Wales: a new modelfor our railway?

January 2013

INSIDEn Equal pay at Network Railn Better Rail campaign updaten Venezuela: another world is possible

2 December 2012

in this issue

Transport Salaried Staffs’Association

General Secretary: Manuel Cortes

Joining TSSA T: 020 7529 8032F: 020 7383 0656E: join@tssa.org.uk

Your membership detailsT: 020 7529 8018E: details@tssa.org.uk

Helpdesk (workplace rights advice for members)T: 0800 3282673 (UK)

1800 805 272 (Rep of Ireland)

Websitewww.tssa.org.uk (UK) www.tssa.ie (Ireland)

@TSSAunionfacebook.com/TSSAunion

TSSA JournalEditor: Ben SoffaE: journal@tssa.org.ukT: 020 7529 8055M: 07809 583020

General queries (London office) T: 020 7387 2101F: 020 7383 0656E: enquiries@tssa.org.uk

Irish office from Northern Ireland T: +3531 8743467F: +3531 8745662

from the Republic T: 01 8743467 F: 01 8745622E: enquiries@tssa.ie

TSSA Journal is published by TSSA, Walkden House10 Melton Street London NW1 2EJCover based on a photo by MartynSpencer / hst43077Design and production: Wild Strawberry Communicationswww.wildstrawberry.uk.com

Views published in the Journal arenot necessarily those of TSSA.Acceptance of adverts for productsor services does not imply TSSAendorsement.

TSSA Journal is printed by TU Ink onLeipa Ultra Silk comprised of 100%post-consumer waste. The polythenewrapper is oxo-degradable.

Vol 109 / Issue 1226

Tube150:Commemorativecoins, stamps andevents – but let’sremember the tube’speople, not just themachines

Boris Johnsonplaying withhis toy vanitybus whilstforgetting allabout LondonTransportMuseum

5

10

4–12 News and campaignsu Fare rise protests

u Save London Transport Museum

u Dublin anti-austerity march

u Network Rail in Milton Keynes

u Scottish TUC and Weekend School

u Neurodiversity report

u futureTSSA

13 General secretary: The change we need in 2013

14–15 Equal Pay in Network Rail

16–18 Better Rail update

19 A New Year’s Resolution: Recruit a friend

Royal M

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TSSA Journal 3

editorial

Happy New Year!Here’s to a 2013that is brighterthan last year, inthe workplace, theeconomy and the world.

This issue we look at whether Walesmight be the first part of the UK tomove back from the private franchisemodel for rail (p24-25) whilst ChristianWolmar reminds us of the largeproportion of the network, from theEast Coast route to the never-privatised Northern Ireland Railways,that remains in public hands (p22-23).

We also report on huge progress inwinning fair and equal pay formembers at Network Rail. Hugedisparities were uncovered by TSSA andaccepted by the company (p14-15) – could something similar be going onin your firm?

Our feature on Venezuela (20-21)shows that in contrast to the UK andIreland, you can have both growth andthe protection, and even extension ofpublic services and workers’ rights. Theneo-liberal model, with itsconcentration of power and wealth forthe few at the very top is just one wayto run a society. What Venezuelashows us, is that successful alternativesaren’t just for dreaming about, but canbe built in the real world.

Whatever the future holds in store,we all need the strongest unionpossible – so if there’s one New Year’sresolution you keep, why not make itto ask just one friend to join TSSA.There’s a form on p19 or speedy onlinejoining via our website. Not only doesit strengthen us collectively, it meanswe can be there for them if thingsdon’t go to plan. Our future is in yourhands!

All that remains for me to say, is towish you and your family a happy, safeand prosperous new year. Let’s hope itsone we can remember for all the rightreasons.

Ben Soffa, editor

Fares campaign isfront-page news

Where stories get read and adverts get a response Thurrock’s best read local news website:www.thurrockgazette.co.uk 45p where sold

THURROCKGazetteFriday December 14, 2012(No 6585)

Crane calamity atCrane calamity atA13 worksA13 works – P4– P4

PrProperty specialoperty special– starts page 31– starts page 31

GazetteBest for...

NHS South West Essex hasfinally admitted plans for a newcommunity hospital in Grayshave been shelved.The defunct ThurrockThames GatewayDevelopment Corporationspent £2million acquiring asite in Hogg Lane so the£40million hospital, originallyscheduled to open in April2012, could go ahead.But the plans have been up inthe air since October 2010,when NHS South West Essexannounced it was having tomake cuts of £52million.Cllr Barbara Rice, Labourcabinet member for health anda former nurse, is furious at thedecision. She said: “Residentsin Thurrock will be outraged.“Thurrock Council, alongwith the PCT and the oldDevelopment Corporation,put in a great deal of work toassemble land for this.

“It’s very disappointingThurrock residents will nothave the hospital they wantedsince the closure of Orsett.“The council takes on newresponsibilities for health inApril and we will be lookingvery closely at what can bedone at this site.“We will, of course, be work-ing with the clinical commis-sioning group to ensure resi-dents get the very best care.”The idea for the hospital wasdevised in 2006 and given thego-ahead in 2008, after it wasagreed the borough’s currentcommunity hospital, in Long

Lane, Grays, was not capableof meeting future populationpressures in the town.It was also hoped it wouldtake some of the pressure offBasildon Hospital, with peo-ple in Thurrock being able toget diagnostics, planned treat-ment, outpatient services orrehabilitation in Grays instead.Since 2010, the Gazette hasmade numerous enquiries toNHS South West Essex aboutthe future of the hospital, butwe were told each time bosseswere still talks.

But on Monday, NHS SouthWest Essex finally admittedthe plan had been axed.Commercial directorMargaret Hathaway said: “Iunderstand this may come as adisappointment to local resi-dents and would like to reas-sure them this decision will notmean Thurrock will see areduction in health services.“It is important residentsrealise we are now faced with acompletely different financiallandscape to 2006.“We must now considerother options that deliver highquality community healthcarefor Thurrock residents.”

by LUCY KIRBY

MP’s reaction – p7

Protest onfuture of ourstations –see page 5

NHS finallyconfesses:Hospitalplan is off

SURPRISE! SURPRISE!

4, 18

20–21 Venezuela: another world is possible

22–23 Wolmar: Private Good, Public Bad?

24–25 Salveson: A new railway model for Wales?

26–27 Advice: Morrish solicitors and Helpdesk

28 Letters

4 December 2012

news

THIS JANUARY SEES the tenthconsecutive year in which railfares have increased aboveinflation. Hard-pressedpassengers are being robbedblind by the government’sfares policy, added to by theTOC’s even bigger rises onunregulated tickets.

Fares have now risen 26 percent since the start of therecession whilst wages have

stagnated. Many passengersare now paying severalmonths of their salary just toget to work. These facts havebeen highlighted by TSSA’sBetter Rail campaign andTogether for Transport whohave been contrasting fareincreases with the threat of aworse service if station staffare made redundant by theMcNulty cuts.

Campaigners have been outacross the countrycampaigning on fares with thesupport of TSSA’s ‘ghost train’as part of the ‘Year of Horror’campaign. This has beenvisiting stations threatenedwith ‘ghost’ status by theMcNulty report, whichrecommends removing stafffrom hundreds of smallerstations.

TSSA members were joinedby community campaigners,local councillors, andparliamentary candidateswhen our vibrant and hardhitting campaign headedalong the c2c line in Essex. Thetravelling protest headed outfrom London Fenchurch Street

to Chafford Hundred, Graysand Thurrock, gainingcoverage from BBC Essex,other local radio stations andnewspapers (see page 3).

By connecting withpassengers over fares, andusing those who are mostinvolved to form a localcoalitions to support theirlocal stations, we not onlybegin a conversation aboutthe failings of the currentfragmented, for-profit modelof railways, but find allies forTSSA members on otherissues. Building local coalitionswho will want to defendservices and oppose staff cutswill demonstrate to TOCs andthe government that peopleare willing to take a stand forfairer fares and properlystaffed stations – not endlessmoney being diverted intoshareholders’ pockets.

The latest January initiativefrom TSSA’s communityorganisers has partnered withenvironmental campaigners.This is to highlight not onlythe monetary cost of theincrease, but to link that firmly

with the carbon cost of thepolicy, coming from agovernments supposedlycommitted to a low-carbonfuture. With many leadingbusinesses pushing thegovernment to meet carbonreduction commitments thereare many unexpected allieswho acknowledge that a shiftfrom plane to train won’thappen unless fares areaffordable for both individualsand businesses. Working withthe Alliance for Jobs andClimate, Climate Rush, ACT!,Bring Back British Rail andothers, we have organisedprotests at stations acrossBritain at the start of January,using a postcard (pictured)which can be used for severalmonths more. 2013 will seethis coalition, lead by the TSSAand Together for Transport,take our campaign on faresand opposing ghost stationsto an ever-growing number oftowns and cities. 7

To find out how to getinvolved or order postcards, see www.farefail.org.

New Year fares hike brings new protests

iLabour candidate forThurrock Polly Billingtoncame out in support ofTSSA’s campaign, gainingBBC coverage.

TSSA Journal 5

news

The money saved by cutting themuseum’s funding is a tiny proportionof Transport for London’s (TfL) budget,equating to 0.36 per cent of theamount TfL gave to its subsidiarieslast year. Yet the impact on themuseum could be devastating, and weare calling on TfL to reinstate the fullfunding.

TSSA has worked with John CryerMP to put down an Early Day Motion(EDM) in Parliament and is calling onMPs to show their support for themuseum. Dozens of MPs have alreadysigned up but we need TSSA membersto encourage many more to do thesame. You can do this using our simplemodel email tool at the link below.

The EDM reads: ‘That this Housenotes the funding crisis at LondonTransport Museum, arising from cutsof 1.5 million over four years and theloss of an Arts Council grant;recognises that the aforementionedsum is a tiny proportion of Transportfor London’s (TfL) budget, equating to0.36 per cent of the amount that TfLgave to its subsidiaries in 2011-12;applauds the major contribution ofthe museum to the preservation ofLondon’s transport heritage andeducation in the city’s schools anddiverse communities; and calls on theMayor of London and the TfL board toreinstate the cut funding.’

By visiting www.tssa.org.uk/LondonTransportMuseum, you can ask your MP toshow their backing for London’s transport heritage.You can also show your support by joining our Facebook page:www.facebook.com/SaveLondonTransportMuseum.

