Received from: TSSA
Congress welcomes the creation of Great British Railways (GBR), which should be the opportunity to end profiteering in the sector and build a railway that works for all.
Congress therefore strongly opposes the proposed 870 job cuts at Network Rail (NR) attributed to insufficient funding for the current control period; subsequent job losses in infrastructure companies; and job losses at Southeastern imposed in the transition to the new GBR structures. Congress believes that railway capacity should expand significantly to boost productivity, connect communities, and meet our climate obligations, and that we consequently need substantially more good green rail jobs, not less.
Congress is concerned that:
i. in some TUPEs preparing for the transition, trade unions have been derecognised, such as from NR to Platform 4
ii. there have been attacks on rail workers’ travel facilities in the transition
iii. there has been a lack of transparency about the new structures and how they will operate
iv. the Railways Bill does not include measures to protect pensions in the transfer in a similar manner to the Railways Act 1993.
Congress, therefore, calls on the TUC General Council to support TSSA’s campaign for:
a. guaranteed job protection throughout the GBR transition
b. protections for pensions
c. levelling up pay, terms, conditions and travel facilities for all staff
d. GBR to be one national employer with collective bargaining agreements covering every worker in the company, including management grades.
And for the TUC general secretary to write to relevant ministers expressing these concerns.
Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association
AMENDMENT
Paragraph 4 after “TSSA’s” insert,
“and other rail affiliates”
Insert new final paragraph at end of motion,
“Finally, Congress is concerned that the government has continued to preside over a fragmented, divisive and incoherent approach to rail industrial relations and demands government urgently agree and implement with affiliates a unified, national approach to bargaining and workforce planning.”
National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers