First Great Western - industrial action in 2015 - merged topic

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

Hmm. 

In my view, that latest possible industrial action by TSSA^» (Transport Salaried Staffs' Association - about) (whether short of a strike or otherwise) has the potential to cause rather more disruption than the recent RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) action.

[Timmer]

Would I be right in saying the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) are waiting for the result of the TSSA^» (Transport Salaried Staffs' Association - about) ballot before announcing their next wave of industrial action?

[ChrisB]

The RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) was quoted as saying last week that they were meeting this week (today/yesterday?}to determine the next strike dates.....

[TaplowGreen]

"Many managers are working well in excess of their contracted hours in order to carry out their normal duties, and are often working from home or checking email and phones in their own time. Some are not taking all of their leave entitlement, and many don't take proper rest breaks at work. Most managers are committed professionals and are happy to do so. However, there are clearly problems of managers suffering excessive stress.

But First Great Western now wants its managers to take on the jobs of other staff as well as their own, exacerbating these problems and further degrading the work/life balance of managers. Managers are surely entitled to a decent personal and home life!"


Welcome to the real world.

[Timmer]

Here we go again:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33762707

First Great Western rail workers are to stage strikes, including over the August Bank Holiday weekend, the Rail, Maritime and Transport union has said.

The RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) said the strike was being held over threats to jobs, services and safety from the introduction of the new Hitachi Intercity trains.

The union said it had not received the assurances it required from FGW^▸ (First Great Western).

The first Hitachi trains will run on the Great Western main line from 2017 and the East Coast main line from 2018.

Union members, including drivers and guards, will walk out for 24 hours on 23 August and for 72 hours from 29 August, while members who work on maintenance will strike on 29 August and 31 August.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: "Despite strenuous efforts by our negotiators, we have not been able to secure the kind of progress required in the key areas of jobs, services and safety for us to reach an agreement.

"As a result we have no option but to put further action on.

"The fact remains that if it is good enough for East Coast, using the same trains, to meet the very basic assurances sought by this trade union then it is good enough for First Great Western as well."

[bobm]

Details of the timings from the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers)

All Grades (Excluding Fleet Maintenance Members)

All members excluding Fleet Maintenance grades will be instructed not to book on for any shifts that commence between:-

^    00.01 hours and 23.59 hours on Sunday 23rd August 2015
^    00.01 hours on Saturday 29th August 2015 and 23.59 hours on Monday 31st August 2015


All Fleet Maintenance grade members are instructed not to book on for any shifts that commence between:-

^    00.01 hours and 23.59 hours on Saturday 29th August 2015
^    00.01 hours and 23.59 hours on Monday 31st August 2015

All Fleet Maintenance grade members will be instructed to take discontinuous industrial action short of a strike as outlined below: -

^    Not to work any overtime or rest days between 00.01 hours and 23:59 hours on Sunday 23rd August 2015
^    Not to work any overtime or rest days between 00.01 hours and 23:59 hours on Sunday 30th August 2015

[ChrisB]

Going to be fun getting all those in the SW back over the bank holiday - and Reading Festival might be struggling too!

[JayMac]

RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) Press Release:

3 August 2015
RMT

RMT calls additional strike action and industrial action short of strike

Dear Colleague

INTERCITY EXPRESS PROGRAMME (IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.))

RMT calls additional strike action and industrial action short of strike

Following the 48 hours strike action solidly supported by our members over the threat to jobs, services and safety from the introduction of the new Hitachi Intercity trains, your Senior Union Representatives have been in urgent talks with management but unfortunately the assurances that the RMT require from FGW^▸ (First Great Western) are not forthcoming at this stage.

Therefore, your union^s Executive Committee has again considered the matter and taken the decision to call on all our First Great Western members to take industrial action as listed below:

All Fleet Maintenance Grade Members

All Fleet Maintenance grade members are instructed not to book on for any shifts that commence between:-

^    00.01 hours and 23.59 hours on Saturday 29th August 2015
^    00.01 hours and 23.59 hours on Monday 31st August 2015

All Fleet Maintenance grade members will be instructed to take discontinuous industrial action short of a strike as outlined below: -

^    Not to work any overtime or rest days between 00.01 hours and 23:59 hours on Sunday 23rd August 2015
^    Not to work any overtime or rest days between 00.01 hours and 23:59 hours on Sunday 30th August 2015

All Other Grades (Excluding Fleet Maintenance Members)

All members excluding Fleet Maintenance grades will be instructed not to book on for any shifts that commence between:-

^    00.01 hours and 23.59 hours on Sunday 23rd August 2015
^    00.01 hours on Saturday 29th August 2015 and 23.59 hours on Monday 31st August 2015


The solidarity and determination of our members during this dispute has been incredible and I urge you to keep this up and stand shoulder to shoulder with your colleagues on the days of industrial action.