‘Save London Transport Museum’ campaign goes to Parliament

Has your MP signed up yet?

Take action

Campaignersoutside London’sCity Hall wheremessages of publicsupport for themuseum werepresented to theTfL board.

TSSA IS MOVING up a gear in ourcampaign to save London TransportMuseum. Over the last six monthsmembers have responded to the threat totheir jobs and pay with an energetic andbroad-based campaign, gaining thesupport of numerous politicians andmembers of the public. After lobbying themuseum's Board of Trustees in September,we set our sights on the real powerplayers in this situation: Transport forLondon and its chair, Boris Johnson. InDecember, we gathered hundreds of

Christmas messages of support from thepublic, presenting them to TfL at theirCity Hall board meeting, alongside a lettercalling on TfL to reinstate the museum'sfunding.

Transport for London has slashed itsgrant to the museum by 25 per cent forthe funding round up to 2016, throwingthe museum into crisis. In response, themuseum management has proposed areorganisation and are drawing up planswhich threaten job losses and the hikingof the entrance fee to £15. There is also afear that the museum intends towithdraw from the TfL collectivebargaining mechanism – a move thatwould be vigorously opposed by TSSA.

On one front though, museum bosseshave had to back down following sustainedpressure from TSSA. They had planned tointroduce a new ‘Museum Grade’, knownas Band 0, which would have slashed thestarting salaries of the lowest paid staff by20 per cent, and set a dangerousprecedent for the rest of TfL. However, at aCompany Council meeting in earlyDecember, the TfL managementconfirmed categorically that the so-called‘Museum Grade’ had now been rejected.7

Messages submitted onlineby the public were deliveredon baubles

6 December 2012

news

OVER 18,000 PEOPLEmarched through Dublin citycentre on 24 November tovoice their opposition toausterity and call for a newcourse for the Irish economy.The protest came just aheadof the announcement of thebudget, which whenannounced, was condemnedby ICTU as ‘doing little ornothing for jobs and penalisesworking families in order to

subsidise business andemployers’.

TSSA members, along withother citizens, voiced theiranger on the march at anupcoming budget which itwas clear would target theleast well off and mostvulnerable in society. Thegovernment can continue totarget low and middle-income earners, or it can

implement the correctpolicies, which wouldensure that those whohave more pay more.

It is clear thatausterity is not workingand that an alternativeis needed. ICTU generalsecretary David Beggpointed out that ‘Aftersix austerity budgetswe have seen some

360,000 jobs lost, some €28billion extracted from theeconomy and yet we havemade minimal impact on thedeficit.’

The march was organisedby the Dublin Council ofTrade Unions and supportedby the ICTU, TSSA and othertrade unions, political parties,the Irish National Organisationof the Unemployed andgroups and individuals fromaround the country.

Michael O’Reilly, presidentof the Dublin Council ofTrade Unions (DCTU) said itwas just one step in a longcampaign to reverse cutbacks.

‘The evidence is clear –you cannot cut your way outof a recession,’ he toldprotesters gathered outsidethe GPO on O’Connell Street.

‘On the contrary: witheach cut in public spending,and with each euro taken outof the pockets of low andaverage earners in new orincreased taxes, we aredigging ourselves further intoa hole.’

ICTU have announcedplans to hold a series of majordemonstrations on February 9,to demand a restructuring ofIreland’s debt burden as ‘aprerequisite for recovery anda necessary condition for themaintenance of socialcohesion’.

The demonstrations areplanned for Dublin, Cork,Galway, Sligo, Limerick andWaterford and are timed tocoincide with the next EUCouncil of Ministers’meeting.7

THE DfT COMMISSIONED inquiry into the West Coast fiasco has blamed inadequate planning, thedepartment’s complex structure and weak governance framework for the £55m mess. The Laidlawreport found ‘the people the ministers were asking questions of were themselves misinformed’, yetfailed to report many details after the department censored sections of the report ‘to protect thecommercial confidentiality of bidders’ and ‘to remove the identity of certain individuals’.The chair of Parliament’s Transport Committee said the report suggested a ‘culture of fear’ at theDfT, to which Sam Laidlaw replied that there was certainly a culture in which junior staff feltinhibited from raising issues with senior colleagues.

Separately, it has been reported that the Rail Delivery Group of industry bosses have toldEurostar chairman Richard Brown, who the DfT have tasked with reviewing franchising in general,that they now favour short contracts.

Previously, companies argued that long franchises were essential for their financial planning andinvestment. Now however, the West Coast fiasco – and the potential that firms may have to put upincreased ‘deposits’ in case they walk away from a contract – has convinced many that shortfranchises for standard commuter services (not necessarily all routes) is their best chance ofmaintaining their profits. 7

Dublin marchagainst anotherausterity budget

Franchising: inquiry finds chaos, TOCs may now want short contracts

Are you asingle parent?The Single Parent ActionNetwork (SPAN) is seekinginformation on the barriers& support available forsingle parents, includingworking people. To add yourvoice and views go towww.hillcroft.ac.uk/focus/SPAN.

TSSA Journal 7

news

TSSA MEMBERS RECENTLYtook part in the rail and roadworkers conference of theglobal union alliance, theInternational TransportWorkers’ Federation.

The meeting in Torontobrought together 200delegates from 76 unions in44 countries.

On his return, TSSATreasurer Mick Carney toldthe Journal, ‘What I found outwas that despite our manycultures and creeds, ourproblems remain almost thesame. Nearly all governmentsare following a neo-liberalagenda, with working peoplebeing asked to pay the pricefor the greed of the bankers.Argentina for example, hascut 4/5ths of its railway staff.Workers in Zimbabwe haven’tbeen paid for five monthsand counting and even IndianRailways, whilst still heavilystaffed, are looking to makedrastic cuts despite theireconomy still growing

strongly. Across the globe, itis the same picture, with afew notable exceptions:Venezuela’s socialistgovernment has continued toexpand its railway systemand China, whilst payingscant regard to health andsafety, continues to grow ata rapid rate.’

Mick presented TSSA’scommunity organisingstrategy to the conference.Even with the speech needingto be transmitted through

many interpreters, it was wellreceived to the extent thatMick has now been appointedto the ITF communityorganising team.

Mick adds: ‘After theconference I decided to stayon for a few days. Being arailway worker I decided Iwould take a trip out on therails. It was here I found oneof he most disturbingaspects of Canadian rail:‘bustitution’. Even gettingout on one of the supposedly

main lines from Torontoduring the morning peak,many of the ‘trains’ areactually buses. Whilst allpublic transport is to besupported, chipping away atthe system like thisthreatens the appeal andviability of those servicesthat remain as actual trains.In total, just eight trains aday run in and out ofCanada’s largest city – a veryworrying trend we must beon our guard over.’7

RAY BARBER, TSSA’S long-standing recruiter, has retired afterbringing in an estimated 15,000 new members over his career.A former lay activist and officer of the Lancashire and CumbriaManagement Staff branch, since working for the AssociationRay has travelled tens of thousands of miles a year and visitedhundreds of workplaces.

His retirement was marked with a presentation by generalsecretary Manuel Cortes and speeches from colleagues,including TSSA policy adviser Neil Davies. Neil said, ‘I’d like topay tribute to Ray for his sheer hard work and his phenomenaltrack record. There are very few gates or doors that he hasn’teventually got through in the quest to talk to potentialmembers –I can only think that one of his greatest influencesmust have been Houdini!’7

TSSA’s community organising gains global attention

Record-breaking recruiter retires

Steph Owens, Mick Carney and Manuel Cortes represented TSSA at the ITF

news

8 December 2012

JUST A FEW months on fromNetwork Rail’s big move to‘MK: The Quadrant’, there arenow hundreds of TSSAmembers on the site, with agrowing range of activities –from advice sessions tolearning opportunities.

Rep Angela Belcher toldthe Journal, ‘I’ve been workingwith local rep Steve Smith

and TSSA organiser MadeleineRichards to meet staff aroundthe building to discuss theirissues. We’ve alreadyhad several ‘drop in’ sessionsduring lunchtimes, wheremembers can come along andair their issues, hear what isgoing on, or just meet TSSAreps and staff members.There’ll be more coming up,

which we’ll be advertising onthe general noticeboard atthe end of ‘the street’.’

As a direct result of a TSSALearning initiative, 13members of staff at MiltonKeynes have signed up andare working through bothCustomer Service andBusiness AdministrationNVQs (National VocationalQualifications). There arefurther places on a variety ofcourses now available, whichneed to be signed-up for bythe end of January.

Angela continued, ‘Anotherof our colleagues at TheQuadrant has become TSSA’sfirst ever equalityrepresentative, and has madea great start by running alunchtime session to discusswith members theindependent report into

diversity and inclusion atNetwork Rail. The company iscurrently reviewing its policyfollowing this report and Iknow that TSSA at all levels iscommitted to helping themfollow through on theproblems raised in theinvestigation.’ 7

To find out more or ifyou’d be interested in taking ona role, contact Angela Belcheron angela.belcher@networkrail.co.uk or forequality issues, email SteveSmith on steve.smith3@networkrail.co.uk.

PETER GODDARD WAS awarded a TSSA Gold Medallion and a tankard inrecognition of many years service. Peter is retiring having been in the railindustry for 48 years. He started with BR Shipping Division in 1964 and hasbeen a TSSA member for all 48 years. The presentation was made by TSSAsenior regional organiser Iain Anderson, who first worked with Peter whenhe began his own railway career 36 years ago.

Peter has been Southern House No 1 branch correspondence secretary,Victoria branch chair for nine years, financial secretary for 10 years,organising secretary for nine years and branch organiser for two years. ForSouthern Inner Branch, financial secretary for 13 years. Also a divisionalcouncil rep for 12 years, company rep three years and a local health andsafety rep for 10 years.7

Award for 48 years of service

Railway Employees Privilege Ticket AssociationAvailable to all in the transport industries, TSSA members, family and retiredstaff. REPTA offers many free, discounted and special rates, listed in our 80 pageYearbook, sent with your membership card.New for 2013: membership discounts at National Railway Museum, free Limited Personal Accident coverfor travel on public transport. Discount cinema tickets continue for 2013. You can book rail travel withRaileasy via our website.£4.50 per year. Additional cards for family members £3. Send cheques/POs to REPTA, 4 Brackmills Close,

Forest Town, Mansfield NG19 0PB. Tel 01623 646789, giving name, address, email and DoB for each plus

code ‘TSSA’ or join at www.repta.co.uk.

