Strike dates announced for Scotrail

[YorkRailFan]

Rail union TSSA has announced further strike action at ScotRail in a long running dispute over on call working arrangements.

Strikes have been declared for the 30th and 31st of March by our Operations Team Manager (OTM) grades in the latest stage of a dispute going back to late 2021. Similar action took place last December.

Since then, and after high-level in person talks between ScotRail bosses and TSSA General Secretary, Maryam Eslamdoust, the company has done nothing to suggest they are prepared to shift their ground.

Commenting, Eslamdoust said: “It’s simply not acceptable to have ScotRail stick their heads in the sand and ignore the pressing concerns of our members. That is why we will act by returning to the picket line.

“Our union only goes on strike as a last resort and I would urge ScotRail to come back to the table with meaningful proposals regarding our numerous concerns about the terms and conditions of on call duties.

“Our members are vital to the running of the Scotland’s railways and deserve to be treated with respect by their employers over their legitimate grievances. Since our last walkout we have only grown in strength among these grades.”

The dispute includes Conductor Team Managers, Driver Team Managers, On Train Team Managers and Station Team Managers, Operations Development Managers and Senior Operations Development Managers working at stations across Scotland.

Further strikes announced at ScotRail | TSSA

Rail union TSSA has announced further strike action at ScotRail in a long running dispute over on call working arrangements. Read more here.

www.tssa.org.uk

Not great news for Scotrail, as at the same time the RMT is also balloting their members at Scotrail on DOO although if strike action by the RMT does occur it won't happen this month as the ballot closes in April. Regarding TSSA, this is a terms and conditions dispute and not a pay dispute, TSSA doesn't have as many members at Scotrail as the RMT or ASLEF so the strike won't cause as much disruption as when the RMT or ASLEF strike but the affect will still be noticeable.

RMT Press Office:

Scotrail workers will be balloted for strike action over Driver Only Operation (DOO) trains, RMT can reveal.

Bosses at the Scottish government run train company have said Barrhead and East Kilbride routes can run services without a second member of staff at the discretion of the driver.

Over a 100 hundred conductors who will be affected by Scotrail's plans will be balloted.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: "Scotrail are trying to sneak through DOO via the backdoor by putting train drivers in a difficult position, giving them the power to decide whether a train runs or not without a second staff member on board.

"It is important for safety and the comfort of passengers that a second person is on these Scotrail services and we will resist all attempts to endanger our members jobs.

"The Scottish government needs to make an intervention to stop DOO on the Barrhead and East Kilbride routes taking place.

"Members will be incensed at the behaviour of Scotrail bosses and we are confident they will deliver a strong mandate for strike action."

END

Notes: The ballot will open on Wednesday 20th March 2024 and will close on Thursday 11th April

RMT to launch strike ballot on Scotrail over DOO

Scotrail workers will be balloted for strike action over Driver Only Operation (DOO) trains, RMT can reveal.

www.rmt.org.uk

Here is the press release from the RMT regarding the balloting on DOO.

 

[northscots]

This one has been rumbling on for a long time and has largely gone unreported. As it's not operational staff involved its impact on services is minimal.

 

[Falcon1200]

The RMT DOO ballot is nonsensical, given that for over 30 years DOO trains have run from the same terminal (Glasgow Central), to the same areas of Glasgow (the South side), with the same stock as operates to Barrhead, and will to East Kilbride.

 

[MikeWM]

So much for going to Scotland to avoid strikes! Though looks like my trip next month will be before the RMT can walk out, given their ballot doesn't close until April 11th.

This leaves, what? Just Wales, and half of Merseyside, where you can reliably plan anything by train more than 2 weeks in advance?

 

[Carlisle]

The RMT DOO ballot is nonsensical, given that for over 30 years DOO trains have run from the same terminal (Glasgow Central), to the same areas of Glasgow (the South side), with the same stock as operates to Barrhead, and will to East Kilbride.

Plus Whifflet, Paisley Canal & Larkhall lines went DCO after electrification without any opposition from the RMT as far as I’m aware

 

[380101]

The RMT DOO ballot is nonsensical, given that for over 30 years DOO trains have run from the same terminal (Glasgow Central), to the same areas of Glasgow (the South side), with the same stock as operates to Barrhead, and will to East Kilbride.

What the RMT have failed to publish is that major improvements have been secured by ASLEF in regards to the Strathclyde Manning Agreement (SMA), which covers all electric services in the region. Currently the SMA only requires a 2nd person (Ticket Examiner) to be rostered for the service in order for it to run. This means that the driver must take the service if a TE is rostered on the diagram, regardless of whether said rostered TE is actually onboard the train.

