ASLEF Overtime Ban at TPE Suspended

[Urobach]

Positive news on the horizon?

Messages from Transpennine MD and ASLEF saying overtime ban has been suspended with further discussions tomorrow.

 

[Iskra]

Hallelujah

Will this translate in to an improved service or is it a false dawn?

 

[Moonshot]

Hallelujah

Will this translate in to an improved service or is it a false dawn?

Might be dependent on RMT agreeing that as well.......so not sure.

 

[Flying Snail]

Will a significant proportion of staff that have had an extended period of no overtime refuse to go back to giving up their rest days?

 

[43066]

Will a significant proportion of staff that have had an extended period of no overtime refuse to go back to giving up their rest days?

You mean will people be willing to go back to volunteering to work on their days off?

More than likely many will wish to, impossible for anyone to say how many, of course.

 

[Iskra]

Will a significant proportion of staff that have had an extended period of no overtime refuse to go back to giving up their rest days?

No doubt some will be appreciative of the extra money

 

[RHolmes]

Might be dependent on RMT agreeing that as well.......so not sure.

RMT don’t have an overtime ban with TPE

 

[winks]

So what’s changed here …?

 

[dk1]

Fabulous news if true & just shows how rotten to the core the previous operation was.

 

[Clarence Yard]

No, it shows that there is some politics going on here. The DfT now want “the problem” to go away so the TPE mandate has changed.

 

[Urobach]

Original post was based on internal communication, BBC now reporting as follows

Union calls off TransPennine drivers' overtime ban - BBC News

The ban on rest-day working for train drivers has hit rail services across the north of England.

www.bbc.co.uk

A ban on overtime by train drivers at TransPennine Express (TPE) which has hit rail services across the north of England has been lifted.
Drivers union Aslef had previously clashed with TPE over what it said was a "failure" to recruit enough drivers.
But TPE came under government control in May and is now run by what is known as the Operator of Last Resort (OLR).
Mick Whelan, Aslef general secretary, said the opportunity to solve the issue through the OLR had been "welcome".

'Positive relations'​

Mr Whelan said union members had "always been prepared to work with the company and agree rest-day working to facilitate the recruitment and training of new drivers".
"It was regrettable we had to take the action to ban overtime working, as this kind of action is always a last resort," he said.
Mr Whelan added that he hoped Aslef would be able to continue "in the spirit of collaboration and maintain positive industrial relations with the operator" into the future.
Responding to the lifting of the overtime ban at TPE, Tracy Brabin, Labour Mayor of West Yorkshire, said the government taking control of the company had been "a reset moment, enabling us to work together to find solutions to problems created by the failing operator".
Ms Brabin added: "Today's breakthrough on rest-day working clearly shows progress. I look forward to seeing improvements for passengers in coming months."

Analysis by Spencer Stokes, business correspondent, BBC Yorkshire
The lack of a rest-day working agreement has been one of the key factors in TransPennine's dire performance over the last 18 months.

It has meant that when the company wanted to call on drivers to operate trains to cover for colleagues who were sick or undergoing training, they have not been able to do so.

That meant trains were being cancelled with alarming regularity - at one point in January nearly half the 330 daily scheduled trains were being pulled from the timetable.

Elected mayors across the North called for TPE to be nationalised, arguing that a change of management would improve industrial relations.

It came as surprise to many when the government agreed to scrap the contract with First Group and bring TPE under government control at the end of May.

But the new rest-day working agreement will not solve all the problems.

It is understood that dozens of drivers have left TPE in recent weeks, meaning the new nationalised operator may continue to struggle to run all its scheduled services.

Fundamentally, the company still needs to recruit more train drivers in what is a very competitive market.

 

[Noodle]

As we are still in dispute regarding pay. Not for me.

 

[dk1]

No, it shows that there is some politics going on here. The DfT now want “the problem” to go away so the TPE mandate has changed.

I stand by my previous statement.

 

[Horizon22]

Fabulous news if true & just shows how rotten to the core the previous operation was.

Hardly. The DfT were pulling a lot of the strings and now want to make a "good news" story out of it, despite the fact they could have done this months ago across the country, but didn't want to spend the money to do it and have managed to push the reputational flack onto the operator (although many here have known how it has worked in reality!) Not to say TPE & First were blameless of course as it was clearly the worst of a bunch but the DfT /"nationalisation" coming in as "miracle workers" is exactly the rhetoric they want.

