Newsletter: February, 2010

East London Rail Branch News Vol II, Issue 5 February 2010

0626 East London Rail
Branch New s
Email: eastlondonrail@rmt.org.uk

Chair: John Clarke– 07795237318 Secretary: Ed Shine–07940340128

National Union of Rail, Maritime, & Transport Workers’

SACKED
GENERAL SECRETARY: Bob Crow

GLENN WALLIS– SIGNALLER–
R.M.T. REPRESENTATIVE- BRANCH
MEMBER AND COMRADE...
NETWORK RAIL CURRENTLY DELIGHTS– IN ITS DEALINGS WITH THIS
UNION– in mealy mouthed words of semi-agreement and pacification
while ignoring the basic issue at stake. They have now gone one step
further, and sacked a loyal, dedicated, hard-working Branch member,
who has held many positions within the Branch structure for and on
behalf this and other Branches, and, fundamentally, an ACTIVIST, who this Union can ill-afford to lose.
THEREFORE: NETWORK RAIL– WE SERVE YOU PERSONAL NOTICE: ALL BETS ARE
NOW OFF. THIS WILL NOT BE SUFFERED IN SILENCE OR WITHOUT LOSS TO YOU.
We may look concerned to the future, knowing what happened last time a Railway Company sacked a comrade
of this Branch; but well might they look more fearfully, for what ever they sow, so shall they reap. THEY WILL
PAY, AND PAY AGAIN FOR THEIR ARROGANT BUT INEFFECTUAL DISMISSAL OF ONE OF OUR LADS.
We refute the claim that they are merely– and „regretfully‟- following „procedure‟; they have sacked an RMT
Representative; they have sacked a Health and Safety Representative; we refute any claim that does not recog-
nise this dismissal as what it is– part of the spider‟s-web of betrayal, hypocrisy, and deceit, that has emanated
from the aptly named „Black Tower‟, one Melton Street, since the current dispute started (which incidentally in-
cluded LYING to the Government– so do not hold your breath for any truth or honesty to RMT members in the
near future!) DAMN YOU PRIVATEERS, DO YOU NEVER LEARN?
NEXT BRANCH MEETING: TUESDAY 16th FEBRUARY 2010, 1700 HOURS:
1 The Railway Tavern Public House (Conservatory room), Angel Lane,
Stratford, London E15… CONTACT THE SECRETARY FOR DETAILS

 Refuse to give further assurances about no compul-
sory redundancies beyond 2010.
 Will not give guarantees‟ about capex work to be
undertaken in future years by our maintenance mem-
bers.
 Refuse to place potentially redundant members in
REORGANISATION OF NETWORK RAIL permanent jobs within the maintenance organisation
thereby offering no future job security.
MAINTENANCE (PHASE 2 B&C)
 Have confirmed that the offers made in its letters
dated 20th January 2010 in regards to the payments
The following meeting (and many others around the
for the working practice changes and proposed super-
country including Three Bridges, Birmingham, Pre- visors terms and conditions (including new bargaining
ston, Newcastle, Plymouth, Cardiff, Ashford, Bristol, arrangements and pay anniversary date) represents
Penzance, Doncaster, Edinburgh, and Exeter) has its final offer.
been arranged to discuss Network Rail‟s job cuts  Failed to provide details of further changes being
and planned Phase 2 B&C reorganisation. These planned by the company that affect all our members
meetings are an opportunity for all members to hear in the Network Rail Maintenance organisation.
from your national officials, regional organisers,
Council of Executive members and area and local THE GENERAL GRADES COMMITTEE, R.M.T., HAS
reps and for everyone to voice their opinions. THEREFORE DECIDED THE FOLLOWING:
„Given all these factors we instruct the GS to inform the
th
Thursday 11 February 17.00 company that this union reject the offers made for our IM
and Supervisory members in the company‟s letters dated
20th January 2010.
St Aloysius Church Hall
Further in view of the above and the refusal of the com-
20 Phoenix Road pany to confirm a real commitment to no compulsory re-
Euston dundancies and confirm that our members will not have
London NW1 1TA terms and conditions imposed contrary to assurances pre-
Bob Crow, General Secretary viously given that members can “stay as you are”. We reit-
erate our previous decision that we are in dispute Network
Alex Gordon, RMT President
Rail and the General Secretary is instructed to serve notice
no later than 15 February 2010 for Strike Action and Ac-
COMRADES– PLEASE BRING THIS TO THE tion Short of a Strike.
ATTENTION OF ANY NETWORK RAIL COL- In the meantime we are receiving reports that the company
LEAGUES YOU KNOW WHO WOULD BE IN- is seeking to introduce rosters based in its revised propos-
als. Our representatives are instructed not to agree any
TERESTED IN ATTENDING. BUT ALSO POINT
rosters other than in line with their current terms and con-
OUT THE FOLLOWING...! THAT THE COM- ditions and to ensure that negotiations on rosters are dealt
PANY- with in accordance with the agreed bargaining arrange-
 Refuse to give further assurances about no ments.‟
compulsory redundancies beyond 2010.
WHAT HAPPENS ON NETWORK
· Will not give guarantees‟ about capex work to
be undertaken in future years by our RAIL AFFECTS ALL RAILWAY
maintenance members. STAFF, WHATEVER GRADE,
 Refuse to place potentially redundant members WHATEVER COMPANY!
in permanent jobs within the maintenance SAY NO RISK, SAY NO MORE
organisation thereby offering no future job POTTERS BAR!
security.


