SOS: Staff Our Stations

RAIL UNION RMT today published leaked internal documents showing that London Midland plan to profit to the tune of £1.25 million a year from their programme of savage cuts to ticket offices and staffing levels.

London Midland are blazing a trail for the McNulty plans to axe ticket offices and eliminate station staff and, as RMT have exposed from leaked Department of Transport emails, are doing so in direct collusion with the Government.

RMT demands end to London Midland ticket office massacre as internal Government emails reveal "cash for closures" scandal

RAIL UNION RMT today demanded a halt to a ticket office closure programme across the London Midland service after internal DfT emails

We wish to map station staffing by collating the following information about each company
that operates stations:

We note the position, that these legal cases have now been withdrawn. We instruct the General Secretary to keep the report on file for future reference, and to ensure that in current and future instances of employer policies that affect our members, RMT addresses equality impacts at an early stage.

We further instruct the General Secretary to implement our previous instruction to prepare a concise guide to part-time workers’ rights, and to place this in front of us.

London Transport Regional Council and branches to be advised.

RMT COMMENT ON POLL SHOWING FEAR OF VIOLENCE ON LONDON TRANSPORT

Today, the End Violence Against Women coalition has published the results of a YouGov survey showing that 28% of women and 15% of men do not feel safe travelling on London transport at all times of the day and night.

An open letter has been sent by RMT Stations and Revenue Council Safety Council Staff Side Secretary Ross Marshall to LU Managing Director Mike Brown.

The letter regards "The comments.... made in relation to several questions regarding staffing levels, the current review on stations, the fact that LU had presented the OSP plans as a fait accompli and other problems related to the OSP." Questions are also being asked about the review of staffing levels at a handful of stations, and why the RMT is not being involved with on this review.

Click 'read more' to see the letter or download the attachment for the original document.

That we note a number of issues were discussed including the ‘Together for Transport’ campaign and the TSSA requested the RMT inject resources into this campaign. However, after further discussion that ‘Together for Transport’ is TSSA’s front organisation and therefore propose that the RMT do not inject any resources into this campaign at this time, but work closely with it through the SOS campaign. One area discussed was the need for both unions to undertake a mapping exercise of our membership that currently work on stations.

Having received information that the ‘Together for Transport’ Campaign is holding a public meeting in Hackney on Monday 12th December 2011, RMT's General Grades Committee took the following decision:

That we note that a special meeting is being organised in Hackney to oppose cuts to ticket offices and ticket office staff at local stations on the North London line. We welcome this community initiative and we instruct the General Secretary to advertise this meeting widely amongst our Branches and activists in London via SMS text and by e-mail.

RMT General Grades Committee decision:

We welcome the AGM resolution calling for a national ‘SOS: Staff Our Stations’ campaign, particularly considering the renewed threat to station staffing posed by the McNulty report. We will campaign on this issue in conjunction with our campaign on McNulty.

We further note that a meeting has been arranged between ourselves and the TSSA on 24 October to discuss this issue. We instruct the General Secretary to prepare for this meeting by:

RMT General Grades Committee decision:

We note the successful and well attended meeting of our Station Grades Representatives in Doncaster on Wednesday 21st September 2011 where a multitude of issues was discussed.

Therefore the General Secretary is instructed to establish a General Grades Sub-committee called Special Staff our Stations sub-Committee and we appoint Brother March, Brother Thompson and Sister Booth to this sub-committee and that the matter of Staff Our Stations campaign be referred into this Sub-committee for examination and report.

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