ASLEFJOURNAL Rails in Wales - MARCH 2019
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
ASLEF JOURNAL
The magazine of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers & Firemen
MARCH 2019
Rails in Wales
The train drivers’
union since 1880
Driver Learning
Manager, Training
£64k
Reading & Bristol
Join our team of Great Westerners and you’ll help provide a great service to 100 million
customers every year. You’ll also help us make history as we transform one of the world’s
most prestigious rail networks and create a 21st Century service to be proud of.
You’ll play an important role in our busy and vibrant Driver Training and Development team as you develop and deliver training
and assessment to drivers and other colleagues across the business. You’ll also ensure that we continue to meet the highest
standards, promote and demonstrate good safety behaviour, maintain training records, and give great feedback.
Enthusiastic and flexible, you’ll be passionate about development, open to new ideas, and able to inspire
your team. Training or coaching experience is essential, and you’ll already have spent at least 3 years as a
main line train driver.
You’ll be rewarded with all kinds of benefits, including a final salary pension scheme, free rail travel across
the GWR network for you and your family, a company-sponsored healthcare plan and childcare vouchers.
We’re unable to accept paper applications or applications via email.
Please complete the online application.
To apply please visit
GWRcareers.co.uk
REPTA 2019 DISTRICT 3 & DISTRICT 7
Run for the Railway People WEEKEND SCHOOL
by the Railway People 23-24 MARCH 2019
NOT FOR PROFIT BENEFITS ORGANISATION
Venue
Membership available now!
Royal Hotel Weston
Membership is open to all rail and transport industry staff either active or
1 South Parade, Weston-super-
retired and including immediate family and brings you over 125 years of Mare, BS23 1JP
experience and wide ranging members’ discounts and benefits. www.royalhotelwestern.com
Benefits: Applications
l We have full details on our website www.repta.co.uk and in our l Rooms are allocated on a first
comprehensive Yearbook. They include competitive insurance via our come, first served basis. What to expect
broker Alan Boswell Group. Obtain a quote before accepting your existing l Applications should be sent to Registration begins at 10am on
deal - Direct REPTA Telephone 01603 649737. hourigana@aslef.org.uk Saturday morning with tea/coffee
l All applications are to be
l FREE Love2shop Card offering 7% discount at high street stores and
and will be officially opened by the
received by 1 March 2019 (no General Secretary Mick Whelan at 11.00.
once Love2shop registered an opportunity for 4% at Tesco or Sainsburys. exceptions). A buffet lunch will be provided and a hog roast
l Please state your name, branch will kick off the social event in the evening. The
New for 2019: and contact details when event ends at midday Sunday. There will be
l Holiday Inn Bristol: Norway Cruise: Bletchley Park: GX Pillows: making your application. industry and political speakers providing an
l There will be no refunds or
Christmas Lunch Cruise: Cockney Matinee: Brick Lane Musical update on developments on our railway as well
as educational elements suitable for reps and
cancellations after 1 March
lay members alike.
Join today! 2019.
Individual membership, please send £5.85 inc. postage & packaging for l Please state how many and Delegate fees and room rates
which type of rooms you Delegate fee £10 pp*
Yearbook. Family Membership: require and for which days.
2 adults & all children under 18 - £8.50 + £1.75 p&p = £10.25. Please also Single room £30 p/room, p/night
see our website www.repta.co.uk. (6 available)
Payments Double/Twin £42.50 p/room, p/night
Quote name/s, address, D.O.B, telephone & email address to l Cheques should be made
REPTA. 4 Brackmills Close, Forest Town, Mansfield, NG19 0PB Additional rooms are available on the Friday
payable to “ASLEF”.
night (at the same rate) if required.
Telephone: 01623 646789. Please quote Code ASLEF l Cheques and cash payments Branches are encouraged to subsidise or pay for
YOU MAY ALSO JOIN AND PAY ONLINE AT - www.repta.co.uk will be taken on the day. delegates to attend.
*Mandatory
BRINGING THE INDUSTRY CLOSER TOGETHER
ASLEF JOURNAL
The magazine of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers & Firemen
MARCH 2019
GS Mick Whelan
Monty Grayling’s
Flying Circus
RAVELLING around the
T country attending
branches and
meetings I notice a mood of
Mick: ‘Failing
increasing uncertainty driven by
Grayling’s career
the shambles this Tory
of destruction’
government is inflicting on our
industry and our communities with a nonsense
Brexit deal that pleases no one – whatever their
political perspective.
The latest fiasco saw Chris Grayling give a
5 11 contract to a sea freight company with no ships.
That contract has now been cancelled at, they said,
no cost but, on scrutiny, consultants cost a
News whopping £800,000 and the local council stands to
l Now MPs call on Failing Grayling to go 4 go down for £2 million.
l How Vera star Brenda Blethyn got her big 5 There is a march in London by the POA on
break at British Rail plus Off the Rails with Wednesday 20 March dealing with the legacy issues
John Major and the Rev Richard Coles from when Mr Grayling was in charge of that
l Tube appeal after vicious attack on driver
department and I imagine that, along with
6 members of the rail unions, and probation unions, it
l ASLEF calls on government to help BTP 7 will be well attended by those who have been
beat the violent county lines drugs gangs impacted by Mr Grayling’s long career of political
l D2 council shines a light on mental health
and industrial destruction.
8 We point to the long, harsh, government-
Features 12 sponsored GTR dispute and the impact that had
l Mick Holder on a new health & safety
across the rail industry; the £2 billion lost on the
10 proposed early termination of the East Coast
report from the Hazards campaign; and contract which, in real terms, is even greater as it
Nancy Platts on rigging the election rules was terminated even earlier; the cancellation of
l Men of Harlech: DO7 Brian Corbett and 11 manifesto pledges for electrification in the East
EC7 Andy Hudd on rails in Wales Midlands, TPE, and elsewhere. The knock-on effect
l Welsh government Transport Minister Ken 12-13
of the lack of trains and the timetable debacle on
Northern and GTR that dented public faith in rail –
Skates, Transport for Wales chief executive which would have been a hundred times worse but
James Price and Ian Thompson who sits on for the dedication of staff which has never been
the general council of the Wales TUC 19 recognised. Blaming rail staff for the high cost of
l Fran Boait, PPC for Gloucester, explains 14 fares is reminiscent of the famous Monty Python
how GWR has priced her off the railway sketch with workers expected to pay for the
l Gregor Gall lifts the lid on the fantastical
privilege of working to support the profits of the
15 privateers that do not repay the subsidies they
figures of Britain’s big four accountants receive before taking money out of our industry.