GRATEFUL THANKS TO BROTHER
DERRICK MARR, SECRETARY OF OUR

RECRUITMENT!
SISTER BRANCH, SOUTH EAST ES-
SEX, AND LONDON & ANGLIA RE-
GION LEAD RECRUITER, FOR AL-
LOWING US TO REPUBLISH HIS RE-
GIONAL RECRUITMENT PLAN HERE.
THIS IS ALL HIS OWN WORK.

THE PLAN IS LAID OUT IN THREE SECTIONS:
1. JANUARY- MARCH
2. APRIL- SEPTEMBER
3. OCTOBER- DECEMBER
Section 2. is the traditional day out where each Branch is allocated a
date and Sections 1. and 3. are for the respective Branches to select a
date of their choice within the two quarterly periods .All regional
Council delegates should raise the following points at their next
Branch meeting:
 The need for EVERY BRANCH to name a date of their choice for
their Branch Rep‟s and Activists to carry out recruitment and or-
ganising activities within their Branch‟s sphere of influence;
 The date must be decided before the next Full Regional DERRICK MARR, LEAD RECRUITER
Council in March;
 And take place no later than the 31st March 2010;
 And be held in conjunction with the Regional Council Organising Committee and regional activists
which will be funded from the Council‟s Recruitment fund;
 And finally to get Branch Secretaries to contact Bro. Marr on derrickmarr@aol.com or 07903322911
with all the details, not least of Branch participants.

AS YOU MAY ALREADY BE AWARE a Regional Branch Secretaries will no doubt have problems finding mem-
Recruitment Account has been set up with a bers who will be available to attend their Recruitment days.
£6,500 allocation on production of a satisfac- Staff Reps are the most obvious place to look for prospective
tory Organising Strategy and ALL Branches recruiters as they have a legal right to be released for recruit-
can be subject to a 10% levy of their annual ment within their constituency. Branch Secretaries should
BMF contribution each year. This account will urge and assist Reps to gain release in advance from their re-
be used to fund Regional Organising activities spective companies and co-ordinate these release dates with
throughout the year but will only be available their recruitment day. Assistance can be received from the
for activities that are carried out in conjunc- South East Regional Office and the regional Organiser. Secre-
tion with the Regional Organising Plan, it is taries should remember that just because a member is not a
therefore imperative that ALL Branches get Rep does not automatically mean they are active and the
their dates confirmed so that their activists can same goes for activists– they do not have to be Reps. They
be paid the £65 they earn from a day‟s recruit- should view any member who shows an interest in the Union
ing from the Regional Recruitment Fund. as a prospective activist and approach them accordingly.
NEXT BRANCH MEETING: TUESDAY 16thTH OCTOBER2010, 1700 HOURS:
NEXT BRANCH MEETING: TUESDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2009, 1700 HOURS:
The Railway Tavern Public House (Conservatory room), Angel Lane,


