Letter from Dyan Crowther, Chief Operating Officer at GTR, updating on RMT's planned strike action
Good evening,
Following my email to you last week, I am writing to update you on the latest developments.
After the two-day strike in April, we are experiencing higher than usual levels of sickness at some of our conductor depots, resulting in a number of services being cancelled. We continue to urge the union to talk to us and to stop inflicting unnecessary disruption on our passengers. Under our proposals and the introduction of the on board supervisor role, many of these trains would be able to run as the driver would take full operational responsibility for the train, as they already do on 40% of Southern services.
As per my previous correspondence, our proposals mean that onboard staff will be more visible and better able to provide assistance – we can be more flexible and ensure that on board staff are on the routes where passengers need them most. Furthermore, in times of disruption, trains are less likely to be cancelled if a conductor is not available for any reason. It is also important to note that trains doors operated solely by drivers is nothing new in the rail industry. It is a recognised safe way of operation that has been in operation for more than 25 years.
Further industrial action is now due to take place on Wednesday 18th May 2016. You will have seen that this date changed from 20 May and RMT only provided 7 days notice of the change. This is clearly a ploy by RMT leadership to maximise the disruption their action will have on passengers by moving the strike, with the bare minimum of notice the law requires, from a Friday, when fewer people traditionally travel, to midweek.
We are offering all our onboard staff a job, as valued members of our future operation, with no reduction in salary. We continue to urge the union to stop inflicting unnecessary strike action on passengers and to talk to us about jointly implementing these improvements. If, however, the strike does go ahead it will affect Southern passengers on a number of routes.
For your information, I attach a map which shows what routes will be affected by the strike action. These routes can also be found on our website at: www.southernrailway.com. Full details relating to passenger compensation is also available on the website.
We are deploying a similar communications plan to the successful plan we followed during industrial action in April to ensure customers are aware of the possible impact the strike may have on their journey. Our website is being updated, station specific information is being rolled out, station staff and customer relations teams are being briefed and we are also redeploying head office staff to support customers at key locations.
I would like to reiterate that we are doing everything we can to avert further industrial action. Talks took place at Acas on Wednesday between Southern GTR and the RMT, although little progress was made. Discussions were adjourned to evaluate positions, and we'll reconvene in the near future.
Finally, I would like to apologise in advance for the disruption this strike will have on your constituents if it goes ahead. Please do get in touch if you would like to arrange a meeting to brief you on potential further disruption.
Yours sincerely,
Dyan Crowther
Chief Operating Officer