VTWC Facing Industrial Action By On-Board Staff

[FordFocus]

RMT. A bit more detail in this press release

https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/massive-vote-for-strike-action-on-virgin-west-coast/

RAIL UNION RMT confirmed today that members on Virgin West Coast services have voted massively by over nine to one in favour of both strike action and action short of a strike in a dispute over pay justice.


The ballot that closed today included nearly 1800 Train Managers, On Board Catering, Station, Clerical and Retail Grades on the West Coast route from Glasgow down to Euston. The vote returned massive majorities for both strike action and action short of a strike on a high turnout of those eligible to vote:...

 

[dk1]

Would that annoy ASLEF? If £500 equaled a 1.25% increase for drivers but it equals 2.5% for train managers, then they'd be effectively offering a much bigger pay rise to RMT members.

True. Well the equivalent to buy back that 1hr. Seems only fair.

 

[footprints]

400+ TSSA members at VTWC are being balloted on the same issue.

http://www.railtechnologymagazine.c...-and-new-year-virgin-west-coast-strike-ballot

Members of the TSSA working at Virgin West Coast will be balloted on whether to strike over the Christmas and New Year period.

Union members make up over 400 of the total staff on the service – which connects London with the north west, north Wales and Scotland.

The union says the strike is related to pay for station and carriage staff.

A spokesperson for the organisation said they would not begrudge drivers a “decent” settlement but expected other staff to be equally deserving of increases.

They said: “Richard Branson needs to get involved personally and order an equal pay rise across the board or face a staff that will become divided not just against each other but against him.

“It is not that they want to disrupt either their bosses’ Christmas retreat, or disrupt passengers holiday travel arrangements, but unless he comes out of hiding to help settle this unequal pay round, he will force his staff into stopping trains at Christmas to get his attention....

 

[XCTurbostar]

1X01 ran from London Euston to Preston today apparently with managers on board being taught guard duties..

 

[FordFocus]

And those non-unionised workers being forced into accepting anything or face losing their jobs are directing their anger at the wrong people! I wonder why..I really can't think why..the newspaper they read, perhaps?

Yes. It's not really applicable to this RMT action though is it really? It's ultimately up to others to sort THEIR terms and conditions, salary and working conditions. Either form or join a union and try and go down the collective bargaining route if it's suitable for their industry and workplace. People should be aspiring to better themselves not to try and drag other people down to their level and become a race to the bottom.

From what I can gather with this VTWC dispute is most grades had an agreement in the latest pay deal that they would reduce the working week by one hour. When it was due to come in I presume that VTWC didn't realise either the cost or staffing needed to implement this so tried to bail out. ASLEF and VTWC renegotiated the pay deal and removed the hour long reduction with a £500 payment on top of their salary to compensate. The RMT have approached VTWC about a similar offer to be made to non-driver grades. VTWC have said it must be "cost neutral" i.e. the company want something in return which isn't what ASLEF and VTWC agreed. They got a £500 payment to make this company contract breach 'go away'...

The fact that it's such a huge vote for industrial action shows how the workforce feel about this.

 

[BestWestern]

TOCs could perhaps consider offering 'all grades' rises of the same percentage, rather than dealing with everybody separately and having shouts of unfairness on their hands.

As for falling passenger numbers, I would suggest the most likely causes might be the excrutiating fares and being wedged into crush loaded trains every day, rather than the extreme rarity of strike action.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

RMT. A bit more detail in this press release
https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/massive-vote-for-strike-action-on-virgin-west-coast/

This read quite reasonably until the pop at Richard Branson at the end.
The RMT obviously hasn't noticed that his "luxury island" was smashed to bits in a recent hurricane.

 

[FordFocus]

This read quite reasonably until the pop at Richard Branson at the end.
The RMT obviously hasn't noticed that his "luxury island" was smashed to bits in a recent hurricane.

I was going to quote it but I just sighed at the luxury island remark and wondered how long it would take for someone to pick up on it..

 

[Darandio]

This read quite reasonably until the pop at Richard Branson at the end.
The RMT obviously hasn't noticed that his "luxury island" was smashed to bits in a recent hurricane.

They are becoming increasingly pathetic with every press release.

 

[Starmill]

That's absolutely crackers. How can anyone justify publishing that kind of apoplectic nonsense?

 

[Essan]

That press release is just ridiculous.