Regulars And have we heard any mention of executive pay or
l Branch News, Upcoming Events, Philippa
bonuses being limited?
16-17 I wish Keith Williams well with his rail review,
Edmunds on the case for more rail freight wading through the chaos of an industry in
terminals and 100 Years of Union
l Obituaries 19
22 meltdown; staff morale has never been lower and
employers talk to me, offline, about a total lack of
l Letters and Classified Advertisements
strategic direction. Failing Grayling’s previous
20-21
history has been routinely overturned: £170 million
l Last Word: What the Dickens? Food 22 to put probation right, the book ban for prisoners,
glorious food with Oliver Twist unpaid work for benefit claimants, £20 million on a
l On Track: Christian Wolmar says AVs
failed tagging system, tribunal fees, legal aid cuts
23
that led to the deaths of prisoners, jail contracts
are on the road to nowhere; Crossword;
with Saudi Arabia; all overturned by his successors
Legal Services; and Change of Address
or when challenged through the courts.
The legacy of hurt by this government – to our
The ASLEF Journal is published every month by:
industry and our communities – is a matter of
ASLEF, 77 St John Street, London, EC1M 4NN
public record. It needs to stop. It will take
Tel: 020 7324 2400 l email: journal@aslef.org.uk
generations to correct but think how much worse it
website: www.aslef.org.uk l twitter: @ASLEFUnion
23 would be without the trade unions and civil society
organisations who have battled for a better world.
EDitoR Mick Whelan l DESiGNER Michael Cronin l PRiNtER College Hill Press, London, SW19 4HE
ADVERtiSiNG ASLEF Journal, 77 St John Street, London, EC1M 4NN. Contact Keith Richmond on 020 7324 2407
Yours fraternally,
or richmondk@aslef.org.uk l clASSiFiED ADS journal@aslef.org.uk or call 020 7324 2400. The acceptance of a
display or classified advertisement does not necessarily imply endorsement of that product or service by ASLEF Mick Whelan, general secretary
chANGE oF ADDRESS Please post your details to ASLEF, 77 St John Street, Clerkenwell, London, EC1M 4NN
March 2019 l The ASLEF Journal 3
News
Taxi for Failing ORR stats reveal model
broken beyond repair
Grayling – MPs GS Mick Whelan has called for ‘root and branch
reform’ of the way Britain’s railway is run after
the regulator’s latest report revealed that
HERESA May has faced cross-party passenger revenue has tanked while
T calls to dump her Transport Secretary,
Chris Grayling, in the wake of that no- MPs agree with what
government subsidy has soared. Figures
released on Thursday 31 January by the Office
deal Brexit ferry fiasco when the DfT handed a Mick (above) says about of Rail and Road in its annual report on rail
£13.8 million contract to run ferries from chris Grayling (left) finance 2017-18 show that falling passenger
Ramsgate to Ostend to Seaborne Freight, a numbers meant income from fares fell 2.4%
company with no ships, no trading history, and Conservative MP for Broxtowe, said: ‘He has no while taxpayer subsidy went up by 8%.
t&cs copied and pasted from a takeaway food grip on the job.’ ‘The government has ordered a review of
firm’s delivery site. GS Mick Whelan said: ‘The Secretary of the rail industry,’ said Mick. ‘But we all know the
Shadow Transport Secretary Andy State for Transport, if he had any sense of problem. And the solution. The franchise
McDonald said: ‘We cannot have this embarrassment, or responsibility, would do system, brought in by John Major 25 years ago,
incompetent heaping humiliation after the decent thing and resign. He won’t, of in a move which even that arch privateer
humiliation on our country. He has to go.’ Lib course. That’s why Theresa May should sack Margaret Thatcher described as “a privatisation
Dem leader Vince Cable said: ‘Failing Grayling him.’ The Prime Minister is reluctant to get rid too far”, isn’t just flawed, it has failed. The
has made too many crass mistakes and lost the of Grayling because he ran her campaign to reality, which everyone in our industry knows,
confidence of the civil service.’ Anna Soubry, become Tory Party leader. is that the franchise system is broken beyond
repair. It doesn’t work for passengers, it doesn’t
work for taxpayers, and it doesn’t work for the
Look how much I gained QUOTE… men and women who, every day, deliver what
Kelly-Joe Ballard was interviewed by Jane Garvey on ‘The tragedy of the should be a public service, not a chance for a
Woman’s Hour on Radio 4 on Friday 8 February, talking English conquest of few to make a private profit at public expense.’
about why driving trains is a good career for women. Ellie Ireland is that the
Burrows, train services director at Southeastern, which is Irish can never forget
GET ’EM OUT OF THE WORKPLACE
backing ASLEF’s campaign to encourage more diversity in it and the English can
The theme of this year’s
the rail industry, was also interviewed. ‘We want to ensure never remember it.’
International Workers’
train drivers reflect the diversity of the communities we – GK Chesterton
Memorial Day on Sunday 28 April is dangerous
serve,’ said GS Mick Whelan. …UNQUOTE substances – carcinogens such as asbestos and
diesel exhaust – and the importance of getting
them out of the workplace.
TWEETS OF THE MONTH
MINISTERS KEEN TO KILL OFF HS2
Today we reached The Treasury is briefing journalists that the
peak government could be poised to scrap HS2
#FailingGrayling. Things amid concerns that the project’s costs are
we now know he can’t spiralling out of control.
organise: 1. Reliable,
affordable and on time
trains 2. Buying boats QUOTE…
from anyone that’s ever ‘Brexit: All that happened is that there
had a boat 3. A fake traffic was a financial crisis and then people
Kelly-Joe told Woman’s Hour about life in the driver’s cab jam. Not sacking him got a bit racist.’ – Nish Kumar
highlights just how …UNQUOTE
Look wot you Dunn, Tim pathetic and weak this
government is.
