Click '2 attachments' / file names to download this guide as a PDF, and to download the level 1 referral form.

As a Representative you are entitled to have a Level 1 meeting with your employing manager (GSM/TOM/SCM) four times a year ie. every three months. Ensure that the GSM/TOM sticks to this schedule.

You can also ask for an emergency Level 1 meeting if an issue comes up that is so urgent that it can not wait for the next scheduled meeting. This should be held within 14 days of your request.

Level 1 meetings are the first step on the Machinery of Negotiation (which you can read here:
www.rmtplatform.org.uk/machinery).

They are a vital opportunity to bring to management’s attention any issues your members may have with local management eg. ringing staff at home when off sick. It is also an opportunity to make requests for improvements to staff facilities eg. improving mess room conditions.

Prelim Day

You are entitled to a preliminary (‘prelim’) day before each level one meeting. You are released from duty to spend the day going round your workplace(s) speaking to members to find out their issues. It is a good idea to have the prelim day about a week before the Level 1 meeting, so that you can submit your agenda items to management well in advance and management can prepare a response rather than fob you off at the meeting with a promise to ‘look into it’!

On your prelim day, take a notebook and write down members’ issues. At the end of the day, decide which you want to include on the agenda, add your own ideas, and submit your agenda items to your manager, either by hand or by email. Keep a copy!

Level 1 Meeting

The Level 1 meeting will review the progress of items discussed at the last meeting. Make sure you hold your management to account if they have not progressed an issue that they should have done.

As well as your agenda items, the meeting may also discuss issues tabled by management. If you don’t want to give an immediate response, insist on time to consult your members.

If at the Level 1 meeting it becomes apparent that a local solution can not be found to an issue or the matter affects more people than just those on your group, you can refer the matter to be discussed at Level 2 (Functional Council). To do this, you register a ‘failure to agree’ at the meeting if it is an issue on which you and the GSM/TOM/SCM disagree, or decide on a ‘joint referral’ if you and s/he agree on the issue and want it discussed at a higher level.

You can find the referral form on the Employee Relations page on the intranet. Once you have filled in your section, the GSM/TOM/SCM has a section to fill in, then the form is sent to the Employee Relations Manager for your line. It should then be sent back to you, and if you are not satisfied with the ERM’s response (quite likely!), then the referral goes forward to the next meeting of your Functional Council. Send a copy to the Staff-Side Secretary of the Council.

Feedback

Management should send draft minutes of the meeting to you as soon as is practical. Read them carefully, and check that discussions, agreements and disagreements have been recorded accurately, and that they can be easily understood by people who were not at the meeting eg. your members! Tell management of any changes you require before you sign the minutes.

Send a copy of the agreed minutes to your Functional Council’s Staff Side Secretary.

It is a good idea to write up a report for the members on your group, and post it on the ‘RMT Platform’ website (www.rmtplatform.org.uk) or ‘RMT London Calling’ website (www.rmtlondoncalling.org.uk).

If you need any assistance in producing a newsletter or posting on the website, please contact the Regional Council Secretary.

You will have a ‘feedback day’ after the Level 1 meeting. You are released from duty to go round your workplaces, reporting back to members about what was discussed and what came out of the meeting.

On both your prelim and feedback days, take union material with you – newsletters, badges, etc – and make sure you have RMT membership forms with you in case you come across a non-member and persuade them to join! Also, take the opportunity to update the union notice cases on each station.