23.05.08
RMT to ballot train staff at Arriva Cross Country over removal of on-board catering facilities
More than 400 catering staff and guards at Arriva Cross Country are to be balloted for strike action over the removal of catering facilities from trains.
The ballot, scheduled to close on June 19, follows the company’s failure to undertake to retain shops and buffets on trains as they are refurbished, to reverse cuts in catering on services to Cornwall and north of Edinburgh, and to ensure that catering on former Central services is provided by directly employed staff.
It has also been prompted by the company’s failure to guarantee that full operational control of power-operated doors on Voyager trains will be returned to the guard.
“Refurbishment of trains should be an opportunity to improve on-board services and safety, but Arriva is using it to strip essential catering facilities from long-distance cross-country trains,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.
“The company has told us flatly that there will be no buffets on refurbished high-speed trains, and plans for removing shops from Voyagers are already under way.
“For our members it adds up to inferior, exposed and less safe working conditions, and for passengers it is a straightforward attack on their services.
“Without any consultation Arriva has already cut catering on services to Cornwall and north of Edinburgh and on all services after 8pm, and we want these cuts reversed.
“Refurbishment should also provide the opportunity to fulfil the promise made years ago to return full control of powered doors on Voyager trains to guards – but Arriva has failed to guarantee that either.
“We made it clear to the company that we would be in dispute unless we received the guarantees we were seeking by yesterday, and the RMT executive has therefore agreed to ballot catering staff and guards for strike action.
“I hope that passengers will understand that in fighting to defend our members’ jobs and working conditions we are also battling to defend the on-board catering services that are essential on some of Britain’s longest rail journeys,” Bob Crow said.
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