Category: Health and Safety

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NETWORK RAIL DISPUTE – SERIOUS AND IMMINENT DANGER

The Secretary

ALL BRANCHES

ALL REGIONAL COUNCILS

 

Dear Colleague

 

NETWORK RAIL DISPUTE – SERIOUS AND IMMINENT DANGER

 

Members of the RMT working for Network Rail will be engaging in industrial action as follows:

 

  • To take 24 hours of industrial action by not booking on for duty on any shift from 1700 hours on 25/05/2015 until 1659 hours on 26/05/2015.
  •  To take industrial action by not working any overtime or additional hours or any extended shifts and by not undertaking any call-outs for 48 hours between 0001 hours on 25/05/2015 and 2359 hours on 26/05/2015.

 

During these periods we believe Network Rail will attempt to run a railway service by using managers to cover safety critical roles and in particular to cover Electrical Control Rooms, signal boxes and signalling centres and train dispatch with managers who we fear may not be fully competent to carry out the safety critical tasks that are so important in protecting staff, passengers and the general public.

 

These cover arrangements will clearly impact on the operational safety of staff working outside of Network Rail but working on the railway infrastructure. Roles that may be affected in this way by the dispute include, but may not be limited to, train drivers, guards, infrastructure workers, other on-board staff and train dispatch staff.

 

Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (MHSW), Regulation 8(1) employers have a duty to establish procedures to be followed in the event of serious and imminent danger to persons at work such procedures are sometimes known as Worksafe Procedures.

 

A guide to your rights in this regard are contained in the following RMT publication:

http://www.rmt.org.uk/news/publications/serious-and-imminent-dangers/

 

Should you, as an individual, feel that as part of your duties you are placing yourself in serious or imminent danger during the dispute you should comply with your company’s policy as required by the MHSW. Attached to this circular is a pro-forma should you wish to record your concerns in writing to your management.

proforma dispute NR 2015

Please bring the contents of this circular to the attention of all relevant members.

 

Yours sincerely

Mick Cash

General Secretary

www.rmt.org.uk/healthandsafety

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LUL Assaults Rise

RMT steps up tube cuts fight with Bakerloo Line protest as new figures show 44% increase in staff assaults

 

RMT Bakerloo Line activists, alongside community groups, will be taking the fight against staff cuts and the closure of tube ticket offices to the public next Wednesday – 25th February – between 8am and 10am and 4pm and 6pm hours with leafleting and petition signing outside Edgware Road (Bakerloo Line) station.

 

With the London Mayor’s ticket office closure programme now underway, RMT is ramming home the point that increasing passenger demand, forecast to continue to surge in the coming years, combined with increased levels of violent incidents against both passengers and staff are exposing Boris Johnson’s cuts programme for the reckless gamble that it is.

 

New research issued today by the Labour Group on the GLA shows a 44% increase in staff assaults since 2009 as cuts leave tube workers dangerously isolated. The recent stabbing of a customer assistant at Lancaster Gate was yet another warning ignored by the Mayor as he bulldozes ahead with his cuts programme. Details of the research are set out below.

 

The union is also be reinforcing the point that the closure of ticket offices, and the associated loss of jobs, discriminates against those groups who specifically require assistance to access the tube network, effectively turning the Underground into a no-go zone for some of the most vulnerable members of our society.

 

Meanwhile, RMT is continuing to raise safety, operational and staffing issues associated with the Mayor’s drive to introduce 24 hour weekend tube running.

 

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said;

 

“The fight against LUL ticket office closures and job cuts goes on and is widely supported by the public. The new research from the Labour Group on the GLA shows that assaults have nearly doubled in just five years and it is RMT members who are left vulnerable and isolated and at constant risk of attack as the cuts are driven through.

 

“The recent stabbing of a customer assistant at Lancaster Gate was just millimetres away from a potential fatality and yet those in charge, from the Mayor down, continue to ignore the brutal reality that confronts the tube workforce every single day of the week. These cuts have lethal consequences and RMT’s fight to stop them goes on.

 

“The event at Edgware Road in one of a number where RMT is uniting with the community to draw attention to the access and safety risks associated with this ill-conceived cuts programme at a time of surging passenger demand and increasing levels of violence.