Tim Dunn – ‘enthusiastic railway historian and broadcaster on @DaveWardGS Rust never sleeps
BBC, C5 and others; also work at Trainline’ – posted this image
A statue of Margaret Thatcher in Grantham will
on Twitter. ‘I have used my old Ladybird book How a Diesel Oh great. I hear Tony
require a 10ft-high platform to prevent
Locomotive Works to do #RailwaysUnscienced’ with this image Blair has been put up
vandalism, say police. The £300,000 bronze
of a diesel-electric loco including a ‘chair for having nice sit on the Today programme
sculpture was meant to stand in Parliament
down with a cup of tea and biscuit (ASLEF spec)’. Cheeky boy! again as the voice of
Square but that idea was quashed for fear it
People’s Vote. Why don’t
would be a target for protesters. Lincolnshire
we all just give up and go
Police has told South Kesteven district council
home? Socialist in Labour.
that ‘the passage of time does not seem to
@michael_chessum
have diminished feelings of antipathy’ towards
the former Prime Minister.
Easiest way of
avoiding
embarrassment like this is Our woolly hat will keep
to buy from unionised you warm this winter. Price
MAIN LINE 2,750 H.P. companies. #SpiceGirls £5 (including p&p); email
DIESEL ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE
Designed and built by #ComicRelief info@aslef.org.uk or visit our online
The Brush Electric Engineering Co. Ltd.
@thisislucio shop at www.aslef.org.uk
tim Dunn, 2,750 very small horses and his ASlEF-spec chair
4 The ASLEF Journal l March 2019
Brenda got her
News
break at BR
Brenda made her
name on stage in A
Doll’s House by Henrik off the Rails
Ibsen, An Ideal
Husband by Oscar JOHN MAJOR is enjoying a new lease of
Wilde, and The Glass life as a Tory grandee, political
RENDA Menagerie by commentator (especially on Brexit), and
B Blethyn, star
of Vera, the
Tennessee Williams,
all at the Royal
cricket buff. But the former Prime Minister
didn’t look as if he would enjoy bumping
hit Northumbrian Exchange Theatre, into a group of ASLEF activists and fellow
detective series Manchester; in Alan travellers – including AGS Simon Weller, DO5 Nigel Gibson,
shown on ITV, has Ayckbourn’s Wildest DO6 Dicky Fisher, WRC chair Debbie Reay, and Steve
told how she got her Dreams at the RSC; Cavalier and Vicky Phillips from Thompsons solicitors – who
big break – well, a and George were on their way back from the District 4 Christmas lunch
taste for treading the Farquhar’s in Doncaster. GS Mick Whelan, though, took the
boards – while Vera Stanhope – Restoration comedy opportunity to go over and talk to the man who privatised
working for British well, Brenda – The Beaux’ Stratagem Britain’s railways – which even his predecessor, Margaret
Rail. discovered her at the National Thatcher, described as ‘a privatisation too far’ – and,
‘Before I became talent for acting as a Theatre. although it was hardly a meeting of minds, voices were not
an actor I worked for typist at British Rail She went on to raised, blows were not exchanged, and Sir John’s security
ten years as a star as Cynthia Rose detail did not feel it necessary to intervene. ‘We spoke for a
secretary, in various entering a drama Purley in Mike Leigh’s few minutes, amicably, including about rail privatisation,
places, and one of competition, and Secrets and Lies with and although we disagreed, it was all perfectly polite,’ said
those places was somebody has gone Timothy Spall and Mick. ‘Actually, he’s a really nice bloke.’ And, when the
British Rail, in their sick, can you do it, Phyllis Logan; as Mari former Prime Minister got off at Peterborough, he did smile
freight marketing please, it’s only one Hoff in Little Voice and wave at the ASLEF train crew through the window…
department. The line”. They were with Jane Horrocks,
great thing was that persuasive and I did Michael Caine, Ewan THE REV RICHARD COLES – once, before he
you got travel it, to help them out, McGregor and Jim became the vicar of the village of Finedon in
concessions, so I and I just loved the Broadbent; and as Northamptonshire, half of The Communards
went on holiday to whole experience. So Mrs Bennet in Pride with Jimmy Sommerville of Bronski Beat –
Spain by train, and to I went to drama and Prejudice with presents Saturday Live on Radio 4. The
the Algarve on the school with the idea Keira Knightley and running theme of the 26 January edition was
train. of working in the Matthew Macfadyen. rail, introduced by Richard as a programme ‘Pulling out of
‘Somebody came theatre. It never And she hasn’t the station through buddleia-fringed cuttings and clashing
into the department entered my head I forgotten her roots. points…’ Then he revealed: ‘My friend Verner was station
and said, “Can you would ever be on ‘I still love travelling master at Edinburgh Waverley, which is great in itself, right,
help us out, we’re television or in a film.’ by train!’ and there was this woman he knew, who was always
travelling down to London, and he had a bit of a thing for
her, and they got a bit friendly, and sometimes her
CONFERENCES & RALLIES timekeeping wasn’t great, and she would sometimes phone
The Scottish labour Party conference is at the Caird Hall, Dundee, ahead and say, “I’m going to be a little late”, and he would
from Friday 8 to Sunday 10 March. The Welsh labour Party conference delay the London train for her!’ After a Pinteresque pause,
is at the Venue Cymru in Llandudno from Friday 12 to Sunday 14 April. and gasps in the studio at New Broadcasting House, he
The Scottish trades Union congress is at the Caird Hall, Dundee, from added, ‘Listeners, he married her.’ When Aasmah Mir said,
Monday 15 to Wednesday 17 April. Workers’ Memorial Day is Sunday ‘Hopefully, no one’s going to get in trouble for that?’ Richard
28 April. ASlEF’s annual assembly of delegates is at the Marriott responded: ‘He doesn’t work for ScotRail anymore!’
Hotel, Leeds, from Monday 13 to Thursday 16 May. The StUc lGBt+
workers’ conference is at the Golden Jubilee Conference Hotel, BILL RONKSLEY is not the most obvious
Glasgow, from Saturday 25 to Sunday 26 May. The StUc youth candidate for an obituary in the Daily
conference is at the Golden Jubilee Conference Hotel, Glasgow, from Telegraph, which tends to prefer Army
Saturday 29 to Sunday 30 June. The Durham Miners’ Gala is on majors who led an assault during the
Saturday 13 July. The tolpuddle Martyrs’ festival, near Dorchester, is Battle of Monte Cassino during the
from Friday 19 to Sunday 21 July. The trades Union congress is at the Second World War. But, fair do’s, the Torygraph gave Ronks
Brighton Centre from Sunday 8 to Wednesday 11 September. The the full treatment on Monday 28 January, albeit under the
labour Party conference is at the Brighton Centre from Sunday 22 to headline ‘Bill Ronksley, committed communist who led the
Wednesday 25 September. rail union ASLEF and brought Picasso to Sheffield in 1950’
which might have led one or two readers to skip the piece.