 

[Kite159]

RMT. A bit more detail in this press release

https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/massive-vote-for-strike-action-on-virgin-west-coast/

And before it gets changed and to save people having to click on the website:

16 November 2017

RMT Press Office:

Massive vote for strike action on Virgin West Coast in fight over pay justice

RAIL UNION RMT confirmed today that members on Virgin West Coast services have voted massively by over nine to one in favour of both strike action and action short of a strike in a dispute over pay justice.


The ballot that closed today included nearly 1800 Train Managers, On Board Catering, Station, Clerical and Retail Grades on the West Coast route from Glasgow down to Euston. The vote returned massive majorities for both strike action and action short of a strike on a high turnout of those eligible to vote:


Are you prepared to take strike action?

Number of individuals who were entitled to vote in the ballot: 1793
Number of votes cast in the ballot: 1463
Number of individuals answering “Yes” to the question: 1334
Number of individuals answering “No” to the question: 129

Are you prepared to take industrial action short of a strike?

Number of individuals who were entitled to vote in the ballot: 1793
Number of votes cast in the ballot: 1462
Number of individuals answering “Yes” to the question: 1392
Number of individuals answering “No” to the question: 70

The ballot result will now be considered by RMT’s Executive who will decide on the next steps.


At the heart of the dispute is the RMT demand for a suitable equal offer for its Virgin West Coast members to that received by drivers. Virgin have agreed a deal for drivers to buy out their claim for a one hour reduction in the base working week without loss of pay by giving an additional £500.00 on their basic salary, which is pensionable, whilst asking RMT to enter into self-financing arrangements for other grades.


RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said:
“Our members have voted overwhelmingly for action in this ballot which is all about workplace equality and workplace justice.


“All our members are demanding is a suitable and equal offer to that given to drivers to buy out their claim for a reduction in the base working week. We have made it clear to the company that the inequality and underhanded approach of Virgin will be fought tooth and nail. We will not accept our members being dealt with less favourably than others.


“The message needs to get through to Sir Richard Branson on his luxury island retreat in the sunshine that those who are financing his lifestyle through their hard graft have had enough and are prepared to fight for justice in their workplaces.


“The result will now be considered by the union’s executive and we remain available for serious talks aimed at righting this wrong.”

ENDS


Editors Notes
• It was the Company who have breached the procedural agreement by breaking away and entering into separate discussions with another Union instead of holding single table negotiations whereby everyone is “treated fairly and equally”.


• It was the Company who have unilaterally breached the agreement reached in principle on 3rd July 2017, as contained within the agreed and signed minutes.


• The Company have benefited from the increased productivity already provided by frontline passenger interfacing staff.


• The Company has seen continued passenger revenues and journey growth during successive financial years and continues to make profit share payments to the DfT.*


• The Company has recorded record profits over successive years due to your dedication, hard work and commitment.*


• The Company has been able to afford an increase in the number of highly paid directors by 66.6%. and over £1.5m remuneration/benefits to directors up 16%*


• The Company have been able to increase the highest paid director’s salary by close on £50k plus other benefits in the last 3 years.*


• The Company have been able to pay out dividends to the principle shareholders amounting to £108m over the last 3 years.*


• The Company has also been able to pay out vast sums to other parts of the Virgin and Stagecoach groups on the backs of your endeavours.*


• The Company benefitted hugely by saving approximately £5.2m in pension contributions plus other savings to NI as a result of the introduction of SMART pensions as accepted by RMT members.*


• The Company’s latest Customer Satisfaction survey results maintain a high position compared to other long distance train operators. This has been achieved by the Company’s good value for money offerings and the dedication of staff.*


• The Company retained the Best UK Domestic Train Service award at the Business Traveller Awards in 2016 – off your back.*


• The number of passenger journeys has increased to 37.7million, a 6% increase from the previous financial year.*


• The Company reputation has improved due to the significant improvement in punctuality during the last financial year.*


• The registered Company profit for 2017 amounted to £51,287m up from £51,023m the previous year.*


• The Company Directors remain confident that, under the terms of the Franchise Agreement, the Company will remain profitable over its current franchise term. Based on the anticipated profitable position and forecast cash flows of the Company, the directors have a reasonable expectation that the Company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the current franchise term.*


• The Company due to the staffs valuable contribution to the success of the business under the Virgin brand have been awarded a further DAC taking their control and operation of the Franchise through to April 2019.


*details taken from the Companies recent sets of accounts

Sounds like the RMT weren't happy about Virgin dealing direct with ASLEF for their pay reward.