 

“RMT will continue to oppose the ridiculous plan for ticket office closures and staff cuts and we will continue to keep the pressure on the mayor and LUL to put customers first.”

‎

 

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Dumping of sewage on tracks

Rail workers’ protest in Glasgow over dumping of sewage on tracks

 

Rail workers protesting over the continuing scandal of the dumping of sewage on the tracks will be out leafleting  at Glasgow Central and Glasgow Queen Street Stations on Tuesday 3rd February from 08.00 until 09.00‎

 

The action is part of RMT’s ongoing campaign to bring forward the date when the filthy and disgusting practice will be stopped on the Scotrail franchise from December 2017 to the union target date of April 2016 – one full year after Abellio take over the franchise.

 

At a meeting earlier this month a Network Rail Director told union reps that the risk to staff is low with a limited amount of harmful bacteria within this human waste – a dangerously complacent attitude that the union disputes. On further questioning  management confirmed the last analysis they carried out on human waste was in 2004- over a decade ago.

 

Network Rail also confirmed they would not offer staff any jabs to protect against any potential illnesses or disease, for example hepatitis.

 

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said;

 

“RMT activists will be on the entrances at both Glasgow Central and Queen Street on tuesday morning leafleting the public to raise awareness that this filthy and disgusting practice continues in 2015 with little or no regard for the health, safety and wellbeing of rail workers

 

RMT is determined to force rail bosses to bring forward the date when this scandal is brought to an end once and for all. ”

 

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CAUTION: LU Signal Post Structures

 

Caution when climbing signals at height

Newbury

An incident on the mainline railway network at Newbury has highlighted shortfalls in not only Network Rails structural surveys, but also within London Undergrounds own survey standards. The incident involved  a signal post which had rusted at/below ground level causing the signal to collapse across the track and a train colliding with it,

LU’s Civils Department have stated that their current inspection process would not have been able to detect this fault on our assets due to them carrying out their metal thickness tests at 1 metre above ground level and not below ground level. LU’s Head of Safety has been informed of this issue and we await a reply on how they are going to rectify this safety concern.

In the meantime, please be cautious when working on signal structures. If in any doubt it’s advisable to not access the asset and report it through the asset at height reporting form and process that can be found on the intranet.

http://onespace.tfl.gov.uk/lu_/cms/CMSLibrary/GN/G1313.pdf

http://onespace.tfl.gov.uk/lu_/cms/CMSLibrary/F/F1019.doc

Link to RAIB investigation:

http://www.raib.gov.uk/publications/current_investigations_register/141117_newbury.cfm

Further updates to follow.

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LUL Safety

LU management are proposing to change the rules for platform working in the new year. Under the catchy heading “Simplification of platform working – changing definition of track to exclude platform (600mm)”, management are once again putting cost savings before safety.

If management get their way, any work on a station platform (engineering or traffic hours), would not need to book out or get permission with the TAC or Station Supervisor/Line Controller. 25 years of a safe system of working would be destroyed.

The RMT will not tolerate LU management’s further erosion of tried and tested safe system’s of work. We will not accept this unsafe change.

Safety Before Profit!

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Elbow Out Ebola Peoples’ Campaign – Conference Dec 5th London

Elbow Out Ebola Peoples’ Campaign – Conference Dec 5th London

As the Ebola crisis continues to escalate, a conference to discuss a response has been called in London. So far over 3,000 people in West Africa have died.

 

Elbow Out Ebola International Conference will  take place on December 5th from 9.00am – 5pm followed in the evening by a fundraising cultural evening, to take place at the Zanzibar Club, 291 Kirkdale, Sydenham, SE26 4QD.

 

The Elbow Out Ebola conference features key note speakers from Embassies, High Commissions, Consulates, Ebola Task Force Groups, specialist doctors, Public Health Specialists and grass roots organisations joining forces with the diaspora to share knowledge and experiences in the fight against Ebola.

 

Countries with confirmed representatives include Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia and Nigeria.

 

For more information please visit: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/elbow-out-ebola-conference-tickets-14092574269?aff=eac2

 

Or email: [email protected]

 

Members are encouraged to attend.