our new ASlEF mug
has images from the BILL SHANKLY, the Liverpool legend,
Mick Jones triptych once revealed the synergy between his
in reception at head philosophy of football and his politics,
office. there are four forged in the Ayrshire coalfield: ‘The
versions – three have socialism I believe in is everyone
an image on one side working for each other, everyone having a share of the
and the ASlEF logo on the other; the fourth has rewards. It’s the way I see football, the way I see life.’
all three images. £6 each (inc p&p) or £15 for a
set of three; email info@aslef.org.uk or visit our
online shop at www.aslef.org.uk 500 CLUB: Peter Manley, with number 137, won the February draw,
scooping the RMS prize money jackpot of £438.
March 2019 l The ASLEF Journal 5
News
victim suffered a cut to
Tube appeal after the rear of his head.
‘Officers believe
Which? slams
attack on driver the man shown in
these CCTV images Failing Grayling
may have information
Peter Vicary-Smith,
S Mick British Transport which could help their
G Whelan has
asked
Police released
pictures and CCTV
Police want to
investigation. Anyone
who recognises this
hailed as ‘one of the
most influential
figures in the
witnesses to come footage after the Tube man, or who has more
interview this man organisation’s 60-year
forward after a Tube driver was attacked information about the
history’ when he
driver was assaulted with a bottle on board entered the driver’s incident, is asked to
stepped down as
on the Jubilee line. a Jubilee line train at cab and hit the victim contact BTP by texting
chief executive of
‘This was a vicious Kilburn station. The on the head with a 61016 or calling 0800
Which? last year, has
attack on one of our charge the thug faces bottle. The suspect left 405040, quoting ref no
launched a
members who was is causing grievous the station, boarded 615 of 29/01/19.
coruscating attack on
doing his job as a train bodily harm with another Jubilee train Alternatively, you can
Britain’s ‘shambolic’
operator on London intent. at a different location call Crimestoppers
privatised railway. He
Underground, ‘The incident and travelled anonymously on 0800
said: ‘There are
providing a public happened at 10.40pm southbound. The 555111.’ ‘tocs don’t deliver’
operators that don’t
service and helping on Tuesday 29
even deliver the system is far too
passengers to get January,’ said a
QUOTE… basics for passengers. complex, and it’s
around the capital. spokesperson for the
‘‘You know what a Tory is – one who It’s not as though simply not clear how
This man needs to be BTP. ‘A man threatened
wants to drive the working men as he’d train travel is a we can access the
brought to justice and to shoot the driver
drive cattle. That’s what a Tory is.’ – Felix budget option. Prices best deals. Chasing
I would ask anyone after he was told to
Holt: The Radical by George Eliot keep rising – we’re compensation if your
with any information leave the train. No
…UNQUOTE often paying much train has been
to contact the police firearm was seen. The
more than cancelled or delayed
as soon as possible.’ man then forcibly
passengers in the rest is time-consuming
of Europe – so of and complicated.
course we expect Another layer of
more. At the very failure for the
Mackem makes his media Marx least we expect trains
to run on time.
passenger.
‘It’s time for action
Kevin Maguire, associate ‘Our rail network to end this disservice
editor of the Daily Mirror, fails on multiple and make our
columnist on the New levels – it’s not just railways work for
Statesman, Visiting Professor delays. The ticketing passengers again.’
of Journalism at Sunderland
University, and friend of this YOBS KICK OUT WINDOW OF
parish, talked to ASLEF MOVING METRO TRAIN
members about politics and Tyne & Wear Metro services director Chris
the media on Tuesday 5 Carson has promised to keep staff and
February as part of our five passengers ‘as safe as possible’ after footage
day political course at Esher was posted on Twitter of youths leaning out of
Place in Surrey run by EC1 the window of a moving Metro train between
Marz Colombini and Mark South Shields and Hebburn after they had
Walker and Ed Murphy of kicked out the window.
Cogitamus. Kevin, fresh from
describing Alec Shelbrooke, FARE DODGING LAWYER STRUCK
MP for Elmet & Rothwell, as ‘a OFF AND LOSES JOB
waistcoated Tory with the
Adam Kemeny, 33, has been struck off by the
girth of a prosperous 19th
Solicitors Regulation Authority – and sacked
century mill owner’, went
from his £38,000 a year job – for evading £650
down a storm. Kevin (above) and Alec (right)
in fares by regularly dodging the £17 daily
return fare from his home in Shoreditch to
Redhill in Surrey by using a station exit
RAIL STAFF TO GET without a barrier. He repaid GTR £850 in return
New Tube trains to be built abroad BODY CAMERAS for not being reported to the police; and was
Unite AGS Steve Turner and Phil Wilson, Labour MP for Station staff are to be ordered to pay £3,000 costs by the SRA.
Sedgefield, have called for a review of the order to build new issued with body
Tube trains for London Underground after it was revealed that cameras in a bid to cut carry all your stuff –
most of the rolling stock for the Piccadilly line will be built in the number of attacks – papers, sandwiches,
Austria, not Britain. Last year a joint bid by Hitachi in Newton and amount of verbal keys – in style with our
Aycliffe, County Durham, and Bombardier in Derby lost out to abuse – they receive smart new sturdy black
Siemens who promised to build a new factory at Goole in from passengers who ASlEF bag. Price £17.50 (inc p&p);
Yorkshire to build the trains in Britain. Now it has been take out their frustration email info@aslef.org.uk or visit our
revealed that two-thirds of the new Tube trains will be built in with the failures of the online shop at www.aslef.org.uk
Vienna. TOCs on frontline staff.
