Newsletter: August, 2008

East London Rail Branch News Vol I, Issue 6 August 2008

0626 East London Rail
Branch New s
Email: eastlondonrail@rmt.org.uk

Secretary: Ed Shine– 07940340128 Chair: Glenn Wallis – 07789791224

National Union of Rail, Maritime, & Transport Workers’
GENERAL SECRETARY: Bob Crow

They think they can INTIMIDATE half of us...
They think they can IGNORE the other half...

THE FOOLS
CHARLIE CICIRELLO loway-Wanstead Park).
LOROL shows no interest
This branch is deeply in formally agreeing a
concerned at the continu- constituency or arranging
ing suspension without the election of Local Rep-
charge of Brother Charlie resentation for these
Cicirello, Revenue Protec- members by amending
tion Company Council the existing Silverlink
Representative a nd Collective Bargaining or
Safety Representative at rello's immediate rein- agreeing a new one.
London Eastern Railway. statement.
The continuing suspen- This branch therefore has
sion of our loyal brother R E P R E S E N T A T I O N elected Brother Lloyd
is robbing our Revenue OF MEMBERS, LOROL Simpson and Sister Mary
Protection members at Osunde to act as co-
LER of effective represen- This branch is concerned opted Local Representa-
tation to the benefit of at the continuing lack of tives until such time as
the company and the det- collective bargaining rep- agreement is reached
riment of our members, resentation of mem- with LOROL on a minuted
many of whom are members, mostly of this constituency for these
bers of this branch. branch and nearly all new staff and a method of
to the industry, appointed election which will be car-
This branch calls upon to the new posts ried out and asks the
the General Secretary (established 11/11/07) of General Secretary, Coun-
and the Council of Execu- Station Assistants (RO2) cil of Executives and
tives to take all steps on the Gospel Oak - Company Council Staff
necessary to win Bro Cici- Barking Line (Upper Hol- Side to note the situation.

NEXT BRANCH MEETING: THURSDAY 18th SEPTEMBER 2008, 1700 HOURS:
The Railway Tavern Public House (Conservatory room), Angel Lane,
1
Stratford, London E15… CONTACT THE BRANCH SECRETARY FOR DETAILS


BRANCH MEETING THOUGHT
THURSDAY 21st AUGUST
2008
FOR THE MOMENT
RAILWAY TAVERN HOTEL
First they came for the Com-
STRATFORD munists, and I didn’t speak
up,
The Chair, Glenn Wallis (Network Because I wasn’t a Commu-
Rail) welcomed the 9 Branch nist.
members and Guests present.
They were, from LOROL, Arnold Then they came for the So-
Randall (Gospel Oak), Rosa-Lee cialists, and I didn’t speak up,
Watson (General Purpose Relief, Because I wasn’t a Socialist.
Gospel Oak– Barking), Christine
Quammie (Leytonstone High Then they came for the Trade
Rd), Lloyd Simpson (Wanstead
Unionists, and I didn’t speak
Park), Mary Osunde (South Tot-
up,
tenham). From NXEA at Liver-
Because I wasn’t a Trade Un-
pool Street came the Secretary,
Ed Shine, Dave Nubley and Ron
ionist
Smythe. Also welcomed was
guest Derrick Marr from the RMT Then they came for the Jews,
Council of Executives and and I didn’t speak up,
Pauline Akrill from the Industrial Because I wasn’t a Jew.
Relations Dept. at RMT Head Of-
fice. Then they came for the
Apologies for absence were Catholics, and I didn’t speak
noted and accepted from John- up,
Paul Healy and Danny Rouse Because I was not a Catholic.
(Liverpool Street), Ray Tatum
and S. Sharma from LOROL, and Then they came for me, and
Acting London Transport Re- by that time there was no one
gional Organiser, Brian White- left to speak up for me.
head.
With the exception of P. 3. (for Pastor Niemöller (1892-1984)
‘ManGuard’ read ‘Magenta’), Bro.
Randall proposed and Bro. Simp-
son seconded the approval of
last meetings’ Minutes and this
was Agreed as a true record.
We urge ALL members who have
not yet attended a meeting to do
so. It is YOU who make the
agenda; it is YOU who lead the
discussions and debates; and it
is YOU who ultimately make the
decisions!