 

Yours sincerely,

Mick Cash

General Secretary

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TAC's and PM EH

LUL have let slip plans to radically alter the way staff take protection to enter the track, specifically on nights. It appears that LUL are working on a system to integrate inputs from service control/ power control and work plans to directly authorise entry onto the track via handheld devices. This has major health and safety worries and also massively impacts on job security for Track Access Controller Grades and Protection Masters EH.  These concerns are already being raised directly with LUL by our union and we will be seeking urgent meetings with them to discuss this matter

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Asbestos Reporting

A NATIONAL INITIATIVE HAS BEEN RE-LAUNCHED TO ENSURE THAT DETAILS ARE RECORDED OF MEMBERS WHO BELIEVE THAT THEY MAY HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO ASBESTOS DUST THROUGH THEIR WORK.

It is important to remember that not everyone who has been exposed to asbestos develops an asbestos related disease, and that the development of a serious illness as a result of exposure to asbestos is rare. However, for those who do develop a disease, the effects can be devastating.

Recording information about exposure on a database will enable RMT and its solicitors to help those who wish to make a claim in the future by speeding up the process of obtaining compensation.

If you believe you have been exposed to asbestos in your current or a former workplace anywhere in the UK and at any time in the place no matter how long ago, you should complete the Asbestos Exposure Questionnaire.

Alternatively you can have a form sent to you by calling the Thompsons helpline on 0800 587 7516.

Post the completed form to:

‘Asbestos’

RMT Questionnaire

Thompson’s Solicitors

23 Princess Street

Manchester

M2 4ER

Please note that you cannot fill in this form online.

Members who registered their details on the previous RMT asbestos register can be assured that their information will be retained. If you are not sure if you did register your details, please do so again now.

 

 

rmtasbestosquestionnaire

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SCAM ALERT

TO ALL BRANCHES, REGIONAL COUNCILS & REGIONAL OFFICES

SCAM ALERT

Dear Colleague,

I am most concerned to learn that our members are being contacted by non-union law firms to deal with their personal injury claims and disease claims on terms that may not be as advantageous as our Unions scheme.

Our members are being “cold called” by High Street firms and claims companies who are wooing them away from the Union scheme with the promise of “no win no fee schemes”, but hidden in the small print are hefty legal fees which are deducted from their compensation at the end of the case and which they weren’t told about.

We must warn our members against signing up to these schemes. The latest “cold calls” are chasing members to claim noise induced hearing loss. Our members should be made aware of these unscrupulous firms and pointed in the direction of the Unions Legal Services.

One call from the member to 0845 712 5495 will put them through to our solicitors Thompsons in England and Wales; Drummond Miller in Scotland and Christine McCrossan for offshore workers.

Our members will be given specialist good advice and their claims won’t be under settled and we won’t take deductions form their compensation.

We must defend our Union’s Legal Services and ensure that our members use them and get maximum benefit from doing so. By using our scheme they can be safe in the knowledge that they get 100% of their compensation.

Don’t let our members be ripped off, ensure that they get this message and the number above. I shall shortly be sending out posters to the Branches and Regional Offices for you to display in prominent places so that our members are fully informed.

I would be grateful if you could bring the contents of this Circular to the attention of your Branch members.

 

Yours sincerely

Mick Cash

General Secretary

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Asbestos Acton Town

District Line Health and Safety Reps have raised concerns with Management regarding suspected Asbestos found around 42a, 41b and 41a points at Acton Town.

4Rail have been notified to come and test the site. Anyone working there please seek advice from your local health and safety reps and raise with your local management team. Similarly, if you’ve worked on these points recently again make sure this is reported. If any doubts then remember you have the right to refuse to work on the grounds of health and safety. Hopefully the site will be cleared as a matter of urgency

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Working Time Directive

Please see above and below
Circular No NP/ 149 /14

To All Branches, Regional Offices & Regional Councils

Our Ref: LA/42/14

2nd September 2014

Dear Colleagues,

Legal Update:  Holiday Pay.

Further to Circular NP/099/14 of the 29th May 2014 where I reported the case of Lock v British Gas. Many members have been asking questions about holiday pay, who is entitled to it and what we should be doing in light of the European case law.
 
