94£ 728£707£785£04.72£

E 006£85£ 339£318£396£88.23£

F 007£76£ 830,1£819£897£63.83£

G 000,1£39£ 553,1£532,1£511,1£08.45£

H 052,1£511£ 916,1£994,1£973,1£05.86£

I 005,1£731£ 288,1£267,1£246,1£02.28£

THE TABLE BELOW DEMONSTRATES THE SIGNIFICANT BENEFITS OF THE RMT ADVANCE ACCOUNT

Your savingsaccumulate yearafter year

You can have aChristmas orsummer payout,or both

To achieve the full savings benefits illustrated you will need to have been saving for 12 months prior to the Advance, so get yourapplication in as soon as possible. The table demonstrates the savings accumulated for full payment of 12 premiums from year 1

All premiums are rounded to nearest £ for the purposes of illustration. You will be informed of the precise premium. Thepremium will repay the Advance within 12 months while you continue to save £5 per month. Let us know if you wish to savemore. The accumulated savings illustrated assume premiums are paid for a full 12 months before the first Advance.

MEMBERSHIP NUMBER

Moi

sten

alo

ng e

dges

and

fold

to

seal

Finance Department, Unity House, 39 Chalton Street, London NW1 1JDRMT ADVANCE ACCOUNT APPLICATION FORM – please complete your

application along with the attached Direct Debit.

P l e a s e u s e B L O C K C A P I TA L S and black ink.

1 PERSONAL DETAILS.

Surname Address

Forename(s)

Home phone

Mobile phone Postcode

Email address

Date of Birth National Insurance Number

2 Your Employment.

Employer RMT

I wish to open a: Christmas Advance Account Summer Advance Account BothPlease tick the appropriate box(es) and indicate the appropriate Plan, Premiums and Payouts belowThe account(s) I wish to open are: Christmas Advance Plan Premium £ Payout £ Summer Advance Plan Premium £ Payout £ (Please see table opposite. Write in the plan letter, premiums and payout amounts you require)For 2007, Direct Debits for Christmas Advance will commence in January with a double payment. Summer Advance will be paid out in July 2008 with Direct Debits commencing in July 2007.

Branch

Job Description

3 Mr Mrs Ms Miss

4 M

5 RMT Advance Account Premiums & Payout

embership Status RMT TU Member Retired RMT TU Member

6 Normally your payments are made once a month (28th) to RMT Credit Union Ltd.

7 I undertake to abide by the rules now in force or those that are adopted. For the RMT Advance Account I undertake to pay the monthly premiums indicated, and at the agreed time I will receive the appropriate payout which will consist of a part rebate of my shareholdings and a credit unions loan.

Your signature Date

Instruction to your Bank orBuilding Society to pay by Direct Debit

Please fill in the whole form including official use box using a ball point pen andSend to: RMT Credit Union Ltd., 39 Charlton Street, London NW1 1JD

Name and full postal address of your Bank or Building Society

Originator’s Identification Number

Reference Number

FOR RMT CREDIT UNION LTD OFFICIAL USE ONLYThis is not part of the the instruction to your Bank or Building Society.

To: The Manager Bank/Building Society

Address

Postcode

Signature(s)

Date

Name(s) of Account Holder(s)

Bank/Building Society account number

Branch Sort Code

Instructions to your Bank or Building Society.Please pay RMT Credit Union Ltd Direct Debits for the account detailed in this instruction subject to the safeguardsassured by the Direct Debit Guarantee. I understand that this instruction may remain with RMT Credit Union Ltd, ifso, details will be passed electronically to my Bank/Building Society.

Banks and Building Societies may not accept Direct Debit Instructions from some types of account

This guarantee should be detached and retained by the Payer.

The Direct Debit GuaranteeThis guarantee is offered by all Banks and Building Societies that take part in the Direct Debit Scheme.The efficiency and security of the scheme is monitored and protected by your own Bank orBuilding Society.If the amounts to be paid or the payment date changes, RMT Credit Union Ltd will notify you 10 working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreedIf an error is made by RMT Credit Union Ltd or your Bank or Building Society, you are guaranteed a full and immediate refund from your branch of the amount paidYou can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by writing to your Bank or Building Society. Please also send a copy of your letter to us.

9 7 4 2 8 1

RMT CREDIT UNION LTD.

31

Open six days a week Mon to Fri - 8am until 6pm, Sat - 9.30am to 4pm

e-mail: [email protected]

Legal helpline: 0800 587 7516Seven days a week

or call the helpline on freephone0800 376 3706

Visit www.rmt.org.uk to join online

JOIN RMTTHE UNIONTHAT FIGHTSFOR EQUALITYFOR ALL GRADES

Problems at work? Call the helpline

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