I must admit part of me wonders if there wouldn't be some strategic mileage for the RMT to make two specific concessions that would represent a show of good faith (always handy) and represent something actually reasonably substantial but without fundamentally caving in or undermining their members. I'm thinking that:
1) The RMT should agree to driver door release (on suitably equipped stock). I personally think this is the best method of operation and I do think it's relatively hard to argue against the benefits of not being tied to someone who might get stuck selling tickets or fighting through throngs of people. The overwhelming majority of times that doors aren't released for a while after arrival have been because the guard is busy doing revenue and out of position. It also gives a massive chunk of the DfT/Northern "modernisation" agenda to them. I suppose there is a safety argument to be made for releasing doors it's always felt tenuous.
2) Where dispatchers are provided then drivers can close the doors and take the right away from the dispatchers without guards intervention (where not available guards would remain responsible for closing doors/giving the right away). It's always seemed to me that having dispatchers is the safest form of handling dispatching a train so you struggle to make an argument that it isn't as safe as having a guard do it. I know there's an argument about watching the train out of the platform ready to give one on the bell but a) on modern stock with no opening windows in most positions it's almost impossible to actually do this effectively and b) there's no reason you couldn't still have guards do that. It's a compromise that gives the DfT/Northern a bit of their "modernisation" without compromising safety.
The above doesn't really harm the RMT's position in any fundamental way. I can't think of a single route that could go DOO under those two conditions and I'm struggling to think of any that could be easily converted to be DOO whilst meeting those conditions for instance we're not going to be seeing dispatchers at Littleborough, Greenbank or South Milford anytime soon (let alone Ulleskelf or Chathill!
).
But whilst it doesn't harm their position it does give in on one factor (number 1) that I think is hard to argue against without just being "we've always done it this way!" about it and gives in some ground (number 2) but without giving up the whole shooting match.
Also helps allay any accusations that the RMT are being unreasonable and obstructionist as they could then happily point to the fact that they've given ground and perhaps it's time for the other side to do so...
Doubtlessly I'm missing something fundamental in an industrial relations dispute like this but it seems a like an easy win to me!