2


ON MON- ing a stand at the Kennington Oval and
DAY 25TH Eurostar trades on its ethical reputation,
AUGUST but it seems they share a common con-
2008, the tempt for cleaners who are paid a pit-
Branch tance.
Secretary ‘Cricket is supposed to be about fair
attended play, but while OCS bosses are glad-
the picket handing it at the Oval, their grubby little
Temple Mills (Stratford) lines at secret is that they are happy to pay
picket line the Euro- wages their staff cannot live on’.
s t a r The secretary told pickets that East
Mainte- London Rail branch was fighting a simi-
nance depot at Temple Mills in Strat- lar struggle for cleaners at Liverpool
ford, and at St Pancras International Street (employed by Initial and con-
station, where cleaners employed by tracted from
OCS– contracted by Eurostar– were on N e t w o r k
a 24-hour strike for a London Rail) and
Living Wage of £7.45. When presented a St Pancras International
balloted the letter of soli- picket line
cleaners re- darity to the
E RS K turned a %100 Eurostar
response and a
E AN B A C %100 vote in fa-
Branch Sec-
retary, Bro.
CL HT vour of strike M i c h a e l
G action. RMT General
FI Secretary Bob Crow said:
L y n c h
(below).
‘OCS spends a fortune sponsor-

SOLIDARITY practices and conditions for railway, as both OCS and
all our Cleaning Grade mem- Eurostar will soon realise;
GREETINGS bers. You who stand here the impact of your struggle
Brothers, Sisters, Friends, today are demonstrating the today is not just one of full
and Comrades. value of what many will in- bins and littered platforms,
East London Rail Branch sist are old-fashioned, out of but health, safety, and hy-
sends greetings, support, date, and outmoded values. giene. The potential for OCS
and thanks to all RMT. mem- It is values such as these- losing their contract and Eu-
bers at European Passenger solidarity, unity, and the rostar losing passengers is
Services, OCS Cleaning strength of your convictions- today highlighted to all.
Grades, and all strikers mak- that will win the day for you The value of standing to-
ing a stand today. today and set a shining ex- gether, in unity, in a com-
In solidarity we stand along- ample to Railway workers mon cause, for a common
side you in your struggle. everywhere. end, is highlighted to all of
This struggle is not just to You are employed by a pri- us.
achieve the ‘London Living vateering low-wage high- EAST LONDON RAIL
Wage’ and a decent standard turnover sub-contractor, and BRANCH REAFFIRMS
of living for cleaners in the are among the worst-treated ONCE AGAIN OUR COM-
Railway industry; it is about workers in the industry. RADESHIP WITH ALL OCS
more than that. Your employer is one of the GRADES AT EUROSTAR
This struggle is about achiev- worst offenders for treating AND WE STAND UNITED
ing dignity, respect, and due staff in a slovenly and disre- WITH YOU IN YOUR
recognition for the role you spectful fashion whilst paying STRUGGLE. YOU SET AN
play in the work place. a bare minimum in wages. EXAMPLE TO US ALL!
East London Rail Branch as Yet you do one of- if not the- STAND TALL, COMRADES.
recently stepped up the cam- most important job on the IN UNITY- IS VICTORY!
paign to improve working
3


RESTRUCTURING
There has been- to the surprise of ab-
solutely no-one present at all- no
movement on this whatsoever.