6 The ASLEF Journal l March 2019
News
CONCRETE ON THE LINE
ASLEF calls on government to Railway ballast was deliberately left on the tracks at Bridlington station
in an attempt to derail a train. ‘Placing items on the tracks is extremely
help the BTP beat drugs gangs dangerous and could result in injury or even death,’ said a spokesperson
for the British Transport Police.
S Mick
G Whelan has
spoken out
ARE FRIENDS ELECTRIC?
Transport for London is running modified four-car electric trains on the
after the recent Gospel Oak to Barking London Overground line because the new Class
upsurge in violence 710 electrics ordered to replace the diesel Class 172s are not yet ready.
among county lines
gangs using trains –
and young people –
to move drugs and
Luxembourg scraps fares
cash from crime
around the country.
He said: ‘In the
on trains, trams and buses
light of the recent Luxembourg has Victoria to Clapham do it serenely’.
Mick: Everyone should be able to travel become the first Junction in London. Passengers will be
increase in knife
safely, at any time of the day or night’ country in the world A nationwide flat fare expected to carry an
crime, and violent
assaults, on Britain’s ‘And why are we British Transport to scrap fares on of €2 (£1.75) is valid identity document,
trains we believe that calling on central Police, to ensure that public transport. The for up to two hours which for UK
the safety and government to invest everyone can travel little landlocked of travel which, in a travellers will mean a
security of our the necessary safely in Britain at any country – population country the size of passport.
railway has to be resources both at time of the day or 590,000 – which Oxfordshire, covers The cost of
improved – both for local level, and in the night.’ borders Belgium, almost any journey. scrapping fares is
the travelling public France and Germany The current estimated at £36
who use our trains has announced that structure of first and million each year – a
and for the staff who QUOTE… Sunday 1 March 2020 second class rail small sum compared
work on the ‘There’s no point trying for a seat in the is ‘free day’ in the compartments will with the £875 million
permanent way. middle-class coach – sorry, the quiet Duchy when only be kept ‘to allow annual cost of
‘That’s why we are coach – as they get booked up early.’ passengers travelling people who want to running the Duchy’s
calling, yet again, for – Nicholas Lezard, the New first class on trains work on the train to transport network.
all trains and all Statesman will pay a fare.
stations to be …UNQUOTE Transport Minister
properly staffed. François Bausch
called the move ‘the
social cherry on the
Poor air quality on tube the cake of a larger
Fresh concerns about the air quality on water mobility strategy’.
london Underground have been raised of life Luxembourg
after new research found that tastes already has the
particulate pollution in tube stations is better in an cheapest public
up to 30 times higher than busy roads in ASlEF crystal transport in Europe.
the capital. the report, by experts at whisky tumbler! Everyone under 20
King’s college, london, for tfl, found Price £8 (inc travels free. An all-
that the Northern line is worst. Do8 Finn p&p); email day ticket for every
Brennan said: ‘ASlEF reps have a special info@aslef.org.uk form of public
committee working on this issue, and are or visit our online transport costs €4
actively working to ensure london shop at (£3.50), which is less You can soon travel for free on the Société
Underground is doing its utmost to www.aslef.org.uk than the fare for a six- Nationale des chemins de Fer
address the problem.’ minute journey from luxembourgeois, the state rail operator cFl
What can you get for
your new, shiny £1 coin?
TBF membership...
just £1 a week covers you, your
partner and dependent children.
0300 333 2000 www.tbf.org.uk
Transport Benevolent Fund CIO, known as TBF, is a registered charity in England and Wales, 1160901, and Scotland, SC047016.
March 2019 l The ASLEF Journal 7
News
hands up if you have
Shine a light on mental health.
‘Everybody has
Where’s his hi-vis jacket?
mental health mental health,’ says
Amy, ‘and, like
physical health, it
DISTRICT 2 COUNCIL reports on a can be good,
average or poor’.
workshop it ran on mental health in the
21st century workplace Equalities Act. Also,
looking at it ethically,
ISTRICT 2 how we need to help it is morally right to
D council, in
conjunction
as statistics show that
1:4 people will suffer
look after our families,
friends and
with Headtorch, a firm from one sort of colleagues.
which offers well- mental illness or John Brown, a GMB
being training at work, another in their lives. shop steward at BAE
recently held a mental They also examined shipyard on the Clyde,
health workshop to the impact it can have which has a
discuss how we are on business. The £835,000 a year. predominantly male
affected every day of National Institute for Legally, if workforce, told us longsight legend Mel thorley sent us
our working lives. It Health and Care employers don’t take how they have this pic of the fifth season of Peaky
was led by Amy Excellence estimates their employees’ developed the role of Blinders being filmed on the mean
McDonald, the that, for an mental health ‘mental health first streets (and iron road) of Stockport.
founder of the organisation with seriously, they can be aiders’ as a point of ‘Where’s his h.v. vest?’ inquired Mel.
company, and its chair 1,000 employees, the in breach of the contact for colleagues
Angus Robinson. cost of mental ill- Health & Safety at who suffering from
They spoke about health at work is now Work Act and the any issues. World’s richest 26 billionaires as
wealthy as the poorest 50%
Who’s in the A new report from Oxfam on the growing
concentration of global wealth reveals that the
world’s 26 richest billionaires are as wealthy as
cab with Roo? the 3.8 billion people who make up the
poorest half of this planet’s population. Oxfam
said that, in the last twelve months, ‘the rich
One moment you’re about to set off from have got richer and the poor have got poorer’.
Derby to London, the next you’ve got the The charity said the widening money gap was
Leader of the Opposition in your cab. But this hindering the fight against poverty, adding
explains why Jeremy Corbyn, at the Labour that a 1% wealth tax would raise £325 billion a
Party conference in Brighton, paid such warm year – enough to educate every child not in
personal tributes to Mick Whelan, Tosh school and provide health care to prevent
McDonald and Andy Botham: ‘I want to thank 3 million deaths.
Mick, as general secretary of ASLEF, and as
chair of TULO, for allowing me to speak, usually
soon after I arrive, if only to get rid of me; I TAKING SELFIES CAN BE FATAL
want to thank Tosh, for his passion; and I want Social media may be contributing to a rise in
to thank Roo Botham, for being my personal teenage deaths on the railways, according to
train driver chauffeur!’ the British Transport Police. A BTP spokesman
said the thrill of taking selfies and video
footage on rail tracks is one factor in
Spurs delay ‘held up Crossrail in London’ influencing more young people to trespass on
the permanent way.