 

[Solent&Wessex]

TOCs could perhaps consider offering 'all grades' rises of the same percentage, rather than dealing with everybody separately and having shouts of unfairness on their hands.

Which is EXACTLY what the issue is about apparently.

The TOC I work at has done exactly that for as long as I have worked there and it has always worked out OK. The only problem with that is that the pay difference between the highest paid (drivers) and the lowest paid (generally station grades) increases year on year.

But dealing with everyone separately "divide and conquer" is exactly what the DfT and most likely most TOCs want as it allows them to get more of what they want - see Southern page 794.

 

[DarloRich]

TOCs could perhaps consider offering 'all grades' rises of the same percentage, rather than dealing with everybody separately and having shouts of unfairness on their hands.

As for falling passenger numbers, I would suggest the most likely causes might be the excrutiating fares and being wedged into crush loaded trains every day, rather than the extreme rarity of strike action.

That is what happens in our place - X (small)% across the board.

They are becoming increasingly pathetic with every press release.

That's absolutely crackers. How can anyone justify publishing that kind of apoplectic nonsense?

That press release is just ridiculous.

For pointing out that the hard work of the little people pays for Mr Branson's island? It is obviously silly but is clearly the political stance taken by RMT. It is a view popular with lots of the population who think the richest are extracting the urine at their expense.

 

[XCTurbostar]

I agree that the Branson comment is a a little harsh based on recent events but I don’t think they’re getting worse with their press releases. The RMT have always been very anti-rich so I’m not surprised.

 

[Starmill]

It's not about being 'anti-rich'. I'm deeply concerned about inequality and the unbalanced nature of society. But so are almost all unions, and they behave in a way that garners them some respect and trust in the wider public sphere. The RMT are undoing this with their vitriolic spew.

Am I concerned about a very small number of people controlling a very large proportion of our limited resources? Yes!
Am I going to get personal about one of those individuals and start publicly abusing them? No.

Someone needs to grow up big time.

 

[driver_m]

Well, it took rather a lot of posts before fordfocus got it absolutely right on the details. Should call this thread, "today's thread on being critical of the RMT"

For obvious reasons I will not post any more on this subject. I just hope that the print media will report the facts fairly to the general public, and the pig I am watching about to commence it's flight, has a safe one!!

 

[Starmill]

I just hope that the print media will report the facts fairly to the general public

It would be fair and factual for the media to report on the RMT's press releases. They are written by the RMT, you know. Not the government or 'the media'.

 

[MG11]

Another one not likely to play well with the public I suspect.

Probably, but it's not Virgin's fault or even their staff's fault. Ultimately, the staff feel oblidged tomgo with what the union say.

 

[Camden]

I'm not going to compare wages or conditions to elsewhere, but I will say this:

Despite the various hardships (hardships go with almost any job, in almost any industry), generally speaking people who work in the rail industry enjoy great pay, great daily conditions, typically work in a field they enjoy, have great staff protections, have great pensions, get great and valuable perks, and are protected from the sorts of upheavals that most other people face regularly.

And it also appears they strike at the drop of a hat (which they can well afford, due to their pay).

Now, you might argue that these things go hand in hand. Here's my view: Enjoy your perks while you can, because I believe today's railway workers are signing their own long-term redundancy notices. In an era of high-end, artificial intelligence based automation, you couldn't be giving the rail companies, government, and public, any more incentive to start giving the rail industry top billing for efforts to remove all but a token (and non-essential) human-worker presence aboard the trains.

 

[HH]

True. Well the equivalent to buy back that 1hr. Seems only fair.

Buy back an hour? It reads that they paid the money vice a claim against a 1 hour reduction. On the face of it that claim would appear to have no basis except as something you might have, in olden days, written on a piece of paper and sent up the chimney. Especially as VTWC drivers have some of the best T&Cs in the industry. Note that they are already on a 4-day 35 hour week (although IIRC it's actually rostered as 4 x 5 day weeks on, 1 week off).

So Virgin gave them money for nothing and I don't believe that is the first time. This one may have simply been the final straw for other grades of staff, sick of being treated differently. But drivers hold a big stick on intercity services - other staff not so much.

 

[6Z09]

The sad facts are that over the past couple of years it has become "Race to the bottom" across the industry.
Part time, Zero hours contracts appearing use of "Agency Staff"
Mass redundancy followed by recruitment on diluted salary and conditions all happening ,perhaps not on Virgin but certainly in many other TOCs and FOCs.

 

[Deafdoggie]

Thought Virgin would just pay them the £500 same as their drivers & avoid the bad press.