THE NEED IS TO IDENTIFY the areas in each
Branch that are in need of recruitment and or-
ganisation and then to get a team to attend to
that area. The easiest way to do this is by cross-
referencing rosters with membership list print-
outs, then the Branch and Regional Organising
Committee will assign activists to those areas. It
is essential that forward planning is done before
a team goes out so as they do not turn up and
find they cannot access the workplace or that
the depot is empty or the wrong shift is on duty,

By co-ordinating our organising activities we
can get a combination of „youth and experience‟
by giving new activists opportunities to observe
the more experienced hands at work. All activ-
ists have different ways of approaching and
dealing with prospective members and each
individual will tailor their own style. It is the in-
tention of the Regional Council to set up re-
cruitment schools, specifically so as activists can
attend induction classes and be armed with the
necessary information and ability to deal with
situations. Once again different styles can pro-
duce different results but as long as we give a
professional introduction to the RMT then our
goal is achieved. Being able to approach a com-
plete stranger or even a group of strangers is
by no means easy; the most important ingredi-
ent is confidence.
A RECRUITER MUST ALSO BE AWARE OF
RMT SERVICES AND BENEFITS THAT ARE
AVAILABLE TO NEW MEMBERS– WITH A
UNBELIEVABLY, EVEN ARRIVA CAN SEE THE TRUTH SOME- GOAL OF NOT JUST RECRUITING NEW MEM-
TIMES....! NOT THAT THEY ARE MUCH BETTER AS OUR COM-
BERS INTO THE UNION BUT ORGANISING
RADES ON ARRIVA TRAINS WILL DOUBTLESS WISH US TO
NEW ACTIVISTS INTO THE MOVEMENT.
POINT OUT...

4 Stratford, London E15… CONTACT THE SECRETARY FOR DETAILS

Our Council of Executives’ member, Bro.
Michael Lynch’s Report to the London &
Anglia regional Council Executive Com-
mittee on the 1ST February 2010

The following are “urgent” matters for the information of the Executive Committee:

General Grades

· Network Rail Maintenance Phase 2 b&c – Following recent legal developments, a major effort has gone
into preparing a ballot matrix that cannot be challenged in court. Every member has had a letter regarding
their grade and location; we have recorded our actions as a paper trail and man-hours spent on the prepara-
tion.
The GGC will action the ballot shortly and we, as a Regional Council will have to get fully behind the cam-
paign. Meetings have been organised over a period of 2 weeks. Branches should do all they can to ensure
good attendance
Ideally, every branch with Infrastructure / Maintenance members will have a special branch meeting to dis-
cuss this issue and we will try to get speakers along. We must do all that we can to ensure that our members
are fully briefed and up to speed with the issues and to ensure a yes vote.

· Network Rail Operations – Rostering, PTR&R & T3 – It is clear that management want the ability to im-
pose rosters without agreement and we already have a major dispute and strike action in South Wales. With
PTR&R, Seniority is not being observed in redundancy selection; consultation is taking place at Local rather
that Area level and displaced staff are not being allowed to apply for posts more that 1 grade below with
retention of salary. On T3, NR wants to get rid of detonator protection and push responsibility for posses-
sion / protection from track worker to signaller. We want the proposed system withdrawn.
Work is being done on the ballot matrix to ensure accuracy and any assistance that can be provided from
the Reps, Branches and Activists will help.

Notice of intention to ballot on both of these major disputes will be served soon and it is likely that we
will run the ballots in tandem to maximise the impact and effect. This Regional Council must
do all it can to support the disputes
N
The R.M.T‟s online TV channel where FO EW F
R
you can get up-to-the-minute informa- AL ROM
LM R
tion from your union - and vice versa. EM .M.T
BE .
This is a fully functioning email account – with one
RS
‘.rmt.org.uk’ email address. You can access the ser-
vice using your web browser, or configure mails to be sent and
received on your phone. Includes 1 gigabyte of storage.
The union’s social networking website gives RMT members a place
to meet online to discuss workplace and other issues in a secure en-
vironment. The ‘Facebook’ of the Union!