Correction: In the last issuewe incorrectly stated theawards given to members ofWessex Branch. John Walshreceived a Silver Medallionwhilst Roger Lock wasawarded Honorary LifeMembership. Our apologiesto them.

All systems go at Milton Keynes

i

TSSA Journal 9

Scotland

THIS YEAR THE STUC Women’s Conference was held in thepicturesque and historic city of Perth. Margaret Anslow,Executive Committee member for Scotland told theJournal, ‘I was lucky to attend alongside ‘new girl’ (toconferences) Karan Park, whose enthusiasm, ideas for thefuture and moves on the dance floor, made my attendanceat this year’s conference a truly memorable one!’

Margaret was elected onto the STUC Women’sCommittee, winning a place to represent the femalemembers of the Association over the next year. Margarethas said she hopes to link in with Women In Focusmembers in Scotland as well as the Scottish Women’sConvention, of which she is also a member.

The theme of this year’s conference was ‘Women inmanufacturing’, with a smooth-flowing agenda meaning 29 motions were passed, some of which have already beensubmitted to the Scottish Parliament. A number of MSPsattended including Scottish Labour Leader Johann Lamontand SNP Finance Minister John Swinney plus MargaretCurran MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland.

Margaret says ‘Karan might have been a first timedelegate, but delivered the speech on our motionabsolutely brilliantly. I would encourage all Scottish TSSAfemale members to attend in future and also to join me inthe Scottish Women’s Convention, to make our voicesproperly heard in our parliament’. 7

TSSA’S SCOTTISH DIVISIONAL Council recently combined itsregular meeting with a ‘weekend school’ to give an opportunityfor delegates to discuss issues ranging from branch developmentto the impact of the independence referendum.

Event organiser David Gamble takes up the story, ‘It was agreat weekend, with plenty of learning and exchanging of ideas.We even to have some nice food and the odd drink, with a bit ofsocialising taking place.’

As well as Divisional Council members, including several first-time delegates, Lorraine Ward, the newly appointed assistantgeneral secretary for Scotland and Ireland attended, as did TSSAtreasurer Mick Carney.

‘We enjoyed a lively Divisional Council meeting with plenty ofideas exchanged and a presentation from Mick on the state ofthe union and its finances. After that, we held our first groupsession of the ‘school’ element of the event, where delegateswere looking at branches. We focussed both on what we coulddo to improve branch structures and also how we could growmembership through branches. Some excellent ideas came upwith both long-term strategies and some ‘quick wins’ beingdiscussed.’

Rail industry delegates heard from senior regional organiserTom Kennedy on the upcoming report into Scottish railways,followed by a presentation on TSSA’s Better Rail Campaign fromMick Carney. Delegates started to form an action plan byidentifying several key issues from the rail report which theycould campaign around, linking those to themes already beinghighlighted via Better Rail.

David Gamble continued, ‘Our final session was always likelyto be quite emotive, given we were discussing matters aroundthe 2014 independence referendum. The session was lead byDavid Moxham from the STUC who highlighted many of theissues that will affect unions and their members. This was justthe first of a series of discussions that need to happen asScotland shapes its future, and we as the Scottish members ofthe TSSA help shape our union’s stance on this huge issue.’ Headded, ‘I hope other Divisional Councils following suit with theirown weekend schools as they are a great way of developingknowledge, ideas and contacts’.7

Scottish TUC Women’sConference success

Learning and debating at theScottish Weekend School

Margaret Anslow and Karan Park

Delegates to both the WeekendSchool and STUC Women’sConference met in Perth

TSSA’S NEURODIVERSITY TEAM, who work to improveworkplace conditions for members with a range of hiddendisabilities like dyslexia, dyspraxia and Asperger’s syndrome, helda highly successful meeting in Parliament in early December.

Hosted by former TSSA regional organiser Julie Hilling MP, theevent saw the launch of research carried out for TSSA by Heriot-Watt University. This explored the knowledge andattitudes towards neurodiversity and the perception of supportthat is offered. The findings of this will now be used to help drawup a strategy to assist members with these conditions.

Neurodiversity organiser Sarah Hughes reported, ‘The eventwas ‘standing room only’ as members, employers, MP’s andpartner agencies attended. Our speakers, Jo Tick and Ricky Jones,

both spoke with great emotion and courage about what it’s likebeing a dyslexic and were able to impress on everyone theimportance of developing the correct support and understandingin the workplace.’

Dr James Richards, Dr Kate Sang and Professor Abigail Marks,who carried out the research provided an insight into the results,with TSSA’s Sarah Hughes and Susannah Gill giving apresentation on the TSSA strategy, which is financially supportedby the Union Learning Fund. This involves raising awareness,developing training and resources, working with partneragencies, influencing government policies to adequately supportthese members’ needs.

The vision was painted in which everyone knows whatneurodiversity is, and has a point of contact in the workplace(either a trained union rep, or a neurodiversity champion) to goto if they feel that they are or might be neurodiverse. Thisperson will then be able to help them receive a diagnosis andreasonable adjustments at work, which would be made byemployers who have become aware of their responsibilities tothese workers. 7

You can read the report at www.tssa.org.uk/neurodiversityor contact Susannah Gill on gills@tssa.org.uk / 07590 224268or Sarah Hughes on hughess@tssa.org.uk / 07590 183727.

news

i

THIS MONTH MARKS the150th anniversary of theoldest stretch of theLondon Underground, withnumerouscommemorations of theworld’s oldest undergroundrailway taking place. TheMetropolitan Railwaybetween Paddington andFarringdon was theforerunner not just of themany lines that spreadacross London, includingthe first deep ‘tube’ of1890, but to systems theworld over.

Today, in terms of track,London still has the biggest(and arguably the best)passenger rail system in the

world, carrying morepassengers every day thanthe whole National Railnetwork. The fact that thesystem and indeed Londonis as successful as it is, istestament to the hard workand dedication of the staffwho run the system day in,day out.

The celebrations are agood time to remind peoplewhy a safe, publicly ownedand properly staffedUnderground system is vitalto London’s continuedsuccess. As part of this,TSSA will be pushing for therecognition of the vital roleplayed by Undergroundstaff in delivering a quality

public service for themillions of passengerswho use the Tube everyday.

While the officialcelebrations will focus onthe development oftechnology and theexpansion of the network,TSSA is organising anumber of special eventsto celebrate theachievements ofUnderground workers.

We want to hear yourstories about working ortravelling on theUnderground. What doesthe Tube mean to you? Tellus your experiences atwww.tssa.org.uk/tube150. 7

To get involved or findout more, please contact Wayne Geoghegan, ongeogheganw@tssa.org.ukor Luke Chester onchesterl@tssa.org.uk.

Neurodiversity report launched in Parliament

Tube150: Celebrate people,not just machines

10 December 2012

The Royal Mint are producing325,000 of each of two £2coin designs, meaning a totalof £1.3m of ‘tube stock’ willbe circulating aroundpeoples’ pockets.

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TSSA Journal 11

news

YOUNG TSSA MEMBERS recently met inLiverpool to plan their activities for theyear ahead. The futureTSSA annualgeneral meeting was followed by anumber of workshops and planningsessions.

Top priorities were growing thenumber of young members involved inthe union’s Better Rail campaign as wellas reaching out to involve more newmembers, including apprentices.

Delegates also discussed campaigningtechniques for winning betterenvironmental policies in the workplace,and how to spread our message insupport of a more affordable publiclyowned transport system amongst thepublic.

A new committee was elected, withGary Kilroy, a member in Network Rail,

being chosen as the new chair. Hereplaces outgoing chair Michelle Croft(First Great Western), who said, ‘Over thepast year we’ve worked to increasefutureTSSA’s profile, making sureyounger activists are included in whatthe union is doing to campaign againstjob cuts and high fares. In Liverpool wecommitted to actively support the BetterRail campaign and had some really usefulpractical planning. With 2013 being the‘Year of Horror’ there’s lots to getinvolved with – I think activists will havea lot fun along the way!’

She added: ‘I’m pleased to be leavingfutureTSSA in Gary’s very capable handsand would encourage any young memberto make 2013 the year you get active.’

It wasn’t all business. As the pictureshows, some futureTSSA activists were

able to soak up the Beatles-relatedatmosphere on Mathew Street and pay avisit to the famous Cavern Club.7

futureTSSA is the self-organised groupfor members of TSSA aged 35 and under.To get involved email the new chair, Gary Kilroy, on garykilroy@gmail.com.

AN INTERACTIVE ONLINE timeline ofthe Tory-led government’s attackson our rights at work as beenlaunched by the labour movementthinktank, the Institute ofEmployment Rights (IER).

The timeline tracks over 100proposals, policies, u-turns andbackbench whispers which relate totrade union rights, health and safety,equality and public sectorcutbacks.7

You can view the timeline atwww.ier.org.uk/resources/coalition-timeline.

Timeline of government attacks launchedFREE TRAINING COURSE

PUBLIC TRANSPORT CAMPAIGNINGFrustrated with cuts to your local bus? Is your

train journey overcrowded and expensive?

Would you like to learn how to change this?

People are standing together to make public

transport better for everyone. Come to our

free introductory campaign day.

London: Saturday

2 February 2013

York: Saturday

2 March 2013

TSSA has teamed upwith Campaign forBetter Transport tolaunch a trainingprogramme tosupport those whowant to improvetheir campaigningskills to back publictransport in theircommunities.Topics to be coveredinclude identifyingand working withallies; influencingdecision-makers; andusing the mediaeffectively.The first trainingsessions take placein London on 2 February and inYork on 2 March. Ifyou are interested inattending, emailwoodsg@tssa.org.uk.

futureTSSA get organised in Liverpool

Members of futureTSSA meet in Liverpool

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TSSA Journal 13

general secretary

Firstly, can I wish you and all your loved onesa very peaceful, happy and prosperous NewYear. 2013 looks set to be very challenging forboth you and your union. In response, wewill redouble our campaigning efforts toensure you get a good deal at work and thatyour livelihood is protected as much aspossible in these extremely uncertaineconomic times. A good example of what wehave in mind is what our activists within theBetter Rail campaign have agreed to deliver –an action each and every week and a majorevent 13 times a year. Ambitious? It certainlyis. However, to defeat the horror cuts agendaof this government we need to be ambitiousin our campaigns. I am convinced that if weall put our shoulders to the wheel, it willbecome a reality. Our campaigning activitieswill continue to develop throughout 2013and beyond. I will also be working extremelyhard with your Executive Committee toensure you have a strong voice into the futureas we start moving towards securing amerger. This means 2013 will be anincredibly busy year!

