Please find a letter from Charles Horton, GTR CEO, below (you can also find the original attached).
Dear stakeholder
This is to update you further with the steps we are taking to resolve the industrial relations situation on Southern.
Over the weekend ASLEF said that it was calling off its current ballot for industrial action due to what it described as a ‘technical hitch’. This welcome development gives us the time and opportunity to hopefully resolve matters with them. We have worked with their representatives to implement the changes, and will continue to meet their officials.
We can now confirm that 220 conductors - 99 per cent - have signed up to the new On-Board Supervisor (OBS) role and will now take up the new role in January, which focuses exclusively on customer service and moves the operation of closing doors to the driver. A further 222 people will remain in their existing roles as conductors on certain Southern services.
We will be also recruiting a further 100 people to work OBS roles across Southern and Gatwick Express services and an advertising campaign will launch later this week.
The impact of future RMT strikes will reduce as we complete the process of giving drivers full operational control of trains. OBSs can work more flexibly, we are recruiting more of them and if one is not available at short notice, we can run a train without one being available.
As you will be aware, the RMT is planning another 11 days of strikes by conductors, including walkouts lasting from Thursday 22 December until Christmas Eve and then again from New Year’s Eve until Monday 2 January. This shows a disregard for the needs of both workers and families seeking to be with loved ones, it also puts many of our employees in a very difficult position. A large number have defied the picket line to work during the strikes and many others that join the strikes do so under significant peer pressure and with great reluctance. We also know of some conductors who have now resigned their union membership over this latest development.
During the most recent strike action (November 4 and 5), we ran more services than on previous strike days, around 60 more trains between Haywards Heath and Victoria, with a half-hourly service running from 07.00 to 22.00. Almost all 156 Southern stations had either a train or a bus service. We will update our webpage www.southernrailway.com/your-journey/strike for subsequent strikes should the action continue.
I am sure you will agree that the sensible thing for the RMT to do now is to call off their action and work constructively with us on implementing the changes. I thank you for the patience that you and your constituents have shown during the strikes, and ask that you help us in putting pressure on the RMT to call a halt to their dispute.
Yours sincerely,
Charles Horton Chief Executive Officer