AUDIT OF ALL BRANCHES/
MEMBERS WITHIN THE REGION
Following reports that the Regional Council Executive
Committee discussed the transfer of all London Over-
ground Rail Operations Limited (LOROL) members
from their respective London & Anglia Regional Coun-
cil Branches, to a LOROL designated Branch, this
Branch calls upon the Regional Council Organising
Committee to carry out a root and branch Audit of all
Branches within this Region ensuring that the spheres
of influence reflect any necessary changes and that all
members are allocated into their correct Branches as
per the agreed Spheres of Influence.

This is not meant to interfere with a members‟ per-
sonal choice of Branch but will enhance our local or-
ganizations and focus our activities.

Yours fraternally

Ed Shine John Clarke
Secretary Chairman

Pulling Together pro-
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL HARD-DONE vides an engaging and
colourfully illustrated
BY BANKING EXECUTIVE, HEDGE history of RMT.
FUND MANAGER, OR THATCHERITE
BLOODSUCKER. AND IF YOU’RE A Available FREE to RMT
members. Email
TURKEY, SEND BERNARD MATTHEWS bdenny@rmt.org.uk with
A CHRISTMAS CARD! your name and address.

REMEMBER: AN ARSEHOLE IS
NEW from RMT
NOT JUST FOR CHRISTMAS... a FREE popular history of the union!


NXEA Revenue and Fleet THOUGHT
grades 5 year harmonisa-
FOR THE
tion pay period has been
exhausted and this year is
MOMENT
their first pay nego-
tiations. The two year ‘Those who do not move, do not
deal was accepted by unions giving other grades rpi + 0.5% notice their chains.’
increase. ‘Not a bad starting point for negotiations’, it has been
suggested, and there is absolutely NO REASON why either of these
‘Freedom only for the members
Grades should be offered less than their colleagues inn Retail, and, of
of the government, only for the
course absolutely NO REASON why they should accept less! If the Company
try and negotiate separately we will need to ensure we are invited to Fleet
members of the Party - though
talks as they like to deal solely with Unite and vice versa. The Branch believes they are quite numerous - is no
that joint negotiations are fundamental to all fair deals, and will be keeping a freedom at all.‘
close eye on events as they unfold in the next couple of months.
‘History is the only true teacher,
There are rumours of a hurricane within Revenue Pro- the revolution the best school
tection at the moment, apparently not only because of for the proletariat.’
uncertainty over the coming pay negotiations, but the Com-
pany have already stated they need to ‘look at’ Rosters (having ‘Freedom is always the freedom
made vacant posts redundant in the latest re-Org), and this too will of dissenters’
require the full involvement of RMT. The Branch notes that the two
most important things in the workplace– the pay, and the hours you
work for that pay, are potentially the two biggest battlegrounds we
face. It may, unfortunately, require all members to show some re-
solve and determination to prevent an all-put attack on Revenue pay
and Ros- ters, but watch this space...

It has been drawn to our attention that the Company
has recruited a number of new staff for the Liverpool
street gateline link. Our members there have already
recently won a significant victory in the allocation of spare
Sundays to permanent staff, which until recently were being Rosa Luxemburg
worked by contract and agency staff to the detriment of NXEA employ- (5 March 1871[1] – 15 January
ees. This policy appears to have now been rescinded, and we congratu- 1919)
late the members and Rep’s concerned, and advise vigilance being Worker, Socialist, leader of the
maintained to ensure allocation of Sundays stays this way. However, the 1919 German Revolution– she,
new staff on the Gateline link (some of whom are from the Agencies) and hundreds of her supporters
are all on six-month rolling contracts, which has NEVER been agreed were captured, manhandled and
with this Union. This sets a dangerous precedent for current Terms and shot without trial.
Conditions as well as any future recruitment. The Branch condemns this
blatant disregard for equal opportunities among new starters and like- “In her assassination Hohen-
wise the breach of Collective Bargaining with this Union, as this was zollern Germany celebrated its
NEVER agreed and brought n without telling anyone. We urge these last triumph and Nazi Germany
staff to join RMT as a mater of urgency and PROTECT YOUR JOBS NOW! its first"

7 Stratford, London E15… CONTACT THE SECRETARY FOR DETAILS


PHONE: 0207 7529 8835

NEXT BRANCH MEETING:
TUESDAY 16th FEBRUARY 2010, 1700 HOURS:
Stratford, London E15… CONTACT THE SECRETARY FOR DETAILS.
8

Newsletter: February, 2010

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