On the economic front, forecasters arepredicting a very rough ride. Unfortunately, wedon’t even have the prospects of an Olympicsto provide some summer cheer. In fact, if theGovernment’s Autumn Statement is to bebelieved, the UK economy will grow moreslowly than originally thought, meaning theirausterity plans will now last until at least2018 – a lost decade. The scale and depth of thecuts in both Britain and Ireland will leavegaping wounds in our social fabric that willtake years, if not decades, to heal.

Yet in the UK this April, 8000 peopleearning over a million pounds a year are in lineto receive a year-on-year tax cut worth anaverage of £107,500. The UK Government alsointends to cut Corporation Tax to 21 per cent in2014, making it one of the lowest rates in theentire industrialised world. Of course, it was thebankers’ greed that brought our economies tothe edge of the abyss. However, it appears thatvery little has changed for them. Their six figuresalaries and mega-bonuses roll-on come rain or

‘In 2013 we will

redouble our

efforts to protect

your livelihood in

these uncertain

times.’

‘There is a greater

chance of a dodo

flying into

Downing Street

than there is of

our economies

bouncing back

due to consumer

spending.’

ManuelCortes

com

men

tThe change we need in 2013

shine. The notion that ‘we are all in thistogether’ rings hollower by the nanosecond!

The real big issue that many of us wonderabout is whether there is an alternative to thiseconomic madness? Lack of demand lies at theheart of the economic crisis facing the UK,Ireland and the rest of the Eurozone. Sadly, thishas resulted in some of our friends and familyfinding themselves out of work through nofault of their own. We have also witnessedheadcount reductions in both the transport andtravel industries that have seen our memberslose their jobs. Until very recently, consumerspending was seen as the panacea that wouldalways generate enough demand to keep oureconomies going. However, with millionsacross Europe saddled with huge debts andfalling living standards, this no longer looks tobe any kind of credible solution. In fact, thereis a greater chance of a dodo flying intoDowning Street than there is of our economiesbouncing back due to consumer spending. It istherefore up to governments to step in tobridge the gap if we are to see any kind ofspeedy recovery.

This is exactly what Obama had in mindwhen he got elected in 2008. Unfortunately, towin sufficient political support amongRepublicans and fiscally conservativeDemocrats, his plans were watered downed. Inthe end, after many compromises, he did getsomething onto the statue book that was farless ambitious that he probably would haveliked or was needed. This meant that what iscommonly known as ‘the stimulus’ (over $540billion in extra spending and $275 billion intax cuts) was somewhat stymied. Nonetheless,the US economy is more or less back to health,whilst the UK is facing the real prospect of atriple-dip recession and Ireland is stuck in whatseems a never-ending slump. Last November,Obama once again easily beat his Republicanchallenger by rejecting Romney’s calls for cutsat all costs – the mantra the Tories so muchcherish. The message from the US is clear;austerity is a blind alley. Will Cameron, Cleggor Eurozone ministers ever listen?7

Equal pay

Gender pay equality is guaranteed bylaw (and has been for over 40 years),but the gender pay gap in Britainremains amongst the highest in theEuropean Union. According to theFawcett Society, the current gender paygap – the average difference betweenmen and women’s pay – is 14.9 per cent.

TSSA believes in fairness and justice forall our members and we want to endunlawful unfair and unequal pay in theindustries where we organise.

Over the past two years we have beencollecting information from managers inNetwork Rail about the different rates ofpay they receive for jobs with exactly thesame title and job description. Thatinformation has demonstrated aconsistent pattern of unequal pay – withwomen mostly, but not entirely, beingpaid less than men for the same type ofwork. However, for a long time, NetworkRail insisted there was not an equal pay

problem among their managementgrades. We disagreed – and recognisedthat if we were to get fair pay formembers, we needed to get organised.

Starting with surveysSuspecting that we would find a patternof unequal pay, we started by conductingan anonymous survey of our managementgrade members, asking them to pass thesurvey on to colleagues, whether theywere in TSSA or not. Some 1200 peoplesent us details of their gender, job titleand pay rate.

While a few men were paid less thantheir women colleagues, the broadpattern was that women were paid anaverage of £4,500 less than the men foressentially doing the same work.

After reviewing the data weundertook a series of much more specificsurveys. We sought more detailedinformation for seven job titles and havereceived over 200 responses – with morecoming in as time goes on. We also askedmembers to commit to act either as aclaimant and a comparator in anemployment tribunal case.

Statutory questionnaires and grievances Our solicitors – Morrish – assisted withdesigning grievance letters for an initialgroup of 14 women who had respondedto the detailed survey. They alsoformulated statutory questionnairesseeking information about otheremployees’ pay and the genderbreakdown of their job title.

As time went on more women (and afew men) also raised grievances and weserved further legal documents on theirbehalf.

Network Rail’s collective responseAt this point the company told us that, ifwe would stop actively seeking furtherpotential claims, they would talk to usabout developing a new pay and gradingsystem – and this time it would beequality proofed. Naturally, we agreedbut we wanted more – and we got it.

We now have an Equal Pay WorkingGroup with four reps whose role is toconcentrate on this project. We havetrained them in the principles of equal paylegislation and developing an equalityproof pay and grading system.

Network Rail’s response to individualsIn a well-meaning attempt to placatesome of the individual members withgrievances, ad hoc payments averaging£5,000 have been made. That’s all verywell, but it does nothing to address thecore problem of an idiosyncratic and outof control pay system impacting on largenumbers of staff, it is merely anadmission of culpability.

We are now talking seriously toNetwork Rail about a full and propersettlement of the 33 current grievances,but the amounts due need to befactually calculated and dealt withsystematically alongside thedevelopment of a pay and gradingstructure.

14 December 2012

Equal pay forequal work

Campaigning for equal payin Network Rail

Equal pay

Legal strategyUnderpinning the campaign so far hasbeen our legal strategy, which is why wehave got as far as we have. Network Railknows we are more than likely to win anycases we submit to employment tribunal.They know this because they are all tooaware their pay system does not meet theEquality and Human Rights criteria forequality proofing, some of which appearin our tick box feature on this page.

There is a time limit of six months inwhich an employee can make a claim forequal pay once they leave theiremployment, and where they have beensubjected to unequal pay. Because of thiswe have submitted three ET claimsalready, for managers who have left orbeen made redundant this year.

Wining equal pay is not just aboutincome, as a settlement can include anelement of back pay (up to six years insome cases) and for those in the RailwaysPension Scheme it will have a significantimpact on their pension on retirement.

Get involvedAt TSSA HQ, we cannot solve the wholeproblem, but we can get further if youshare our determination to win fair andequal pay across the industry. Pleasecontact fairpay@tssa.org.uk if you wantto help. In the New Year we will beholding meetings across Network Railwith a view to finding out what ourmembers’ experience is of unfair andunequal pay at the company anddiscussing what a fair, transparent,objective pay system would look like.

If you work for an employer other thanNetwork Rail, then please complete thequick tick box, right, to get an ideawhether your employer is acting incompliance with their equalityobligations. If they fail our quick test itmay be that pay in your company is alsounfair and quite probably undervaluingthe work of women. Let us know bycontacting fairpay@tssa.org.uk. 7

For more information of equal pay ingeneral, see www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/equalpay.

TSSA Journal 15

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) websitecontains a very useful checklist designed to alertorganisations to the ‘high risk’ factors which indicate that theway they deal with pay could well lead to successful claims forequal pay being made to an employment tribunal (ET).The checklist applies to all organisations whether they are inthe private or public sector organisations, whether they are large or small.

TransparencyEHRC guidance says employees and their representatives should have ready access toinformation about:l each aspect of the pay structure l the underpinning ‘equal work’ assessment tool.In addition, representatives should receive regular data on the gender impact of eachaspect of pay.Does your employer’s pay system comply? Yes c Noc

Different and non-basic pay and T&CsWhere there are different elements paid in addition to basic pay, the guidancesuggests employers should identify the predominant gender of each job group thatreceives the additions and use that information to determine the disparate impact,based on gender and other protected characteristics.Does your employer’s pay system comply? Yes c Noc

Long, overlapping pay scales and rangesEmployers should avoid long overlapping pay scales. They necessarily mean thatpeople at the top of one scale are earning more than people at the bottom of thehigher grade. Not only is this likely to be discriminatory, but will also be adisincentive for staff to take promotion. Does your employer’s pay system comply? Yes c Noc

Discretionary payEHRC guidance provides that any devolvement of pay to local managers has potentialfor inconsistent outcomes and often results in pay discrimination. It suggests thatdevolved aspects of pay like merit awards and performance assessments should bechecked for their impact on characteristics like gender, ethnicity and age.Does your employer’s pay system comply? Yes c Noc

Market based payWhile market based pay may be a defence against an equal pay claim in an ET, such asystem would only be acceptable where the practice is directly accountable to ashortage of particular skills at a particular time.Does your employer’s pay system comply? Yes c Noc

Up to date Job Evaluation SchemeA valid job evaluation system is essential to achieving a pay system that does notdiscriminate on the basis of gender. The evaluation must be based on real jobinformation and a determination of grading by weighing up demands such as skill,knowledge, responsibility and effort. Postholder’s input to the job evaluation andgrading process is also required.Detailed records of the jobs and their evaluation must be kept to support the decisionsmade about the job grades, and to allow for employee appeals against the process. Does your employer’s pay system comply? Yesc Noc

Equal pay checklist

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Better Rai l

Better Rail Convention On 29 November representatives fromTOCs, freight and infrastructurecompanies, BTP, TfL, LondonUnderground and Network Rail cametogether to discuss the commonstandards we want to see for workersacross the rail industry. General secretaryManuel Cortes opened the conventionwith a message of thanks to all reps andmembers involved in Better Rail, but alsoa challenge to keep up our fightthroughout the ‘Year of Horror’ in 2013:‘Not only will we have one action a weekevery week in 2013, but, with your help,we will be hold over a dozen majorevents in our fight for a better railway.’