 

[dk1]

Hardly. The DfT were pulling a lot of the strings and now want to make a "good news" story out of it, despite the fact they could have done this months ago across the country, but didn't want to spend the money to do it.

I disagree. This has been going on an awful long while now. Dreadfully run franchise.

 

[Horizon22]

I disagree. This has been going on an awful long while now. Dreadfully run franchise.

If you'd waited for me to expand my comment, you've have said I noted that. But there is also a definite element of opportunism to do this whilst it was probably known things were going to improve (albeit perhaps only slightly) anyway.

 

[dk1]

If you'd waited for me to expand my comment, you've have said I noted that.

I’m confused.com lol

 

[Horizon22]

I’m confused.com lol

Clicked enter too quickly on the previous message you quoted!

 

[dk1]

Clicked enter too quickly on the previous message you quoted!

No worries. Night night.

 

[CAF397]

Hardly. The DfT were pulling a lot of the strings and now want to make a "good news" story out of it, despite the fact they could have done this months ago across the country, but didn't want to spend the money to do it and have managed to push the reputational flack onto the operator (although many here have known how it has worked in reality!) Not to say TPE & First were blameless of course as it was clearly the worst of a bunch but the DfT /"nationalisation" coming in as "miracle workers" is exactly the rhetoric they want.

The DfT can't take credit for this. This extra dispute was due to certain decisions by managers to go against clearly defined agreements in T&Cs.

That these managers have been told to desist in these practices speaks volumes, this is the start of resetting the relationships between the company and union. With maximum credit to the new MD for getting to the root cause.

 

[Horizon22]

The DfT can't take credit for this. This extra dispute was due to certain decisions by managers to go against clearly defined agreements in T&Cs.

That these managers have been told to desist in these practices speaks volumes, this is the start of resetting the relationships between the company and union. With maximum credit to the new MD for getting to the root cause.

And how much were those managers persuaded by their managers who are ultimately answerable to the DfT? This often permeates right down the chain, unfortunately. It was probably a terrible culture that ensued, and sometimes you need a drastic "reset" even if ultimately most of the same people and stakeholders are still involved.

 

[Midlands5678]

Don’t count your laurels. Drivers don’t want to come in on their days off when we are consistently demonised and attacked by this Tory government.

 

[basfordlad]

Don’t count your laurels. Drivers don’t want to come in on their days off when we are consistently demonised and attacked by this Tory government.

Drivers during this time will welcome the extra pay.....

 

[175001]

With maximum credit to the new MD for getting to the root cause.

I wouldn't give him that much credit

 

[childwallblues]

Maybe the new MD might reverse the roster changes of a few years ago.

 

[VauxhallNova]

The DfT can't take credit for this. This extra dispute was due to certain decisions by managers to go against clearly defined agreements in T&Cs.

That these managers have been told to desist in these practices speaks volumes, this is the start of resetting the relationships between the company and union. With maximum credit to the new MD for getting to the root cause.

Agree with this.

 

[Train_manager]

Drivers during this time will welcome the extra pay.....

Not necessarily. With the continued hot weather I prefer to spend my free time with my family.

 

[158801]

Some drivers will obviously want the extra money and will in working every available rest day.

Looking at the comments on here, some drivers won't be working for various reasons.

To restore normal service doesn't need every driver to work every rest day.

Today, at the time of writing, there are 88 cancellations or part cancellations. How many drivers are they short for this number of alterations?

Let's assume it's 15.

Admittedly, not every driver signs every route. Not every driver signs all the traction but if only 10% of their drivers volunteer to work a rest day then they will have enough.

However, one final thought. ASLEF look to have sanctioned the over time ban. But will there be enough militant hardliners (who believe that the national dispute should be settled first) to put the "softer" driver's off working?

 

[Bantamzen]

But will there be enough militant hardliners (who believe that the national dispute should be settled first) to put the "softer" driver's off working?

Any members doing that might want to be careful. There's no problem in trying to respectfully engage with others about not working, but its a fine, fine line these days between discussing it and it turning into pressuring. This kind of thing is really best left to the elected reps, who should better know the boundaries.

 

[geoffk]

Speaking as someone outside the industry, the solution must be to recruit enough drivers so that running a full timetable is not dependent on rest-day working. But we know DfT and the TOCs don't want to pay for the extra training, along with increased pension commitments etc. Is that more or less correct?