06.10.16
Southern strikes to go ahead as RMT rejects offer
Last-ditch talks between Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) and RMT have fallen apart, meaning strikes on the troubled Southern service are set to go ahead on Tuesday.
GTR, Southern’s parent company, gave RMT until 12pm today to accept an eight-point offer for its implementation of driver-only operation (DOO) services, as well as a £2,000 bonus to the affected conductors.
Talks began at 10am, but RMT rejected the offer. A three-day strike will now begin on 11 October as part of a planned series of strikes before Christmas.
Charles Horton, CEO of GTR, said: “I’m deeply disappointed that the RMT leadership have rejected our offer – their counter-proposal didn’t come anywhere near our goals of modernising our train service for the benefit of passengers. All they have offered is a superficial rebadging of the conductors as on-board supervisors in name only.
“What the RMT want to do is retain their power and control by insisting that our trains cannot run under any circumstances without a conductor on board, leading to more delays and cancellations.
“I am incredibly sorry about the months of misery our passengers have suffered. Our aim is to make a significant change to put services back on track and get our passengers where they want, safely and on time.”
GTR confirmed it will now be imposing the DOO measures, where conductors will lose their power to operate doors and be replaced by an on-board supervisor (OBS).
This means that the promises in its offer, including ensuring that every train currently operated with a conductor will continue to have either a traditional conductor or a second on-board member of staff, are no longer guaranteed.
The operator added that there is a legal obligation to serve notice to employees in their existing roles and, “at the same time they will be asked to automatically transfer to the new role – if they want a job, they are guaranteed one”. GTR said some 40% of Southern’s current population of conductors will be staying in their current roles and a large portion of them have already volunteered to move into the new on-board role.
RMT said it had proposed a transitional period where the OBS role would retain all the safety competencies and requirements of the conductor. In addition, it said GTR had rejected a suggestion for conciliation service ACAS to broker the talks.
Mick Cash, general secretary of the RMT, said: “The union is angry and disappointed that a fresh set of proposals put forward by the union today that address both our issues and the company agenda have been rejected out of hand with barely a cursory glance. The travelling public will be rightly angry that the company have kicked back in our faces a chance to resolve this long-running dispute.
“There was a real chance of getting a negotiated solution on track today but Southern have not only slammed the door on that but they have also rejected RMT’s offer to draft in ACAS immediately to try and close the gap and broker a settlement. That is scandalous.”
RMT has already held five strikes this year over the DOO dispute, contributing to widespread delays that have seen Southern forced to cancel 341 services.
GTR promised better services during the strike than it has previously provided, with a train or bus service at “nearly all” of the 156 Southern services. However, it said there would still be a “restricted service”.
For more information about the impact of the strikes on Southern services, click here.
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