Creating and wining industry standardsAs part of the Better Rail campaign we arefighting for ‘Better Jobs’ that enable staffto deliver a quality public service. To winbetter jobs, TSSA reps are developing a setup industry standards – things we thinkall rail workers should be entitled to, nomatter where they work. As thegovernment insist on cuts being made byfranchise holders and new bidders, an easyoption is for them to attack workers’terms and conditions to an even greaterdegree than they have since privatisation.

What is an industry standard?Our TSSA reps have been telling us theyfeel there should be standard terms and

conditions for all rail workers aroundissues like the setting of hours of work,pay, rosters, overtime, annual leave, sickpay, travel facilities, union rights,recognition and facilities and more.Every time TSSA members go intocollective bargaining we have anopportunity to move towards agreeingterms and conditions that work foreveryone – but we also face threatsfrom individual employers who areinterested in cutting costs andincreasing the profits of shareholders. Ifwe all join together to fight for BetterJobs that meet our standards, then weare closer to building a better railwaythat’s a quality public service. Bydeveloping official standards for eachissue, we help our company council repsto build a better railway throughcollective bargaining.

Each standard will include a statementof the principles behind the standard andthen ways we can achieve them throughbargaining and general companyengagement throughout the year. At theBetter Rail Convention we discussed twostandards that are amongst the top issuesraised by our reps: Job Security and TradeUnion Rights. For each, we identified Gold(TSSA Standard), Silver and Bronze(minimum conditions) standards.

Better Rail: demandingfair conditions for us all

Former TSSA organiser, nowMP Julie Hilling: ‘Keep on andon at your MPs’

Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary Maria Eagleon the possibility of public ownership

16 December 2012

TSSA Journal 17

Better Rai l

A Working Group was established todevelop standards over 2013 inconsultation with reps, branches andmembers of TSSA. If you want to haveyour say you can:l conduct the Better Rail WorkplaceSurvey in your workplace. The informationgathered will help us develop thestandards;l send your thoughts to raen@tssa.org.ukand we will make sure they are discussedat the next working group meeting.

Manjit Gill’s account of the convention:It was a really brilliant event whichbrought together members from acrossthe rail industry to work collectivelytowards building Better Rail IndustryStandards.

Manuel Cortes lifted spirits by talkingabout the great tide of optimism thatalmost everyone is now calling for someform of public ownership of the railways.

Maria Eagle MP, Labour’s ShadowSecretary of State for Transport, spokeabout winning the hearts and minds ofMPs over to the cause of publicownership. Labour are currently reviewingtheir policy for the next general electionbut she told us, ‘the door is open for theidea of public ownership – we need yourviews to shape Labour Policy. Go to ourpolicy review websitewww.yourbritain.org.uk and tell us whatyou think.’

She encouraged us all to join campaigngroups on the subject and spoke aboutthe toxic waste on the railways. Shewishes us to raise our voices and to putpressure on the backbenches so themessage was coming through at all levelsin the Labour Party. It is clear that wehave a strong and devoted shadowminister who will fight tooth and nail fora better railway.

Julie Hilling MP – who until the lastelection was a TSSA official – spoke aboutthe shambles of the West Coast franchiseand the £186 million retained in thesystem by the East Coast being in publichands. She said members should be doingmuch more to engage with their MPs,telling us, ‘it’s not as simple as explainingto them once. You need to visit not justonce, but continually, to keep it on theirpriority list’. No one had been to see herto talk about public ownership since herelection in 2010 – many MPs need to feelpressure to support the end of privatisation.

The exercises we did in working groupsfurther reinforced the huge differencesbetween our companies. We must all worktowards bringing everyone up to the GoldStandard. Assistant general secretarySteve Coe quantified the billions ofunnecessary public spending lost due tothe structure of the industry. I wasshocked to discover the scale of theprofits now leaving the country due tothe various foreign-owned TOCs.

We were given full support by MattDykes of the TUC’s Action for Railcampaign and heard about the vitalpiece of the jigsaw that is the work ofRob Jenks and TSSA’s CommunityOrganising team. We must be preparedto involve as many people from asdiverse a set of organisations as possibleto build the links and support networksthat will help us win.

The battle is on to expose the hugewaste due to the fragmentation of therailways and to deal with the growingthreat to the 600 ticket officesearmarked for closure by McNulty. It willbe fantastic to be involved in some ofthe 13 major actions planned next year. Avisit by the TSSA Ghost Train willdefinitely be the icing on the cake! BetterRail here we come!

Early examples of the kinds ofstandards we want to develop include:l Trade Union RightsThe principle behind our standard isthat all members and potentialmembers should feel free to fullyexercise their rights to belong to andparticipate in their union. We canachieve this through agreements withmanagement that include access tonew staff inductions, statements oftheir support for employees to join theTSSA and formulating ways in whichemployers can ensure there is nointerference when union reps areseeking release to undertake theirunion duties.

Gold – our TSSA standardTrade union accessagreement with employer.Allowing recruitment andsharing of union

information with all employeesSilver – medium term goals

Agreement to have unionreps attend at new staffinductions and ability tomeet new starters

Bronze – minimum standardAdequate release time forreps to conduct unionbusiness and training.

l Job SecurityThe principle behind our standard isthat members should be able to expectpermanent, skilled jobs, with careeropportunities and flexible working. Wecan achieve this through manymechanisms, including fighting foropportunities to develop and learn,agreements for no compulsoryredundancies and ensuring there areagreed limits on the use of shorthours, casual and agency workarrangements. Reps at the conventionspent time debating what should beour Gold standard for Job Security.

Better Rail group

18 December 2012

What members have been saying aboutthe Better Rail ConventionWe had very positive and productivesessions which saw great ideas aboutindustry standards. It was great to see aworking group established to expand onthe ideas.

Michele Croft, TSSA workplace repand Future TSSA

The Convention was good as it had all thedivisions of TSSA that work on railattending. Ideas and issues were raised,and some resolved. It was really good forteam building and networking.

Karon Smith, workplace rep, British Transport Police31 delegates, representing 22 differentemployers, five speakers, all seeking oneindustry standard for a Better Rail. Togetherwe will achieve so much more!

Michael Litchfield, Brighton Branch chairGreat to see top reps working together formembers. We’ve got more and more repstaking the lead in exposing the folly ofprivatisation.

Ghost Train touring the UK to fight horrorfares and station staff cutsThe new year marks the start of our Yearof Horror 2013! To highlight the ghostlytrains created by unaffordable fares andghost stations caused by cuts to stationstaff, our TSSA Ghost Train is going totour stations across Britain, spreading themessage to passengers and communitygroups about the benefits of publicownership of rail.

The Ghost Train was launched at theTUC march on October 20 where itgenerated a fabulous reception fromother marchers and the general public.Recently we took the Ghost Train to visitc2c stations in Essex and to the LondonTransport Museum where it againreceived very positive attention and localmedia coverage.

Want the Ghost Train to visit yourstation? Request a stop viawww.tssa.org.uk/ghosttrain

The Ghost Train is sponsored by LushCosmetics who support activism for publictransport and the environment.

Better Rail Workplace Survey Responses to our survey are coming inbundles from reps who have been talkingwith their workmates each day, helpingthem complete the surveys. So far, ourresults are showing a mix of everydayproblems and bigger industry-wide issues.These include:l workplace issues

–staffing levels–training for staff–health and safety, security–pay –kitchen facilities

l How to make a better railway?– oppose threat of cuts to staff– public ownership of the railways– stop ‘automation’ of the railways– simplify fares–invest in infrastructure

If you would like to do the survey inyour workplace, sign up for a survey packon www.tssa.org.uk/better-rail.

Ghost-train-poster (left).Polly Billington, Labour’s candidate for Thurrock at the next election(above) supporting a visit of the Ghost Train, in an event that made thelocal press and BBC radio

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Better Rai l

PLEASE USE CAPITAL LETTERS

ABOUT YOUNational Insurance number

Gender: Male Female

Title: Ms Mr Mrs Miss Other

Forenames

Surname

Full home address

Postcode

Home telephone Mobile

Email

Date of birth / /

Have you ever been a member of a trade union?

No TSSA Other union Which one?

Do you pay subscriptions still? Yes No When did you leave?

ABOUT YOUR WORKYour company

Your work address

Your job title

Your job grade

Work telephone/mobile

Full-time or part-time (less than 26 hours a week)

Are you on an Apprentice course? Yes No

If so, when do you finish your course? Month Year

When did you join current employer? Month Year

Where do you want any mail sent? Home Work

How do you want to pay? (tick one box)

Four-weekly Monthly Quarterly Twice a year AnnuallyIf you don’t have a bank account, call TSSA on 020 7529 8032. If you are anexisting member moving over to Direct Debit, DON’T cancel your paybilldeduction arrangements until you hear from TSSA Head Office.

For Republic of Ireland Direct Debit/payments contact TSSA Irish Office.

Who recruited you to TSSA?

TSSA staff TSSA staff rep TSSA branch officer

Work colleague Made contact myself Other

To join, fill in the form including the Direct Debit Instruction which you must sign. For other ways to payyour subscription, and for special retired rates, call 020 7529 8032. Send to (you don’t need a stamp in theUK): TSSA FREEPOST, (NW2409), London NW1 1YA. For Republic of Ireland membership contact TSSA IrishOffice, Nerney’s Court, off Temple Street, Dublin 1, or email enquiries@tssa.ie

SUBSCRIPTION RATESUK: Full-time workers £3.70 per week

Part-time workers (under 26 hours per week) £1.85 per week

Republic of Ireland: Full-time workers 4.60 per weekPart-time workers 2.30 per week

The Direct Debit Guarantee� This Guarantee is offered by all Banks and Building Societies that take part in the Direct Debit Scheme. Theefficiency and security of the Scheme is monitored and protected by your own Bank or Building Society.

� If the amount to be paid or the payment dates change, TSSA will notify you 14 days working days in advance ofyour account being debited or as otherwise agreed.

� If an error is made by TSSA or your Bank or Building Society, you are guaranteed a full and immediate refundfrom your branch of the amount paid.

� You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by writing to your Bank or Building Society. Please also send a copy ofyour letter to TSSA.

9 7 4 0 0 6

Instruction to your Bank or Building Society to pay by Direct DebitPlease fill in the whole form and send it to TSSA (you don’t need a stamp in the UK): TSSA FREEPOST, (NW2409), London NW1 1YA. Your bank cannot process the form unlessyou have signed it. Direct Debit Instruction for UK ONLY, for Republic of Ireland see above.