EXISTING PROCEDURES
A request has been placed for all exist-
ing Company procedures and policies
(e.g. MFA, IGP, Family-Friendly), none
of which have been re-negotiated which
means that the agreements made un-
SAFETY BOOTHS der Silverlink must still stand. However
These are still awaiting installation at it appears that many LOROL managers
Willesden Junction and West Hamp- do not know what these are as mem-
stead (already installed at Acton Cen- bers get various replies when making
tral, paid for by TfL) for the safety of simple requests.
Gateline staff.
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR
INCENTIVE SCHEME Finally published YESTERDAY after eight
The proposed Revenue Protection in- months. It is at last being consulted;
centive scheme has been withdrawn the Company assume it will be ac-
by LOROL following RMT. objections. cepted- not necessarily correctly, as
this Branch will not stand for existing
‘MANDOWN’ POLICY Contracts or Job Descriptions being
The Consultation Document on the changed just because of a franchise
‘Mandown Solo Protect’ device commitment.
(providing visual/ audio information
regarding a member’s security and ASSAULTS
position to a Control room) has been LOROL management claim the vicious
received. It is a useful tool for front- and damaging assault at Walthamstow
line personal protection, it was noted Queen’s Rd last month (reported soon
that the letter sent to the Union (8th after at last months meeting and min-
August 2008) from Peter Stan- uted as such) is NOT
dring, Head of Revenue Pro- THEIR RESPONSI-
tection, stated that ‘It is However, to the surprise of BILITY as the
designed for lone work- no-one, no date has as yet member of staff
ers’; Bro Randell rejects been set for the next Com- assaulted was out
this on the grounds that pany Council meeting. of the station buying
this Union does not, and food during his
never should, accept the booked PNB at the time. The
principle of lone-working a n y - Secretary will provide this member with
where. Forms L2 () and F21 () regarding his
claim. The Branch agreed this was an
BANK HOLIDAYS outrageous abrogation of responsibility
LOROL have agreed to pay Time + ½ on behalf of this Company and the
for the Notting Hill carnival weekend, question of Supportive Action on the
compared to normal time which was matter of Staff Safety will be considered
at the next meeting.
4


which will be discussed at the next
meeting pending any immediate action
from LOROL. This action however is
probably unlikely since LOROL are re-
sisting regenerating these facilities
now as they plan to do them at some
STAFF FACILITIES DESIGN (unspecified) point in the future-
There have been no drastic changes in which the Branch considers not good
design to these booths but they ap- enough.
pear to be less transparent and
slightly more private for the staff in REPRESENTATIVES
them. The Chair advised Bro Simpson, Stage
I Local Rep (GOB Line) to contact Bro
FACILITIES Derek Crago (LOROL Retail Company
Some ‘quick-fixes’ have been intro- Councillor) re: arranging an LDC
duced, e.g. petty cash for buying tea, meeting involving them, local manag-
milk etc; also fans, bins, sanitary ers, and Sister Mary Osunde (also co-
equipment. opted into the remaining GOB Line
c o ns t itu enc y, Upp er Ho llowa y -
WANSTEAD PARK Woodgrange Park).
As has been reported for at least the
last three months, the facilities there ADVERTISING OF VACANCIES
must among some of the worst on the As discussed last meeting, vacancy
line. There are STILL no lights in the lists are still not making their way all
toilets which are therefore difficult to down the line which is of course a dis-
clean and maintain. Staff currently use criminatory practice. It is usual prac-
the toilets in a doctor’s surgery across tice for General Purpose Relief staff to
the road which is both ridiculous and deliver internal mail but this unreliable
possibly dangerous (bearing in mind due to the nature of their role, and ex-
the Company’s attitude to staff being tremely unsatisfactory. The Secretary
assaulted off railway premises (re: questioned whether G.P.R. staff are
staff assault at Queen’s Road, above). also Postman and if so is it in their Job
Even a visiting manager, Richard Gar- Description; an issue considered over
land, appeared disgusted by these the page.
conditions (although that was about
three weeks ago) yet nothing has
only crap at Wanstead Park…!
And the toilets are not the

been done since. It was suggested
that the Branch contacts the HMRI
(Her Majesty’s Railway Inspectorate-
responsible for Health & Safety on the
railways) to carry out an inspection
and force action on the part of the
Company. The Joint Safety Committee
appears not yet to be involved, so this
should be brought to their notice. The
Secretary suggested a resolution from
the Branch regarding the health and
hygiene implications working there