The long delays in opening Tottenham Hotspur’s new £1 billion stadium – it should have been
finished last August, but won’t now open until later this month – had a knock-on effect on
Crossrail. Rhys Williams, head of engineering, said problems completing the 62,000 seat stadium our new topical tee-
at White Hart Lane caused a labour shortage in London, making it impossible for the project to shirt, designed by
meet its proposed opening date of December last year. those hoxton hipsters
‘Tottenham going late had an impact on everyone working here,’ he told New Civil Engineer. at Philosophy
‘We are working with public money so can only pay a certain amount. Private clients don’t have Football, features Rik
the same restrictions. If they want something done, they can throw money at it.’ Mayall as the
obnoxious anarchist Rick in The
WORKING ON THE NIGHT SHIFT Young Ones, and this classic
The number of men and women working through the QUOTE… exchange: ‘he threw us off the train
night has gone up by 150,000, according to new research ‘Rail is the most energy-efficient because you said ASlEF was an
by the TUC which wants to see greater protection for the form of transport, and can be anagram for “total and complete
3.5 million people employed as shift workers in the UK. zero-carbon if renewable bastard”.’ ‘And apart from everything
Some scientists believe nocturnal working can reduce electricity is used.’ – Chris Page, else… it isn’t, even.’ £10 (inc p&p);
your life expectancy by up to six years and the Health chair of Railfuture, in Railwatch email info@aslef.org.uk or visit our
online shop at www.aslef.org.uk
and Safety Executive says irregular shift patterns can lead …UNQUOTE
to fatigue and all the associated risks.
8 The ASLEF Journal l March 2019
Reports
regulation, and enforcement, to
’Elf and safety goes cool support trade union safety reps
and ensure workers are treated
Richard Littlejohn and other right-wing ranters with more dignity and are able to
organise and respond collectively.’
in the public prints are forever banging on
Their key areas for action are:
about ’elf and safety gone mad. MICK HOLDER, ending deregulation and
of ASLEF’s health & safety department, opens a restoring regulation and
new report which advocates a safe and healthy enforcement as a social good;
work environment for everyone developing a health & safety
system based on prevention,
HE Hazards campaign expectancy, ’says Janet Newsham precaution and the participation
T has launched its new
Manifesto for Health &
of Hazards. ‘Fewer years of healthy
life kills over 50,000 people in the
of strong and active unions,
ensuring good health & safety in
Safety Fit for Workers, subtitled UK each year, makes millions ill, low paid and precarious work via
‘decent jobs and decent lives’, to injures half a million, and the joint enforcement agency
assess the position we’ve been quality of jobs contributes to working.
pushed into by deregulation- poverty and ill-health. But all of Red tape or more bloody The Manifesto is supported by
crazy Tories who have degraded this is preventable with the right bandages? the new hazards ASLEF and is available free to
workplace protection to the point framework of strong laws, strict campaign confronts those right- download from the website
where ’elf’n’safety is an easy target enforcement, and support for www.hazardscampaign.co.uk
l The Hazards campaign, set up
wing bores who bang on about
for second-rate stand-up active worker and union ‘red tape’ – by which they mean
comedians, as well as setting out participation, and will have protection for people from the in 1987, is a network of worker-
ideas on how to repair the massive payback for workers, cowboys out there – head on oriented health & safety centres,
damage done. employers and the whole activists and groups working
They succinctly put the case economy. The current political agenda.’ with trade union safety reps,
for action. ‘Work contributes to a situation has given us an She adds: ‘It’s an opportunity families and communities on all
huge amount of public ill-health, opportunity to place health & to address our concerns, to aspects of work-related safety
health inequality, and lower life safety firmly back on the political discuss what we want from and ill-health.
Rigging the rules
of the game
The Tory government is intent on skewing
democracy in this country. NANCY PLATTS,
co-ordinator of PoliticsForTheMany.co.uk, and
former trade union adviser to Jeremy Corbyn,
spells out how we can fight back inequality is the millions of votes that go to waste across the country
under our first past the post voting system. All this, alongside the use
E HEAR a lot about ‘voter suppression’ in the United States – of unchecked Henry VIII powers to push through controversial plans,
W marginalised groups of people denied a vote due to hyper-
strict registration or ID policies.
with devolved governments overruled. And they changed the
committee system rules to guarantee the government an undeserved
The Tory government appears keen to bring some of that over majority. In the face of genuine threats to our democracy – from
here. Last May 350 people (in just five local authority areas) were dodgy donors to foreign interference and disinformation – the
denied a vote in their council elections as voter ID was trialled for the government is skewing the rules against voters.
first time. To put that number in context, it is double the number But sadly, our elections are anything but fair. Voting for
accused of cheating the system to vote by impersonating someone in Westminster isn’t about how many votes a party gets. It’s about
eight years across the whole of the UK! winning one more vote than the person after you, in hundreds of
The Windrush scandal highlighted the difficulties some legitimate different seats. So some MPs pile up massive majorities while others
voters can have in accessing identity documents through no fault of sneak a win by a handful of votes. That leaves millions of votes and
their own. Yet the measures to account for these issues were limited voices unheard, as they don’t make any difference to the make-up of
at best. As marginalised people were further sidelined, the PM shored parliament. This isn’t the case in Scotland, the Welsh Assembly, the
up her power in Parliament. London Assembly or Northern Ireland: each uses a system where
At one point it appeared as if Theresa May would suspend every vote counts.
appointments to the bloated House of Lords. Then, under cover of That’s why Politics for the Many, the trade union campaign for
the royal wedding, a dozen new unelected lords were announced; all political reform, is getting active to build a movement for real
but a few were Tories, each set to legislate on our laws for life. What democratic reform. This isn’t just about rules: it’s about workers
century is this again? everywhere having real power, at the ballot box and in their
And what about the proposed new constituency boundaries? The communities, to build a democracy fit for the 21st century.
election specialists Rallings & Thrasher worked out that if the votes That is our aim, and some ASLEF members are already supporting
cast in the 2017 election were cast under the proposed new us. But we need you, too; visit www.politicsforthemany.co.uk
boundaries, the Conservatives would have a majority of 16 – without l the Ec hasn’t decided whether or not to back this campaign.
one vote changing. Nancy’s piece is published here not as an endorsement, but to open
Ministers say it’s about ‘equalising’ constituencies – but the real up discussion and debate on the subject.