I'm not sure it is bad press. The public don't really support train workers on strike. And Virgin are saying they will run the trains anyway. Doesn't seem bad publicity to me

 

[al78]

I imagine that any action will not go down well with the public now, regardless of the reasons. People are just sick of it.

Agreed, I'm one of them. I'm glad I now have a car, because the parts of the rail network I use most frequently are fast becoming unfeasible thanks to the ridiculously long disruption.

 

[6Z09]

I'm not going to compare wages or conditions to elsewhere, but I will say this:

Despite the various hardships (hardships go with almost any job, in almost any industry), generally speaking people who work in the rail industry enjoy great pay, great daily conditions, typically work in a field they enjoy, have great staff protections, have great pensions, get great and valuable perks, and are protected from the sorts of upheavals that most other people face regularly.

And it also appears they strike at the drop of a hat (which they can well afford, due to their pay).

Now, you might argue that these things go hand in hand. Here's my view: Enjoy your perks while you can, because I believe today's railway workers are signing their own long-term redundancy notices. In an era of high-end, artificial intelligence based automation, you couldn't be giving the rail companies, government, and public, any more incentive to start giving the rail industry top billing for efforts to remove all but a token (and non-essential) human-worker presence aboard the trains.

I doubt any union members strike " at the drop of a hat"
It is the failure of negotiations that lead to action like strikes.

 

[footprints]

I doubt any union members strike " at the drop of a hat"
It is the failure of negotiations that lead to action like strikes.

Or the failure of the RMT to negotiate effectively, seemingly perceiving strike action as the first/preferred course of action rather than a last resort.

 

[Darandio]

Or the failure of the RMT to negotiate effectively, seemingly perceiving strike action as the first/preferred course of action rather than a last resort.

And when you consider part of the press release indicates that Virgin were not willing to negotiate with the RMT, this speaks volumes about the current feeling.

 

[mpthomson]

Who is to blame for that?

Why does anyone have to be to blame? It's just the way life is. I'd also point out that big wage increases across the board just push up inflation, meaning no-one ends up better off.

 

[DarloRich]

Why does anyone have to be to blame? It's just the way life is. I'd also point out that big wage increases across the board just push up inflation, meaning no-one ends up better off.

Someone is always to blame for something! Things don't just happen. I haven't seen any of these big wage increases btw.

I'm not going to compare wages or conditions to elsewhere, but I will say this:

Despite the various hardships (hardships go with almost any job, in almost any industry), generally speaking people who work in the rail industry enjoy great pay, great daily conditions, typically work in a field they enjoy, have great staff protections, have great pensions, get great and valuable perks, and are protected from the sorts of upheavals that most other people face regularly.

What perks are these?

I have a pension ( which is better than the no pension I had in previous employment) but it isnt, really, any better payout wise than a private pension. It pays slightly better if i die in service and should be less risky than a private pension but it isnt one of these mythical gold plated jobs!

And it also appears they strike at the drop of a hat (which they can well afford, due to their pay).

That is a lie. I have never been on strike. Ever.

Now, you might argue that these things go hand in hand. Here's my view: Enjoy your perks while you can, because I believe today's railway workers are signing their own long-term redundancy notices. In an era of high-end, artificial intelligence based automation, you couldn't be giving the rail companies, government, and public, any more incentive to start giving the rail industry top billing for efforts to remove all but a token (and non-essential) human-worker presence aboard the trains.

Here's my view: I don't, necessarily, disagree but think that even if you are good little boys and don't rock the boat the Tories and their chums will come for you. The example I always use is the Union of Democratic Mineworkers ("The Nottinghamshire miners").

 

[Goldfish62]

Why does anyone have to be to blame? It's just the way life is. I'd also point out that big wage increases across the board just push up inflation, meaning no-one ends up better off.

Not only are the railways locked in an industrial relations time warp from the 1970s, for which I blame both sides, but it also looks like they're intent on repeating the same mistakes.

Rail workers are in an extremely strong position to disrupt people's lives given that rail travel for most people is a distress purchase. However, only 10% of the population use trains. To most they're an utter irrelevance.

My suspicions are that TOC management are incompetent and out of their depth in dealing with stong unions, thinking that macho management will solve all problems, while I'm not convinced that the RMT NEC aren't putting their political ideology ahead of the best interests of their members.

Both sides have really got to get a grip and end this downward spiral of industrial action which has come about. Otherwise, disaster looms for the industry, I fear.