Best wishes.
 
Mick Cash
General Secretary

[ChrisB]

Details of the timings from the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers)

All Grades (Excluding Fleet Maintenance Members)

All members excluding Fleet Maintenance grades will be instructed not to book on for any shifts that commence between:-

^   ^    00.01 hours on Saturday 29th August 2015 and 23.59 hours on Monday 31st August 2015


All Fleet Maintenance grade members are instructed not to book on for any shifts that commence between:-

^    00.01 hours and 23.59 hours on Saturday 29th August 2015
^    00.01 hours and 23.59 hours on Monday 31st August 2015

All Fleet Maintenance grade members will be instructed to take discontinuous industrial action short of a strike as outlined below: -

^  ^    Not to work any overtime or rest days between 00.01 hours and 23:59 hours on Sunday 30th August 2015

That's effectively the same three day weekend for all grades then, with the news in another thread about workers not being contracted for Sundays.....and likely not many serviceable trains on the Tuesday (1st) either, with no maintenance over the holiday weekend

[JayMac]

I've just read on another forum, but haven't been able to corroborate, that the TSSA^» (Transport Salaried Staffs' Association - about) has called of it's ballot of FGW^▸ (First Great Western) Management Grades (for action short of a strike) after receiving assurances that none of their members will be forced to cover the work of striking RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) staff.

[ChrisB]

They couldn't do without Management grades over a 3-day strike IMO^▸ (in my opinion) - so hardly surprising.

At least should keep the vast majority of the Thames Valley services flowing....like last time.

[bobm]

There is a statement on the TSSA^» (Transport Salaried Staffs' Association - about) website confirming the ballot has been called off.

FGW^▸ (First Great Western): Ballot of Managers for Industrial Action


24 July 2015

Many members have raised concerns about being coerced to cover the duties of other grades particularly those of RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) colleagues taking industrial action. Understandably many of our members did not feel confident about covering the duties in a climate where those colleagues had taken a democratic decision to take lawful industrial action.

We asked for assurances from FGW that managers would not be forced to undertake such duties and the company failed to provide those assurances which then led to the decision to ballot for Industrial action.

Since our decision Mark Hopwood has both written to staff and TSSA alike confirming that Managers have not been instructed to carry out these duties but rather have been asked to undertake these duties on a voluntary basis. We have also had further assurances from HR^▸ (Human Resources) that FGW will not be instructing our manager members to undertake the duties of RMT members taking industrial action and will continue to only seek volunteers to do so. Clearly the position that FGW has taken has shifted somewhat from the time that we started our ballot and as a result we believe that we have influenced a positive change that we need to recognise, especially as we have recently received reassurances that any complaints around coercion will be dealt with robustly by the company. Therefore we have taken the decision to terminate the industrial action ballot.

Full statement continues in link above

[grahame]

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) "take" at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33762707

First Great Western rail workers are to stage strikes, including over the August Bank Holiday weekend, the Rail, Maritime and Transport union has said.

The RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) said the strike was being held over threats to jobs, services and safety from the introduction of the new Hitachi Intercity trains.

The union said it had not received the assurances it required from FGW^▸ (First Great Western).

The first Hitachi trains will run on the Great Western main line from 2017 and the East Coast main line from 2018.

FGW railworkers held a 48-hour strike earlier this month over the same dispute, causing disruption to tens of thousands of commuters.

[TaplowGreen]

Feels like games being played to be honest, with the main losers being customers.

As I understood it, no compulsory redundancies had already been guaranteed?

All the guff about "solidarity" is a bit of a joke, LTV^▸ (London [and] Thames Valley)'s service was pretty good during the recent strike, with customer service being noticeably better!

[ChrisB]

LTV^▸ (London [and] Thames Valley) are a different union in the main?