ScotRail have agreed improvements to the SMA to change the wording from rostered to guaranteed 2nd person on all services. and if the guaranteed 2nd person is not on the train then it does not go unless the driver deems it safe to do so. This would come into effect in December 2024 subject to the RMT agreeing the changes.

All conductors currently being balloted have been given a job guarantee that they will remain a conductor until they either retire or change role. Conductors will still work Barrhead and East Kilbride services going forward and the driver will control the doors. 118 new Ticket Examiner jobs will be created as a result of the changes to the SMA and a further 36 Conductors will also be recruited.

Ultimately the changes to the SMA agreed between ScotRail and ASLEF significantly improve the passenger experience on ScotRail electric services and also significantly strengthen the position Ticket Examiners hold should they resort to industrial action.

 

[Towers]

What the RMT have failed to publish is that major improvements have been secured by ASLEF in regards to the Strathclyde Manning Agreement (SMA), which covers all electric services in the region. Currently the SMA only requires a 2nd person (Ticket Examiner) to be rostered for the service in order for it to run. This means that the driver must take the service if a TE is rostered on the diagram, regardless of whether said rostered TE is actually onboard the train.

ScotRail have agreed improvements to the SMA to change the wording from rostered to guaranteed 2nd person on all services. and if the guaranteed 2nd person is not on the train then it does not go unless the driver deems it safe to do so. This would come into effect in December 2024 subject to the RMT agreeing the changes.

All conductors currently being balloted have been given a job guarantee that they will remain a conductor until they either retire or change role. Conductors will still work Barrhead and East Kilbride services going forward and the driver will control the doors. 118 new Ticket Examiner jobs will be created as a result of the changes to the SMA and a further 36 Conductors will also be recruited.

Ultimately the changes to the SMA agreed between ScotRail and ASLEF significantly improve the passenger experience on ScotRail electric services and also significantly strengthen the position Ticket Examiners hold should they resort to industrial action.

Another ‘Southern’, then?

I’m no fan of extending DOO, and neither supposedly are Aslef, but the RMT need to acknowledge that strikes in this scenario are utterly doomed to failure. If it can happen anyway and Aslef are willing to let that be the case, there can be zero impact from striking. Up to the RMT to find a progressive way forwards other than fighting the tide here, whether that be working more closely with Aslef to secure retention of Rules-competent second crew members, or even just achieving the best conditions for those colleagues seeing their roles affected. ‘Fingers-in-ears’ striking until the bitter end is not a route to success.

 

[yorkie]

The RMT DOO ballot is nonsensical, given that for over 30 years DOO trains have run from the same terminal (Glasgow Central), to the same areas of Glasgow (the South side), with the same stock as operates to Barrhead, and will to East Kilbride.

Indeed it is nonsensical from the perspective of passengers, or the greater good of the railway; these trains are the best (outer) suburban trains to travel on from a customer perspective, as far as I'm concerned.

In my experience the on-board customer facing staff on these trains are almost always very keen, pragmatic, helpful, polite and good-natured. The doors also open very promptly and station dwells are efficient. The drivers are also great; I've seen them wait for people who arrived at the platform at the last moment.

I travelled from Stafford to some suburban station in Glasgow a few years ago and - at that time -had to get 3 Avanti trains to get to Glasgow. Despite being booked in 1st class, the first ticket check I had was at Central, on the Scotrail service. And it was before the wheels had started turning!

I fully support the concept of having on board staff on trains like this, but having staff like those who are on the electric services on Scotrail is absolutely the best way to do it.

In contrast, I've travelled on numerous trains in England lately with a Guard where no ticket check took place; this includes journeys involving multiple trains and over long distances.

....I’m no fan of extending DOO...

I am absolutely a fan of the way things are done in the Glasgow area, as I suspect any regular user of the service would be.

The operation of the train isn't really relevant to customers; what customers want to see is proactive, friendly staff, interacting with customers and constantly patrolling the train.

....but the RMT need to acknowledge that strikes in this scenario are utterly doomed to failure..

The RMT don't think like you or me, so they won't acknowledge that.

This is just a re-run of the "A to B" (Airdree to Bathgate) reopening; ultimately the service went to DOO and Bathgate to Edinburgh is a vastly better service than in the old days of Guard-operated diesel trains.

