28.03.17
RMT writes to Liverpool mayor in attempt to end Merseyrail dispute
The RMT union has today penned a letter to the mayor of Liverpool asking to arrange an urgent meeting in a desperate attempt to get him to intervene and resolve its dispute with Merseyrail.
The disagreement has been ongoing since the start of this year when RMT extended its dispute over driver-only operated (DOO) trains from Southern to members of the union working for Merseyrail and Northern.
The strike action that followed has caused considerable issues for passengers on these services, most recently on Monday 13 March when strike action caused havoc across the network and meant that Northern was only able to run 40% of its normal service.
The news also follows an attempted injunction from Merseyrail against RMT’s strike on 13 March being thrown out by the High Court earlier this month.
Last week, the union announced fresh strikes on Northern and Merseyrail services to coincide with Grand National day on 8 April – action that is certain to cause major disruption for punters trying to get to Aintree for the races, many of whom take the train to the racecourse due to the station being situated a stones-throw away from the track.
Last week the mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, formally requested the union to call off this proposed strike. But Mick Cash, general secretary of the RMT, has hit back and urgently appealed to the mayor to sit down with the union and work out what he plans to do to end the dispute.
“As you have decided to intervene in this dispute and formally written to me requesting that the union calls off the action planned for the 8th April 2017 I am now calling for an urgent meeting with you to see if you and I can find a way to break the current impasse,” Cash’s letter read.
“I hope you will agree that the maths clearly show that there is an opportunity for both having modern new trains and keeping a guard on the train yet the company have refused point blank to agree to this.”
Cash argued that in light of “eye-watering” profits submitted by Merseyrail in the region of £14m a year, £5m of that sum should be put towards the cost of keeping guards on the train.
“It seems that the company position is that the new trains will be paid for by passengers losing their guards and our members losing their jobs while the company lose nothing, instead carrying on making a huge profit – with much of these profits going to Dutch state-owned Abellio,” argued Cash.
“Therefore, at our meeting, I would like to know as mayor or Liverpool what exactly you plan to do to assist in resolving this dispute.”
Cash also demanded that Anderson make clear whether he would “side with the private operators SERCO and Dutch state owned Abellio, who own Merseyrail, or with the passengers and the unions who wish to keep the guarantee of a guard on their trains”.
He added that the RMT was ready to engage in negotiations, and now expected the mayor to use his office to bring all parties back together and broker a new talks process that focuses on the core issues of safety and finance that RMT are concerned with.
RTM contacted the mayor’s office for comment, but at the time of publication had not received a reply.
Have you got a story to tell? Would you like to become an RTM columnist? If so, click here.