To: The Manager

Bank or building society

Address

Post code

2. Name(s) of account holder(s) (if joint account fill in both names)

3. Branch sort code

4. Bank/Building Society account number

5. TSSA reference number (we will fill this box in)

6. Instruction to your bank or building societyPlease pay TSSA direct debits from the account detailed on this instructionsubject to the safeguards assured by The Direct Debit Guarantee. I understandthat this Instruction may remain with TSSA and if so, details will be passedelectronically to my Bank/Building Society. If from a joint account that needstwo signatures, make sure you both sign.

Signature Date

Signature Date

I apply to join the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association at theappropriate subscription and will observe the rules of the Association.

Signed Date

FOR TSSAUSE ONLY

Make TSSA your union nowPass this form on to a colleague who isn’t yet a member

20 December 2012

Venezuela

For decades, Venezuela’s oil wealthbenefited only a few at the top of thecountry, but in recent years power andwealth have been redistributed for thebenefit of the majority of its people.Whilst much of the world has beenprivatising their public services andattacking workers’ rights, Venezuela hasbeen showing that another world ispossible as they strive to build a‘socialism for the 21st century’.

The Journal spoke with Jacobo Torresand Carlos Lopez when they visited TSSA’sWalkden House in December. Jacoborepresents the Venezuelan equivalent ofthe TUC and is also on the executive ofthe ruling Socialist Party of Venezuelan(PSUV). Carlos is the President of theFederation of University Workers and alsochaired the commission which drafted thecountry's new Labour Law, one of themost progressive of its kind in the world.

Journal: In Britain, ordinary working peopleare struggling with cuts to many of ourbasic services and have restricted rightsat work. Venezuela seems to be on a verydifferent course – how so?

Jacobo: Between 1989 and 1998 the neo-liberals dismantled large parts of ourcountry. These past 14 years since we’ve

had a socialist government have beenabout recuperating our country andbuilding democratic control over our maineconomic activities. Seeing what’shappening now in Europe, it looks exactlylike what happened to us in the 90s. Themost important thing is that we’reaffirming that another world is possible –and that’s what we’re building in Venezuela.

We have a concept which goes againstthe way that social problems are beingtackled in Europe or the US. We keephearing that in order to save theeconomy, we have to reduce publicexpenditure, but instead in Venezuelawe’ve enshrined education, healthcare andmany other areas as fundamental humanrights in our constitution, not as thingswhich can be taken away.

Spending in these areas is not a ‘waste’of expenditure, but a social investment inour people. For the past eight quarters oureconomy has been growing – all withoutsacrificing any of these rights, even in thedepths of the crisis. Even when ournational income dropped due to theslump in the oil price, we didn’t cut any ofour social programmes.

Journal: In the recent election, HugoChavez was re-elected president with a 10per cent lead over the opposition –

something that I’m sure Obama, with hisone per cent margin was envious of. Whatimpact will that have?

Jacobo: Chavez’s victory has given ushuge hope. We are well on the path totransforming our society and the bigmajority allows us to further deepen theprocess of building socialism inVenezuela.

Carlos: Yes, Chavez’s victory gives us agood starting point. Those who wanted totake us back to subservience to the USeconomic model were defeated at theballot box, so now we’ve six years of hardwork to resolve the many problems we stillhave in society. We have to fight againstcorruption and bureaucracy like anywhereelse, but the difference is, things aregetting better for the majority of oursociety, not just those at the very top.

Journal: Whilst it seems like the rights ofworkers in Europe and many other placesare being driven back, workers inVenezuela have won new rights – how didthat come about?

Carlos: The workers movement proposed anew law to Chavez. He agreed, but made itconditional on us building consent for any

Venezuela:building afairer societyfor all

TSSA recently welcomed a delegation of

Venezuelan trade unionists, hearing how

their society in being transformed for the

better – with investment in public transport

a major priority.

Supporters of the Socialist Party of Venezuela held vast ralliesahead of October’s election.

TSSA Journal 21

changes through a nationwideconsultation process. Across the tradeunion movement we had 2,500 discussionmeetings, which resulted in 19,000submissions. In order to draft the lawthere was a commission includingministers, MPs, lawyers and judges, but alsomembers of the trade unions, like myself.

We’ve now won or extended the rightsof millions of Venezuelans, from jobstability and protection from unfairdismissal to an increase in maternity leaveand a guarantee that new mothers willhave two years job stability when theyreturn. The right to form unions and tocollective bargaining have been extended,with fairer strike laws allowing forsecondary action. Workers will now get areserved seat in the management of statesector companies, workplace education isnow a right and at least 15 per cent ofprofits in the private sector must bedistributed to workers. Outsourcing hasbeen banned, with companies given threeyears to bring services back in-house.

Journal: Could you tell us more about thehuge expansion going on in theVenezuelan railways and the socialmotivation behind this?

Carlos: Before the election of our socialistgovernment, the railways weredisregarded with everything going byroad. Now there’s a very ambitious plan toconnect the whole country through a

national rail network for the first time.We’re also investing in public transportmore generally – metro systems, a properbus network for the first time – all toensure people rely less on their own cars.As an oil exporter, petrol is cheaper thanwater, but this leaves our citiespermanently congested.

The new railways are really going tohave a huge impact. In our mountainousurban areas, given the number of peoplewho live in poor districts on the outskirts,we’re working to ensure they have cheapand easy access to the city centrethrough a network of cable cars. The firstof these is already operating with severalmore this year. Compared to movingthrough tiny streets of shanty-towns andon to over-crowded roads, these can savepeople up to two hours on their dailycommute.

On the metro and the railways, pricesare controlled so ordinary workers haveeasy access. The majority of buses are stillin private hands – small operators oftenjust running a couple of vehicles on asingle route. We have some control over

the prices, but the service is really poor,unreliable and very polluting. We’re nowworking to substitute these with publicbuses which are bigger, more comfortableand reliable.

Journal: There’s also been huge changes tohealthcare and education over the lastfew years, how do you see that processgoing forward?

Carlos: We’ve made a huge effort ineducation, right from primary level up touniversity. We’ve eradicated illiteracy withprogrammes for adults and pensioners aswell as kids. All primary age children nowreceive a small laptop with educationalsoftware which they can take home withthem.

We now have 2.5 million peopleenrolled in our universities – all studyingwithout fees – compared to just 400,000when Chavez came to power – that’s nowthe second highest in Latin America.Universities have also gone out beyondthe normal four walls of their campusesand into the communities, teaching theirsubjects in a way that is adapted to thecontext of the communities in whichthey’re based.

Over the last decade we’ve constructeda public health service almost fromscratch – infant mortality has dropped bya third, life expectancy is increasing andthe country now has a network of over13,000 small clinics serving a very localarea.

Jacobo: This is what is possible when ourresources are used to advance the lives ofall citizens – not hoarded for the benefitof a tiny minority. 7

To find out more about the socialtransformation of Venezuela or to getinvolved in supporting the process, visit theVenezuela Solidarity Campaign atwww.venezuelasolidarity.co.uk.

President Hugo Chavez at the launch of a Cable Liner shuttle on the Caracas Metro.

Venezuela

Since this interview President Chavez has once again needed to seek urgenttreatment for cancer. His condition remains precarious with his government, partyand movement hopeful, but prepared should his condition worsen. Chavez hasdiscussed the possibility of there needing to be a replacement president and hasrecommended Vice President Nicolas Maduro.Under Venezuela’s ultra-democratic constitution, brought in under Chavez, anelection would be held within 30 days of him no longer being President. With orwithout Chavez, the progress seen by the Venezuelan people looks set to continue.

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TSSA’s ManuelCortes withyouth activistLaura Lopez andtrade unionistsCarlos Lopez andJacobo Torres

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In his George Bradshaw lecture given atthe Institution of Civil Engineers inOctober, Tim O’Toole, the boss ofFirstGroup emphasised that the keyreason behind the growth of therailways in the past 15 years was the factthat they were in the private sector.Moreover, he argued that it was the verycomplexity of the system created byprivatisation that has delivered thatgrowth and therefore, the fragmentationcreated by the sell-off must be retained.

In the lecture he stressed: ‘The industrystructure that best promotes theaspiration and drive for growth is one that

involves private Train OperatingCompanies (TOCs). Private TOCs mustdeliver growth to survive; a monolithic,publicly-owned authority doesn’t have to.’He said that the public sector had ‘a datedmindset that the railway is ours, that itsresidual purpose following the end of BritishRail is to remain the sustaining-engine ofthe only thing to which some truly oweallegiance, the pension plan… In otherwords, growth is just a further burdeninstead of an ambition and reward.’ Gosh,bet he never said that to his workers andmanagers in London Underground, whichhe ran from 2002 to 2009.

He then spoke about how complexityhad also been a source of growth: ‘Ourindustry has become very complex, withmultiple TOCs and FOCs where oncethere was one authority, and itscomplexity is set to increase withNetwork Rail's devolution, but the greatercomplexity has generated and absorbedthe greatest sustained growth inpassengers in history.’

In other words, it is the mix ofprivatisation, coupled with thecomplexity which it caused, that hasbeen the catalyst for the recent successof the railways. I could not disagree

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22 December 2012

Christian Wolmar

Christian Wolmar takes issue with the

claim from FirstGroup’s Tim O’Toole

that the complexity and profit-motive

in the current system are the

main drivers of growth.

The privately operated butTfL-controlled LondonOverground leaving the City

more with both propositions, eventhough Mr O’Toole is a man for whom I have enormous respect.

When Tim O’Toole ran LondonUnderground, he did so with realdedication to public service and he didmuch to improve the service. It was aperiod of growth during which, for thefirst time, the London Undergroundreached the figure of 1bn users in a year –a number that has continued to rise.

During Mr O’Toole’s time at theUnderground, I used to meet himregularly and he railed against the PublicPrivate Partnership that had been createdby the Labour government. This planinvolved separating out the operations,which remained in public hands, from theinfrastructure. When he left to go back,temporarily as it turned out, to the USA, Iinterviewed him for the Evening Standard(on my website, 17 April 2009) and he wasstrongly critical of the whole arrangement:‘So many things about the PPP werewrong. Separating the track from theinfrastructure was wrong. The theory wasthat these private companies would comein and introduce all this innovation, butfundamentally we have not had the levelof innovation that justifies the extra costof the PPP’ He added that far frominnovating, the private companies hadplayed safe and not introduced risky newtechnology but rather had milked thesystem for what they could get.