5


G.P.R. JOB
DESCRIPTIONS
Strictly the General Purpose
RISK ASSESSMENTS
Relief retail role does not ex-
Risk Assessments are currently be-
ist as it was not required un-
ing done at Liverpool Street station
der the Silverlink franchise
without the inclusion or participa-
(due to these stations being
tion of Bro Dave Nubley, a qualified
unstaffed) and have not been
Risk Assessor, and as such without
negotiated since. They have
the involvement of RMT. The man-
no minuted Job Description.
ager concerned, Malcolm Bletcher,
This is an outrageous state of
is NOT authorised to carry out Risk
affairs since they can be
Assessments without involving
asked to do effectively any-
anyone else. The Secretary pointed
thing and not be in breach of
out that Risk Assessments carried
contract. The branch de-
out under these conditions are not
manded Job Descriptions to
Assessments, they are opinions.
be negotiated immediately,
with fixed ‘home/ base’ sta-
It was suggested that these facts
tions, as at the moment they
are taken to Bro Ken Lake, Retail
book on/ off at whichever
Company Council, prior to taking it
station they are booked to
to the RMT. General Grades Com-
work. This means they are
mittee via a Resolution from this
travelling in their own time
Branch (to be discussed next meet-
whereas they should book-on
ing in the light of any progress in
and then travel to their post,
the meantime).
and vice versa. At the least,
either that or a G.P.R. Travel-
In the meantime an urgent meet-
ling Allowance should be paid
ing should be convened with the
due to the unsettled nature
Head of Safety to state plainly the
of the work.
R.M.T.’s position, viz that the Risk
Assessments so far carried out by
PERSONAL NEEDS this manager are null, void, and ir-
BREAKS relevant, and that whatever he has
A G.P.R. staff-member gives Risk Assessed so far should be
breaks which effectively considered to have NO NEW
mean that the further down SAFETY CASE: therefore previous
the line a member is, the ones still stand. Regional Organ-
longer it will take to get his iser/ Lead Officer Bro Bob Rayner
required PNB, putting them will be advised and kept informed
beyond the legal limit of a of any changes due to his position
Break to be taken within the on the Joint Safety Council.
third- and fifth-hour.

6


INDIVIDUAL GRIEVANCE
(STAGE 1)
The LDC Rep believes his basic Human
Rights have been deliberately violated
by the actions of the Company in deny-
INFORMATION ing him the right to peaceful assembly
DISCLOSURE and right of association with his own
Bro Shine, as LDC Rep Liver- Stage II Rep, Company Councillor, and
pool Street Revenue Protec- Health & Safety Rep, Bro Charlie Cici-
tion has written to Mr Alan rello, currently suspended without
Perry, Head of Revenue Pro- charge for what this Branch believes
tection, requesting details of are purely vengeful motives. A Griev-
the staffing, performance, and ance under Stage I of the formal IGP
establishment of the Depot. has been lodged.
• PAY AND BENEFITS:
Structure of the payments UNETHICAL/IMMORAL MANAGE-
system and costs as ana- MENT PRACTICES
lysed per member of staff. The Branch was informed of the case of
• EMPLOYEE NUMBERS: an RPI at Liverpool Street who has
Number of staff employed, been marked down as Absent Without
by age, gender, turnover, Leave and thus possibly lost a days
and absenteeism. Origins of pay: he attended duty at Manage-
staff from previous TOC’s ment’s own request and was then sent
(WAGN/ GER/ Anglia etc) home. Bro Shine condemned unequivo-
and depots. cally this behaviour and informed the
• PERFORMANCE: Produc- Branch that whilst a letter has been
tivity, Sales, and efficiency written on the members’ behalf in an
data. attempt to resolve this informally, little hope is
• FINANCIAL: Profit, as- held out (due to the current management pol-
sets, liabilities. icy of attempting- Ostrich style- to ignore this
There can be no grounds of Union), so this case too will doubtless be
National Security to reject this forced to the formal Individual Grievance Pro-
request on, and likewise the cedure through managements’ own inactivity.
information requested has not
come to the Company in confi- PROMOTION AND FILLING
dence, or relates specifically OF VACANCIES
to an individual, or that re- The Advertising of Vacancies policy (LER,
vealing this information would December 2004), Equal Opportunities & Di-
cause any substantial injury to versity policy (LER, September 2005), and
the Company’s undertaking. PTR&R agreement (NUR, May 1986) have all
The Trade Union and Labour been breached at the Depot by the selection
Relations (Consolidation) Act (NOT appointment) of a Team Leader when in
1992 states this information is fact no vacancy exists. A letter stating the
useful in enabling the Local Rep’s position has been entered but appears to
Rep. to collectively bargain, be being ignored (note Ostrich policy); so
and is in accordance with good doubtless will have to be entered through the
Industrial Relations practice. formal channels.

7


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