10 The ASLEF Journal l March 2019Wales
Breath of fresh air
BRIAN CORBETT,
District 7
Organiser,
reports on the
state of rails –
passenger and
freight – in Wales after ATW
made way for Keolis Amey
HE main passenger
T operator in Wales and its
three depots in England
has, in the last year, been in a
period of limbo, until the new
company – Keolis Amey – was
awarded the grant, which it has have been less than supportive.
been running since October 2018. Whilst the political levy of our
Transport for Wales, along with by ATW, is on the right track, it is trade union fund is not just for the cannot see what the long-term
the Welsh government, certainly fair to say. So far so good, but we Labour Party, but for a whole future holds for them. We should
have the ambition and desire to (ASLEF) will continue to hold TfW range of social items that need be seeing more government
improve the railways for the to account on its promises, as I am support, our affiliation in Wales is intervention, and our freight and
people of Wales and are sure the Welsh government will as surely worth every penny and I environmental friends who
committed to increasing the well. would encourage those who are campaign must be listened to,
frequency of services. KA and TfW have been positive not currently paying the levy to otherwise the industry will
They have a commitment to about engagement with trade contact your branch secretary and continue to have an uncertain
generate up to 600 new jobs; 300 unions and been very sign up. We have very good future. Our freight drivers are the
will be in the driving grade and a constructive in wanting regular Assembly Members in the Welsh people who do the ballast and
further 300 apprenticeships in meetings; dates have been placed government who are working not infrastructure work; an important
other grades over the next 15 in diaries. The ASLEF drivers’ just for the railways but in the point which seems to have been
years. This must be seen as a company council is doing a great best interests of the people of forgotten by politicians in
breath of fresh air in the industry. job in trying to improve drivers’ Wales. Westminster.
Brand new trains will be terms and conditions. The freight industry continues We only have two pure freight
assembled in Wales and I can also say that this is down to change like the weather; depots left in Wales – Newport
refurbished traction is also to to the political willingness of the contracts going from one and Port Talbot – and both have a
come onto the network. In the Welsh Labour government to company then back to another. long and proud history and must
meantime TfW, whilst running the forge ahead against the UK There is no stability; we have be part of the long-term future for
old clapped-out units left to them government, and the DfT, which drivers who love freight but freight.
tinted optimism – back down to earth. I just pushing forward with this design and is very
Fit for purpose get the feeling that all this is being done on a
bit of a shoestring, which is fine – after all, the
keen to implement suggested changes put
forward by our reps but there is still some way
money will be largely provided by the to go.
ANDY HUDD, executive
taxpayer and there should be some oversight It’s something our members have been
committee member for
to the whole process – but there’s financial struggling with for years – regurgitating rolling
District 7, and the new EC prudence and then there’s penny-pinching. stock that is well past its life expectancy. There
vice-president, is cautiously My problem lies with the dubious traction should be fixed ergonomic reviews of driving
excited by the noises being options that Transport for Wales Rail Services cabs based on the manufacturer’s life
made by TfWRS have gone for. Let’s start with the Class 769s. expectancy; this would allow driving cabs to
These multi‐modal units are ideal – on paper – be modernised where they do not meet the
’M EXCITED! At last we have a for the type of work that can be expected state of the art standards at the time of
I meaningful attempt to bring rail
services back in-house, something
around the major towns and cities of Wales as
well as its branch lines, but these converted
assessment. Whenever new technology is
introduced to a cab there should be a human
that has been sorely needed in Wales for 319s have a major problem – if you’re too tall factor assessment carried out to ensure it’s fit
decades. Proper investment on a not for profit you won’t fit into the cab! Along with the poor for purpose. And when traction has gone past
basis to meet the demands of the end user – performance of the air conditioning, and the its sell by date it should be scrapped!
the people of Wales. lack of fitment of anti-spall protection for the These initiatives are currently being
More services to the valley lines, an windscreen, these sets give our pursued by ASLEF at a European level as this is
integrated transport network, new traction representatives a lot of work to do. where the current regulations lie; however, it
and improvements to infrastructure – not The ‘best’ is yet to come, however, with the will take time for these to take hold due to the
only to improve passenger services but to proposed introduction of the Class 230. These bureaucracy of Europe but we can, by
ensure the continued sustainability of freight Frankensteins of former Underground D‐stock supporting our reps, ensure that legacy rolling
services – magic, where do we sign up? trains are also earmarked for West Midland stock is fit for purpose and new traction is
Of course, all this is great news but there’s Trains and Chiltern despite one of them state of the art – not only in Wales but all
one thing that brings me – and this rose- bursting into flames under testing! Vivarail is across the UK.
March 2019 l The ASLEF Journal 11Agenda
tough meetings and
honest conversations
KEN SKATES, Minister for Economy and to show that, together, you could
Transport in the Welsh government, and Labour build the most innovative rail
service anywhere in the UK and do electrifying 172km of track. And
AM for Clwyd South, sets out his ambitious plans we’ll create more than 600 new
it through effective social
to develop and run the best passenger rail partnership. jobs, including 200 new on-train
service in Europe by working with, not against, And I’m proud of what we have customer service staff, and add 30
trade unions such as ASLEF achieved together. Last year we apprenticeships a year.
announced the new Wales and Stations and overhead wires will
NE of the most rewarding and let down by the failure to set Borders rail service including be powered by 100% renewable
O aspects of being Transport
Minister in the Welsh
any kind of a timetable for North
Wales main line electrification. And
ambitious plans for Metro. The
£5 billion package of investment
energy, with at least 50% sourced in
Wales, and we will have free end-to-
end internet access available on
Labour government over the last they had been let down by the we outlined includes an £800
couple of years has been working failure to invest in them. million investment in new rolling 85% of journeys by 2024. We’ll
side by side with the fantastic So when I began my role taking stock, with a commitment to extend free travel for under 5s to
people employed in our rail forward the work of developing the replace every train by 2023. Half of under 11s and half-price fares will
industry in Wales. They are people new Wales and Borders rail service these will be assembled in Wales. be extended to 16-18 year-olds.
of passion, of knowledge, and of – the very first the Welsh We’ll spend £194 million on Under 16s will go free off-peak
understanding about what makes a government has ever designed and modernising all 247 stations across when accompanied by a fare-
good railway system tick. procured – I committed to do it in the Wales and Borders network paying adult.