Now though, he suggests that publicsector organisations lack the impetus anddrive to grow, and only the private sectorhas the vision and desire to promoteexpansion. He said ‘there is a fundamentaldifference in mindsets between entitiesthat are trying to make money and thosewhose central purpose is to spend it. Overtime, the latter simply lack the day to dayobsession with finding ways to grow’.

Let’s though, examine this proposition.Take, for example London Overgroundwhich while being run by a privatecompany, works entirely to the

specification of Transport for London. It isa concession rather than a franchise andthanks to investment, good marketingand re-staffing stations, it grew by astaggering 110 per cent in its first year.Already, extra coaches are having to beprovided to meet demand.

Then there is Directly OperatedRailways which has been quietly runningthe East Coast franchise for the past threeyears and was on standby to run WestCoast, until at the last minute a deal wasreached with Virgin. DOR took over apoorly run franchise and has built up anumber of notable successes. Passengernumbers between London and Edinburghhave risen by more than a third andrecently the company celebrated thebest-ever monthly punctuality figure of93.3 per cent – a proportion that hasconsistently been higher than Virgin’sefforts on the West Coast. Highlyprofitable First Class passengers –presumably less of a priority in TimO’Toole’s vision of public sector rail –have grown by 39 per cent betweenLondon and Edinburgh. Oddly, too, EastCoast is top of the league table ofcomplaints, but according to PassengerFocus many of these apparently relate tooverzealous checking of tickets –something which is not supposed tohappen in the O’Toole world of publicsector management.

Possibly most interesting is the oftenforgotten example of Northern Ireland.Because of fears of potential politicaldifficulties, the small railway of NorthernIreland has remained a publicly ownedintegrated operation which has recentlybenefitted from investment in bothrolling stock and track.

Passenger numbers there haveincreased by 70 per cent over the pastdecade, an even higher rate than on themainland, thanks in part to theinvestment programme. There are plansfor further expansion which will doubtlessbring yet more growth.

Mr O’Toole, who is also head of thebizarre Rail Delivery Group – the bodymeant to deliver the cost reductionsrequired by the McNulty report – seemsto be on an ideological path up the wrongtrack. The result of the West Coastomnishambles is that for the next twoyears Virgin will be running the line on thebasis of a small management fee of just 1 per cent, with the company promisingthat the money will go to good causes

(not, one hopes, for wildlife managementon Branson’s personal Necker Island in theCaribbean). It will, therefore, not be afranchise but effectively a concession likeLondon Overground which actually pointsthe way forward. If the next Labourgovernment proves to be too timid toactually take back the franchises intopublic ownership which is the obvioussolution to this mess, the party could seeconcessions as the ideal compromise. Nolonger would we have the tortuousbidding process based on the voodooscience of futurology, but a much moreeasy process that would be far less costlyand complex. 7

Christian Wolmar is seeking theLabour nomination for the London Mayorelection in 2016. If you would like him toaddress your branch meeting, email him atchristian.wolmar@gmail.com.

East Coast has now been in public hands forover three years

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Virgin will now run the West Coast on the basis of a fee of just 1 per cent, with that going to good causes.

In Northern Ireland,passenger numbers are up 70 per cent – an even higher rate than on the mainland.

Does public sector rail ‘lack the impetus to grow’? London Overground grew by a staggering 110 per cent in its first year.

TSSA Journal 23

Christian Wolmar

24 December 2012

Paul Salveson

Post-privatisation: a newrailway model for Wales?

Paul Salveson describes his proposals for a new structure for Welsh railways when the

current franchise expires, as featured in a new publication by The Co-operative Party.

Could Wales serve as anew ‘model railway’ forservices across the UK?

Based on an image by Martyn Spencer / hst43077

The turmoil in the rail industry followingthe suspension of the West Coast andother franchising competitions hascaused many railway professionals toquestion the assumptions that haveunderpinned privatisation, and inparticular the model that has beenimposed on Britain’s railways. Neithershort franchises, nor longer contracts,provide a sensible way to develop the UKrail network; both have inherentcontradictions that have been exposedover the last couple of years, on bothEast and West Coast franchises. The bigproblem for opponents of privatisationhas been the question ‘well what wouldyou do instead?’ The simple answer, tobring back ‘old BR’, has its problems.The centralised structure created in 1948had some merits but reflected a post-warUnited Kingdom that has disappeared.Devolution of significant powers toScotland, Wales and Northern Irelandmean there is no going back to Londoncontrol, whether for railways or manyother areas of policy. In terms of rail,even the current government is seriouslycontemplating devolving rail powers tothe English regions.

This presents some excitingopportunities for trades unionists if weare willing to think beyond the old mind-set of central state control and ownership.My report ‘Rail Cymru – a people’s railwayfor Wales’ was commissioned by the Co-operative Party and explores ways inwhich a not-for-profit ‘mutually-owned’railway could work, offering up a numberof ideas for further debate. I hope TSSAmembers will respond to that challengeand play a leading part in the discussion.Some of the proposals in the report owemuch to the early ideas of railway tradesunionists at the beginning of thetwentieth century, including those of theRailway Clerks’ Association, the forerunnerof today’s TSSA.

What is the report saying? Firstly, thatfranchising is not an appropriate way torun a railway and the end of the current‘Wales and Borders’ franchise in 2018offers the right sort of timescale for theLabour-run Welsh Government to preparefor something much more suited to theneeds of the people of Wales andneighbouring parts of England. Ironically,the current franchise is run by a state-owned operator – German-owned Arriva

Trains Wales. In many ways itsperformance compares well with other‘regional’ operators, but the reality is thatthe main objective is to make money forits parent company whilst keepingperformance within the standards laiddown by the franchise agreement –currently let by the Department forTransport in London.

If devolution is to mean anything, fullresponsibility for domestic rail services(i.e. other than InterCity) should lie withthe Welsh Government. The model for‘Rail Cymru’ owes much to the approachadopted by the devolved BasqueGovernment in Spain which owns andoperates its own regional rail networkcalled ‘Euskotren’ (ET). The company alsoruns an integrated network of feeder busservices. The company operates on anarms-length basis from the government,with day to day responsibilities lyingwith the company itself. The BasqueGovernment has funded a number ofmajor improvement projects includingtrack doubling, new rolling stock (builtlocally!) and improved station facilities. Inaddition, the ET network is verticallyintegrated, with infrastructure as well as

operations coming under the sameoverall control, but with separateaccounting units for infrastructure, tokeep within EU law.

In Wales, a not-for-profit traincompany could be established by theWelsh Government, ensuring publicaccountability but also allowing scope foremployee and passenger involvement.Some of the remaining municipally-owned bus companies in the UK offerexamples of how public accountabilitycan be delivered in ways that are bothlegal and deliver high quality services.

A key issue is to create a company thatcombines accountability, inclusivenessand commercialism – a word which tradesunionists should not be afraid of, if theresult is improved services. Creating theright governance will be critical inensuring Rail Cymru has the leadershipneeded to create an outstanding servicefor Wales and the English borders.

The proposal in the report is for athree-tier structure that ensures balancedrepresentation across Wales and theBorders and delivers a tight managementstructure at the top. This would involvethe Rail Cymru Board itself, supervised bya National Stakeholder Forum with five‘area stakeholder boards’ (ASBs). The latterwould involve employees, local managers,local authorities, passenger groups,community rail partnerships, Network Railand other relevant rail industry bodies.

The ASBs would have considerableinfluencing power. Each would have astrong say in service delivery in its areabut also look at opportunities forwidening Rail Cymru’s profile in the localcommunity. It would ensure that RailCymru delivers on its obligations and alsohelp ensure that as much procurement ofgoods and services is as local as possible.

The ‘national’ stakeholder forum wouldcover the entire Wales and Bordersnetwork and include representation foremployees. There might also berepresentation from the WelshGovernment itself as main paymaster,Network Rail, local authorities (includingneighbouring English shires), passengers(via Passenger Focus), community railpartnerships, the business community andindividual experts nominated by theWelsh Government.

The national stakeholder forum would

be empowered to discuss issues ofstrategic importance to the company andfrom its number it would appointmembers (‘non-executive directors’) tothe Rail Cymru board. This would haveday-to-day responsibility for the runningof the business and be chaired by themanaging director. Its members wouldinclude executive directors and non-executive directors nominated by thenational stakeholder board.

Trades unionists should have stronginput as representatives of employees onthe national and area boards, togetherwith other stakeholder groupsrepresenting passenger and localgovernment interests. This has somesimilarity to the proposals put forward byEmil Davies in The Case for RailwayNationalisation, published in 1912 andsupported by many RCA activists. Daviescalled for a publicly-owned railway with arange of stakeholders represented on a‘railway council’, including tradesunionists, local authorities and thebusiness community.

This structure would seem to offer thebest balance between the interests of theWelsh Government which would be theprimary funder, and ultimate licensor, ofthe train company, the interests ofemployees and those of passengers andthe wider community. It would not be afull co-operative but enshrine many if notall of the ethical values which distinguishco-operatives from most ‘for profit’companies owned by shareholders.

The proposals for what is essentially a‘social enterprise’ train company in whichany surplus (profits) are re-invested intothe railway are not very difficult toimplement. It requires political will, whichis there on the part of the Labour-controlled National Assembly for Wales.However, it also requires a sympatheticresponse from the Government atWestminster, on a number of levels.Firstly, to give the National Assembly ofWales the same control over the Walesand Borders franchise as those currentlyexercised by the Scottish Governmentover ScotRail. In addition however, itshould allow the Welsh Government todecide not to go through a franchisingprocess to set up ‘Rail Cymru’ as theoperator of passenger services in Walesand the Borders. This cuts across the

Tories’ 1993 Railways Act and may requireeither derogation or amendment to theAct. It most certainly needs a sympatheticapproach by the UK Secretary of State forTransport and that is only likely to happenif we have a Labour Government in powerat Westminster as well as in Cardiff Bay.

Getting the structure right is crucial,but the success of a ‘mutual’ Rail Cymruwill be judged on how it delivers. Thereport suggests that Rail Cymru shouldaim to expand its services, improvequality and ensure much betterintegration with bus services across Wales– including operating its own feederservices to towns which lost their railservices in the 1960s. It should also have ahigh profile in the community and reflecta strong national identity – a traincompany that the people of Wales canfeel truly proud of.