 

[Falcon1200]

Ultimately the changes to the SMA agreed between ScotRail and ASLEF significantly improve the passenger experience on ScotRail electric services and also significantly strengthen the position Ticket Examiners hold should they resort to industrial action.

Thanks for the detail, the revised agreement looks to me a reasonable way of running the service.

 

[Towers]

I am absolutely a fan of the way things are done in the Glasgow area, as I suspect any regular user of the service would be.

The operation of the train isn't really relevant to customers; what customers want to see is proactive, friendly staff, interacting with customers and constantly patrolling the train.

The RMT don't think like you or me, so they won't acknowledge that.

The RMT really do need to acknowledge and fully grasp those situations where striking is utterly futile, failure to do so is as bizarre as it is frustrating, no doubt for all concerned.

 

[Kite159]

.

I am absolutely a fan of the way things are done in the Glasgow area, as I suspect any regular user of the service would be.

The operation of the train isn't really relevant to customers; what customers want to see is proactive, friendly staff, interacting with customers and constantly patrolling the train.

Agreed there, although even within Scotland you get the few 'bad' eggs of Ticket Examiners (TE) who make themselves at home at the rear of the train and not bother doing anything like patrolling the train or checking revenue.

Sadly I suspect all the new agreement will do is increase cancellations in the event a rostered TE is delayed along the way or has an incident, with some drivers using the absence as an excuse to cancel the train under 'safety'

 

[glasgowniteowl]

Whether it's a TE or guard I'm not bothered, what does bother me is that lack of total guarantee of a second person on board, my friend frequently travels on a doo line in glasgow, she is a wheelchair user, though I can't say it's a regular occurrence but she has been left on the platform more than a few times as no one to put a ramp down and drivers won't do it and then she is left having to wait on sometimes cold platforms at night alone for next train hoping its got a TE, so I have an issue with it still being OK to be single crewed if the driver says its ok

 

[Falcon1200]

so I have an issue with it still being OK to be single crewed if the driver says its ok

But every train would be, and even now should be, booked to have two staff; If only the Driver was available it could either run fully DOO, with the risk as you say of possibly disadvantaging some passengers, or else it would be cancelled, in which case every passenger would be affected.

 

[YorkRailFan]

This leaves, what? Just Wales, and half of Merseyside, where you can reliably plan anything by train more than 2 weeks in advance?

TSSA has an ongoing dispute with TFW.

 

[Drogba11CFC]

Would this cover the whole of Scotrail or just Strathclyde?

 

[Towers]

But every train would be, and even now should be, booked to have two staff; If only the Driver was available it could either run fully DOO, with the risk as you say of possibly disadvantaging some passengers, or else it would be cancelled, in which case every passenger would be affected.

Another consequence of DOO/DCO; it becomes acceptable to dump any responsibilities towards those needing assistance. Back in the dark ages when such a system was first introduced, the rights and social mobility of those with disabilities or in need of additional assistance was a long way down the list of priorities. Buses were wholly inaccessible to anybody using a wheelchair, and the railway wasn’t far behind. We now have a system where the railway has legal obligations not to discriminate, except where a 1980s-standard system of operating is still in place, in which case a lack of ready access is allowed to continue.

Where a train requires a guard, every effort will be made to find one and the train won’t arrive without it. Cancellation of the train is a last resort and comes at a direct financial cost to the TOC. DOO with “probably someone else on board” offers no such guarantee, and no such financial incentive to resource that second person. Disability law really ought to prevent this sort of behaviour in this day and age.

Would this cover the whole of Scotrail or just Strathclyde?

Just Strathclyde, which is a longstanding DOO area. The rest of SR operates with fully crewed trains.

 

[GordonT]

Would this cover the whole of Scotrail or just Strathclyde?

Or Strathclyde plus Airdrie-Bathgate-Edinburgh?

 

[glasgowniteowl]

But every train would be, and even now should be, booked to have two staff; If only the Driver was available it could either run fully DOO, with the risk as you say of possibly disadvantaging some passengers, or else it would be cancelled, in which case every passenger would be affected.

I just want someone to put the ramp down for my friend so she is not left on a platform, if driver is taking it as doo with no one else they should also them take responsibility for putting the ramp down as well, a few minutes delay would have to be acceptable

 

[Towers]

I just want someone to put the ramp down for my friend so she is not left on a platform, if driver is taking it as doo with no one else they should also them take responsibility for putting the ramp down as well, a few minutes delay would have to be acceptable

Drivers will never be doing ramp duties; it’ll remain “hopefully there’s a TE but if not tough” until such time as the law catches up with the modern age and outlaws such discrimination in full.