Entitlement to statutory holidays under the Working Time Regulations 1998 applies to workers which includes those who personally provide services under a contract such as casual and freelance workers as well as zero hours workers.  Some sectors are excluded from the Working Time Regulations 1998 but have similar although not always identical provisions in separate regulations these include for example seafarers as defined, sea fishermen, workers engaged in the navigation of vessels in inland waterways and aircraft crew.
 
The Working Time Directive (WTD) provides that all workers are entitled to a minimum of 4 weeks paid holiday per year.  The WTD does not set out how holiday pay should be calculated.
 
The Working Time Regulations (WTR) 1998, which are meant to implement the Working Time Directive goes further by providing that workers are entitled to 5.6 week’s paid holiday – subject to a maximum of 28 days.  Therefore statutory holiday is made up of two entitlements; 4 weeks statutory holiday or 20 days if working a 5 day week; and additional statutory holiday which is 1.6 weeks leave, or 8 days if working a 5 day week.
 
A contract of employment can provide that a worker is entitled to more leave than the statutory leave.  This briefing does not cover how contractual holiday pay is calculated.  It only covers the statutory 4 weeks holiday
 
How statutory holiday pay should be calculated is set out in the Employment Rights Act 1996.  These provisions are complicated but broadly speaking how much statutory holiday pay a worker receives depends on whether the worker works normal working hours or has no normal working hours.  Normal working hours is where the contract fixes the working hours.  Overtime hours are not “normal working hours” unless obligatory on both sides, which means contractually guaranteed by the employer and compulsory for the employee For example, where a clause in the contract states “Your normal working hours are 37 per week”, statutory holiday pay is calculated on the basis of the normal 37 hour working week, so if overtime is worked this is not included in the calculation of statutory holiday pay, unless the overtime is obligatory on both sides.
 
If no normal hours are worked and none are set out in the contract, for example where the contract provides “Your working hours will vary according to the work that needs to be done” the rate of holiday pay will be calculated by reference to average pay over the previous 12 weeks for all sums earned.
 
There is a body of European case law which states that workers should be paid their normal remuneration when on their statutory 4 weeks leave under the WTR.  In the case of British Airways v Williams the European Court held that holiday pay should include: 
 
(i)            payments which are intrinsically linked to the performance of the tasks which the worker is required to carry out under her/his contract of employment;

(ii)          those elements of pay which relate to the personal and professional status of the worker; and

(iii)         the rate to be applied must be based on an average calculated over a representative reference period.

 
Applying those principles the European Court in the case of Lock v British Gas Trading Ltd held that a worker whose pay was made up of about 60% commission was entitled to include commission in the calculation of his holiday pay.
 
As a result of these European cases there have been a number of Employment Tribunal claims which have been brought claiming that overtime and shift premiums should be included in the calculation of the statutory 4 weeks holiday pay.  These cases are currently stayed (i.e. put on hold) pending the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in the cases of Hertel (UK) Ltd v Wood & ors and Amec Group Ltd v Law & ors .
 
What does this mean for members now?
The law in Britain is not yet decided, we can rely on the European case law to argue that the payments (e.g.  Overtime, incentive bonus payments; shift premiums; standby/emergency call out payments; certain allowances; commissions) are intrinsically linked to the tasks our members are required to do under his/her contract of employment and so should be included in the calculation of the statutory 4 weeks holiday pay, but until our courts have decided the position it is too early to give a definitive advice and we should be cautious in our approach.

 

However we are not content not to do anything; so we have begun the process of writing to all our employers through the normal bargaining procedures to open up discussions with them to seek a collective resolution to the issues raised by the European Courts to secure better pay and conditions for our members. 

 
In the meantime if an individual member considers they have a pressing problem with their holiday pay they can contact their Regional Officer who will update them on negotiations and if necessary obtain legal advice. Remember time limits may apply to holiday pay claims and early conciliation also applies to holiday pay claims. ACAS must be contacted and the early conciliation certificate issued before any Employment Tribunal claim can be lodged.
 
We will keep you updated on both the legal implications and our approaches to the employers.
 
Yours sincerely,



Mick Cash

Acting General Secretary

 

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