If Wales can be the first to break loosefrom the shackles of privatisation andthe shot-termism of franchising, otherparts of the UK could well follow suit,including Scotland and the North ofEngland. What marks Wales off as beingthe strongest contender to movebeyond the privatised shambles ishaving a Labour administration willing totry alternative approaches combinedwith a suitable length of time to preparethe ground before the current franchiseruns out. There is everything to play forin achieving what our RCA forebearsaspired to.

Professor Paul Salveson MBE is amember of TSSA’s Yorkshire Ridings Branch

The Co-operative Party’s report Rail Cymru– a people’s railway for Wales isdownloadable on the Co-operative Partywebsite http://tinyurl.com/welshrail.

Paul Salveson

The Welsh Government already subsidiseseveral Arriva Trains Wales services, butLondon retains overall control

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TSSA Journal 25

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26 December 2012

TSSA personal injury service

TSSA’s lawyersensure child’sspeedy recovery“It’s awful to see yourchild in such pain. But Iwas glad that TSSA couldhelp us make her better.” Emma was five when shebroke her leg falling in alocal playground. She hadbeen on a rope ladder onthe climbing frame whenthe rope broke and shefell to the ground. Herparents, Claire andAndrew, were watchingher while her babybrother slept in hispushchair. “I saw her fall,” saysAndrew, a member ofTSSA. “It’s one of thosethings that will haunt methe rest of my days,seeing your child fall andland in incredible pain. Iran to her and when I sawher leg I called 999immediately. It felt likethey were there almostinstantly.” Emma needed sedativesas well as strong pain

relief and the ambulancecrew took her to the localchildren’s hospital whereshe was treated for abroken thigh bone andmild concussion. Another parent whowitnessed the fall took apicture of the spot whereEmma had fallen and therope that had broken,causing her to fall. “At work the next day Iwas telling a colleagueabout it and herecommended I callTSSA’s solicitors. I didn’twant anyone else’s childto be hurt the same way,so I called.Andrew spoke with thesolicitor John, and passedhim a copy of the picturethe other parent hadtaken of the playequipment. “Those pictures werereally useful because theyshowed the rope when itwas freshly broken. By the

time I spoke with John,the local authority hadalready fixed the rope.John was able to use thephoto and then theycould not denyresponsibility.” The authority’s insurersoffered Claire andAndrew £1000 for herinjury, which Johnadvised them to turndown. “Children heal morequickly than adults, butEmma needed somephysiotherapy for herinjury. The NHSphysiotherapist was fullybooked and if we wantedto get Emma the help atthe time it was going tobe most critical for herrecovery, we had nochoice but to go private.”Using evidence from thephysiotherapist andindependent medicalexperts, John negotiatedfor a higher offer, which

took into account Emma’sneed for rehabilitation.Eventually the insurersoffered £4000 which wasaccepted. “Thanks to TSSA andJohn at Morrish’s I wasable to get my daughterthe medical treatment shereally needed. It’s nowone year after theaccident and thankfullyher bone has healed andthe leg is growingnormally along with therest of her! Thanks TSSA.”

l Based on a real lifecase. Certain details havebeen altered to protectthe identity of the victim. Morrish Solicitors offersfree personal injury legaladvice for TSSA membersand their family members.Whether the injuryoccurred at work orcompletely unrelated towork, Morrish Solicitorsprovides expert legaladvice you can trust. Call0800 093 0353.

ACCIDENTS AT WORK ACCIDENTS OUTSIDE WORK ASSAULTS ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS SLIPS OR TRIPS OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE

TSSA Personal Injury ServicesFree to Members & their families

0800 093 0353

Accidents do not happen- they are caused!

As a member of the TSSA, should either you or your immediate family suffer injurythrough someone else’s negligence, you will be entitled to FREE legal advice andrepresentation from our specialist personal injury lawyers Morrish Solicitors LLP. No money will be deducted from any compensation recovered and no charge will bemade to you or your family for the advice and representation you receive.If you’d like to find out more, call us today and we will look after you.

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TSSA Journal 27

helpdesk

While trying to rid the planet of chocolate and malt whisky over the festive season, the Helpdesk received aninteresting email from our mole in Vince Cable’s office. We all make New Year resolutions, and our friend sent on acopy of what seems to be Vince’s. We reproduce them here so we know that he’s got it in for us some of what he’s gotin store for us all in the coming year:

These are some of the policies in the pipeline as we go to press,along with other misguided attempts to shift the ‘burden’ frombusinesses to workers, alongside the move to transfer blame forthe recession from bankers and tax dodging companies to theunemployed and those on benefits. For most of us New YearResolutions don’t last past the middle of January, but unless weprotest and fight these government plans, they will continue toslash our rights at work.

Rant over, normal service resumes next issue, but there was onemore in Vince’s list that my mole saved for last:

If you have a question about your workplace rights, call our employment law specialists on 0800 3282673in the UK or 1800 805272 in the Republic of Ireland or email helpdesk@tssa.org.ukHours: Monday to Thursday 8am–6pm Friday 8am–5pm

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As the world didn’t end on 21 December, the Helpdesk are glad to be able to wish ahappy and prosperous new year to all readers.

l Remove protection against workers being harassed by third parties. (This might be a problem for thosedealing with the public as customers or clients, but then protecting workers is a burden on business)l Remove the 115 year old legal protection that says workers can rely on an employer's breach of healthand safety law to win a personal injury claim. Force the worker to provide proof of the employer’snegligence. (Health and safety is a burden on business) l Force workers to be independently assessed by a private health company after four weeks sickness.Their own GPs are too keen to sign people off. Look at the success we’ve already had with removingDisability Living Allowance from people who are unfit to work (and besides, encouraging employees to stayat home when they are too ill to work is a burden on business) l Reduce the maximum compensation for unfair dismissal (compensating people who are unfairly dismissedis a burden on business) l Remove the ‘gold plating’ on TUPE, Redundancy and Working Time Regulations to give only the minimumprotection forced on us by the EU directives (the Working Time Directive specifies a minimum of 14 weeksmaternity leave, so why do we allow it to last up to 52 weeks – an additional 38 weeks burden onbusiness)

Business Secretary Vince Cable in his favourite hat

l Make sure I keep well in with business – I’ll be

looking for a job after the next election

Take action:You can find out more and take action against the government’s plans at www.StopEmploymentWrongs.org

0800 3282673/1800 805272U

KRepublic of Ireland

28 December 2012

letters

Public funding is essentialFurther to the editorialcomment to the letter inthe last Journal, I cannotagree with any of theletter from RobinHavenhand. He askswhat is the point ofgovernment subsidisedrail travel? Well thepoint of it is to providean alternative means oftransport to the motorcar (which ironically isin itself heavilysubsidised as motoringtaxes do not goanywhere near the costof providing the road)and also to provide asocial and public service.

Presumably thecomment that ‘the cost ofrail travel should fall onpassengers not taxpayers’should also apply tomotorists.

You may as well arguethat taxpayers who haveno kids should notsubsidise schools or thosewho are not ill shouldn‘thave to pay for hospitals.

Public transport hasmassive environmentalbenefits and aids thewhole community as it ismuch more efficient tomove people around inone vehicle.

Just imagine whatwould happen ifgovernment did notinvest in rail or bus travel:most lines (even inLondon) would close andour cities would bepermanently gridlocked.Even Los Angeles has atlast seen sense and has

reintroduced lightrail rather than buildingyet more freeways.

Luckily most of thepublic are on the side ofTSSA on this one. Nowfor the hard work ofpersuading somepoliticians. Cities are forpeople, not cars!Colin BrazierExecutive CommitteeMember, London SouthWest

Who will challengecrooks at the top?Thank you for publishingmy letter in theNovember issue of theJournal. I am not surewhich part of my lettergave you the impressionthat I am against TSSAtaking up disputesbetween employers andemployees – I wouldexpect the union tosupport its members. Thepoint I was trying tomake is that it is notright for a single disputebetween Virgin and oneof its employees to beused by the TSSA oranybody else to say thatthe whole culture ofVirgin Trains is todismiss its staff at thefirst opportunity for nogood reason.

I wanted also tocomment on the letterfrom Jon Burden. Hemakes the point that theunion ‘is marching formore of the same’ whichaligns with my view thatTSSA has not moved on.Our economy has been

totally distorted over thelast twenty years so that itis no longer the electedgovernment that runs thecountry; they just do thebidding of the rich andpowerful, most of whomevidently are happy touse criminal fraud andother illegal means toamass huge fortunesregardless of the damagedone to society. Unlessthere is a massive culture-change that reins in thesemonsters, the ordinarypeople of the UK have noproper financial future.Who is leading the fightagainst them? Nobody itseems. Why? Becausemost of those who couldlead the fight are alreadyon the payroll, one wayof another, of the crookswho are running thecountry for their ownbenefit. Consequently,they will not lead amovement to kill thegeese that lay theirgolden eggs.Ron HavenhandSuperannuated member

Tackling metal thefttogetherThank you for your letter[informing BTP of policyagreed on metal theft]which is very supportiveand welcome. I wouldlike to reassure TSSAmembers that the BritishTransport Police and thepolice service nationallyare working together toreduce the threat posedto communities and

industry by metalthieves. We have receivedsignificant support fromthe Government andDepartment forTransport, which hasbeen instrumental inestablishing the NationalMetal Theft TaskforceProgramme (NMTTP).

The NMTTP was set upin December 2011 tomanage the nationalresponse to metal theftthrough regional co-ordination. Thisapproach has achievedsome very impressiveresults so far, but there isstill much work to bedone, particularly nowcash transactions at scrapmetal yards have beenprohibited. The efforts ofBTP in tackling this typeof criminality hasproduced a reduction inmetal theft offences ofover 53 per cent so farthis year.

Everyone can play arole in disruptingoffenders who causeinconvenience and upsetto the wider community.TSSA members canprovide invaluableassistance in the fightagainst metal theft bybeing alert and throughearly reporting of anysuspicious activity thatthey witness or becomeaware of. This can be donevia BTP control room oranonymously toCrimestoppers on 0800555 111.DS John McBrideBritish Transport Police

letters

This is your chance to share your views with thousands of other TSSA members. The deadline for the next issue is 11 February. Letters may be edited for length or clarity. Email journal@tssa.org.uk or write to TSSA Journal, WalkdenHouse, 10 Melton Street, London, NW1 2EJ.