Dear General Secretary,
Firstly, I would like to address the current concerns on the London Midland train network.
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it union policy to rebel against contract or third party workers onto the network which will undermine jobs, bring skill sets down and create a sense of replacement on the cheap? Companies have indeed contracted out for cleaning staff which such duties were once done by station staff etc. so it is well known that this goes on.
The part I am ever so confused about is the ongoing fight on Southern with Guards / Conductors and their job roles. London Midland seem to want security officers on the trains to ‘work alongside’ Senior Conductors and ‘help’ in situations that seem very difficult to deal with. This is utter rubbish and the Senior Conductors are trained in customer care and can handle situations that arise when things get difficult.
An email from LM management seems to suggest that this is going to happen! The Company Council for LM have rejected these wishes and have done for a couple of years now. So, why has the Full Time Officer suggested in various emails that Health and Safety representatives wish this to happen? These representatives have been questioned and they have said no.
Now, again I'm thinking with a bulb flashing above my head that the purpose of a fully functioning company council was to act on behalf of the union and its members? If the Senior Conductor Company Council have rejected these proposals, it should end there should it not? Does the Full Time Officer hate the Senior Conductor Company Council or something? Things in the past have scraped though under the radar such as the Platform/Train interface (PTI) spot checks agreement which Health and Safety signed off along with the FTO behind members’ backs!
Far too many members don't trust the FTO one bit, with allegations of improper conduct and protocol being called into serious question. The PTI is what is being referred to and the way business is being done. The Full Time Officer at London Midland has caused more problems than he has solved at LM, and the Union have known about it but are reluctant to do anything which is somewhat bewildering.
Considering Driver Only Operation (DOO) is pretty much a reality on the Southern, FTO's should be somewhat more protective of their members. ASLEF seem to be playing games with their ballots making a total mockery of the situation and if you see a lot of social media, Southern are running DOO trains anyway! On Board Supervisor staff are pretty much in place form January so what is going on, what is really going on?
LM's next franchise is due next year so what can we expect? The Southern issues are so obscured from everyone, nobody has a clue what's going on.
1. Security on the back of trains? PTS trained and ticket trained? Lower wages, lower pensions and lower NI contributions.
2. Security of the platforms?
3. Driver Controlled Operation trains, with security the second safety critical member of train crew for which ASLEF will accept as safe to work?
4. Worry for all RMT members working hard in their job roles which are under the threat of deskilling with the our current FTO in charge.
5. RMT subs seem to be doing active members out of skilled jobs with good wages.
My trust in trade unions is now rock bottom and I feel that they are only there for business purposes. Perhaps the RMT will represent these so called ‘Security Contractors’ in the future so it won't matter at all if the Conductor grade disappears and people like our plainly untrustworthy FTO will still get his salary, pension and a car whilst members that he was supposed to protect end up claiming benefits because they are unemployed.
We know ASLEF will turn rogue as has happened in the past because they can because they command the power so my faith is by no means secure on their fight against DOO but when your own union seems hell bent on helping implement the infamous McNulty report commissioned by the Labour Party, we all might as well come out and represent ourselves.
If Senior Conductors can be replaced just like on Northern Rail so easily by awful representation by the RMT, lessons should have be learnt? However, on current email correspondence for which our FTO is copied into would seem that he's happy to place a target on his members backs.
To finish, what would be super helpful is the truth about Southern Rail if its not too much trouble. I'm thinking of all Senior Conductors who are worried about the future because, and let’s talk straight, either they will be shafted by the Government or the unions and that's guaranteed to happen in every franchise.