 

[Falcon1200]

DOO with “probably someone else on board” offers no such guarantee, and no such financial incentive to resource that second person.

A DOO agreement which stipulates a second person rostered for every single train provides that guarantee, that second person does not have to be a Guard.

 

[Towers]

A DOO agreement which stipulates a second person rostered for every single train provides that guarantee, that second person does not have to be a Guard.

Not quite; “rostered for” is not the same as guaranteed. Rostering takes place several days before the event, a person might well be rostered but not actually present on the day.

 

[Carntyne]

Not quite; “rostered for” is not the same as guaranteed. Rostering takes place several days before the event, a person might well be rostered but not actually present on the day.

Worth reading post #6.

 

[glasgowniteowl]

Worth reading post #6.

So guaranteed second person on the train actually doesn't mean that a second person is guaranteed to be on the train, it might still just be the driver, so disabled passengers have the potential to be left on the platform, where at the moment a train with a guard would not be leaving them, it is a reduction in the treatment of disabled passengers and today I have made a few relevant organisations aware of exactly what has been proposed, some were already aware but some were not.

 

[Towers]

Worth reading post #6.

“Unless the driver deems it safe to do so” is a frankly bizarre metric for whether the train runs or not; I would suggest it’s rather meaningless. Is the default position that it is “unsafe” to run minus the TE? If so, what then has to happen for “the driver to deem it safe”? An empty train? The driver wanting to get home?!

A poor arrangement, and most definitely not a “guaranteed” second person by quite a long way!

 

[GordonT]

“Unless the driver deems it safe to do so” is a frankly bizarre metric for whether the train runs or not;

It sure is. Could almost be interpreted as "runs according to the whim of the individual driver concerned".

 

[Falcon1200]

Rostering takes place several days before the event, a person might well be rostered but not actually present on the day.

Which applies just as much to Guards as any other role.

where at the moment a train with a guard would not be leaving them

But if the Guard was not there every single person would be left as the train would be cancelled!

FWIW, in my view every single train must have a second person rostered, and Scotrail must employ enough staff, with reasonable allowance for holidays, sickness etc, to ensure that running fully DOO is very much a rarity, however if due to unforeseen circumstances that second person is not present it is better for the train to run DOO than not run at all.

 

[glasgowniteowl]

however if due to unforeseen circumstances that second person is not present it is better for the train to run DOO than not run at all.

That sort of really depends on the definition of better, it is not better by any stretch of the imagination for the wheelchair user left on a cold platform alone, my friend just made the comment leaving the cripple behind is never morally better(she is talking about herself), society should be measured by how they treat the less fortunate and if scotrail think that leaving disabled people on platforms and taking the rest of passengers is better then that is wrong

 

[Carlisle]

That sort of really depends on the definition of better, it is not better by any stretch of the imagination for the wheelchair user left on a cold platform alone,

If the new agreement works correctly this should be extremely unlikely but it’s probably far simpler, quicker & more realistic for the TOC to organise an accessible taxi or two than to arrange alternative transport for an entire trainload of passengers travelling to multiple destinations, happy to be corrected if wrong .

 

[Towers]

Which applies just as much to Guards as any other role.



But if the Guard was not there every single person would be left as the train would be cancelled!

FWIW, in my view every single train must have a second person rostered, and Scotrail must employ enough staff, with reasonable allowance for holidays, sickness etc, to ensure that running fully DOO is very much a rarity, however if due to unforeseen circumstances that second person is not present it is better for the train to run DOO than not run at all.

It does apply to guards, but as I mentioned above if a rostered guard is not available there is a financial incentive for the TOC to source a replacement in order for the train to run. This is why there are spare crew daily, and if no spare is available it is common to use late offers of overtime to find someone else willing to work the uncovered shift. There is no opportunity for the train to just be run without because the driver “deems it safe”, which in turn provides a powerful incentive to find a guard.

That sort of really depends on the definition of better, it is not better by any stretch of the imagination for the wheelchair user left on a cold platform alone, my friend just made the comment leaving the cripple behind is never morally better(she is talking about herself), society should be measured by how they treat the less fortunate and if scotrail think that leaving disabled people on platforms and taking the rest of passengers is better then that is wrong

It’s also of increasingly questionable legality, and rightly so.

 

[68000]

I have been commuting on the suburban Glasgow DOO electric services for decades and it is excellent. It is really noticable how long non DOO services take to allow passengers to open the doors at stations when compared to most electric services around Glasgow