But what was clear to me when I partnership with our trade union with smart ticketing and cheaper But, most importantly, we’ll
first took on the role in May 2016 colleagues such as ASLEF. I wanted off-peak fares. We’ll introduce fare build all this by supporting the
was that those people working in to show that the chaos, the poor reductions in North Wales and at people who know how to get it
rail in Wales had been let down service, and the disastrous approximately 50% of stations in done. Just as with the Welsh Labour
over many years by the UK industrial relations that have the valleys. government’s new economic
Conservative government. Let hallmarked rail services over the By December 2023, we will run contract, public investment with a
down by their failure to invest in border in England didn’t have to be an extra 285 services every social purpose is a cornerstone of
the network in Wales. the case here in Wales. weekday, including improvements our new approach to rail.
Rail infrastructure in Wales I wanted to show that we could on the Ebbw Vale, Cambrian and Working with, and not against,
hasn’t had the funding other parts develop and run the best Heart of Wales lines and the North our trade union partners, we are
of the UK network have seen – little passenger railway anywhere in Wales Metro. A new service will link safeguarding the conditions of
more than 1.5% of rail Europe by 2030. Cardiff and Liverpool via Wrexham those people who work on the rail
enhancement funding has come to I can’t pretend there weren’t and, on Sundays, we’ll have an network – and we will keep a guard
Wales since 2011 despite us having bumps along the road when we extra 294 services running across on every train.
11% of the track in England and designed the new service. There Wales by December 2019. Our new rail service can be the
Wales. were tough meetings and honest We’ll invest £738 million to cornerstone of a stronger, more
They had been let down by the conversations – there were even a transform the valley lines to resilient, economy. One that people
cancellation of major projects – few choice words! – but we never Treherbert, Aberdare, Merthyr working on can feel proud to have
such as electrification to Swansea – gave up on each other. We wanted Tydfil, Rhymney and Coryton, played a part in building.
handover in October 2018. We’re building on the success of this and
Effective social partnership continuing to meet regularly now that the transformation is well
under way. We are determined to work in an effective social
JAMES PRICE, chief executive of Transport for partnership to deliver a world-class railway that benefits customers as
well as communities and the economy.
Wales, explains how TfW intends to work with
I believe we’re doing something special in Wales. Public investment
trade unions to deliver something special – a with a social purpose is a cornerstone of the Welsh government’s
world class railway that benefits customers, approach to rail and its vision to create a high-quality, safe, integrated,
communities and the Welsh economy affordable and accessible transport network.
Our staff are already benefiting from these commitments with a ‘no
AIL services in Wales and the Borders are currently compulsory redundancy’ guarantee and continued trade union
R undergoing an exciting £5 billion upgrade and improvement
to create a service that will have improved beyond
recognition in place. The Welsh government is also working to ensure
that contractors in our supply chain also benefit from these
recognition in five years’ time. Our dedicated, hard-working commitments. Transport for Wales’ services will continue to operate
employees and our collaborative relationship with our trade union with two members of staff, including a safety-critical conductor.
partners are playing a key role in making this transformation a reality. We’re investing heavily in the transformation we’re making. It
Indeed, since we announced our new operator and development would be easy to think we’re only investing in rolling stock, stations
partner in June 2018 we’ve consulted and met regularly with our trade and physical infrastructure. But in addition to creating 600 new jobs
union partners to build strong relationships and ensure a successful and 450 apprenticeships, we’re also investing heavily in our
12 The ASLEF Journal l March 2019Wales
Making his Mark
IAN THOMPSON, from Treherbert at the
head of the Rhondda Fawr valley, sits on the
general council of the Wales TUC, which
represents 52 trade unions and 400,000
members in the public, private and
voluntary sectors, and is the voice of
organised labour in the Welsh government’s
social partnership structure. He reveals what Welsh Labour
Party leader Mark Drakeford, and First Minister in the Welsh
government, told the Wales TUC recently
S thE ASlEF
A representative on the
Wales tUc general
council, i was proud to be there
when we were addressed by
Mark Drakeford, the new, and
fully ASlEF supported, First
Minister of the Welsh
government – indeed, the only
labour government in the UK.
he informed us he was due
to meet the Prime Minister to
put the case for a Brexit deal
that protects jobs in Wales.
Between 2009 and 2019, due to
austerity measures, the budget Shavanah taj, president of the
for public services is £800 Wales tUc, GS Martin Mansfield,
million worse off. had it kept and Mark Drakeford
track, as before, and grown in
line with inflation, the budget wave technology, but it isn’t
for Wales would be £4 billion being utilised or supported
better off. with appropriate breaks and
More households in Wales incentives. Wind energy was
than anywhere else in the UK expensive at first but the cost
rely on a single wage earner, has plummeted in the last five
and that wage earner is more years and, with government
likely to be female and more assistance, will become cheaper
likely to work in public services. still.
A social partnership We were told how
between trade unions and the disappointed the Welsh
Welsh government has government is that our money
produced great results in Wales, is being spent where there is no
but this would be hampered by trade union recognition. in
employees. We broke with usual practice and used a different draconian trade union future, if an employer is taking
approach when we procured our new operator and development legislation. in his first term of Welsh government money, that
partner. This meant that we could create a people-focused culture office Mark wants to legislate a employer will have a
where our hard-working staff share in the success of a growing rail Social Partnership Act for responsibility to the Welsh
service. Wales. Responsibility for this is government to recognise our
Recognising that dedicated, hard-working staff are a major asset currently with Julie James, AM right to organise.
and central to the upgrade and improvement and ongoing success of for Swansea West, and one of there is a programme to
the rail service, employee development and well-being feature his staunchest allies. build 20,000 new homes,
strongly in the agreement we have with our operator and Mark wants to build on the schools, and hospitals, fit for
development partner. good work already achieved to the 21st century, with Welsh
We have developed a clear vision for the year that is underpinned see decisions made by the government money and
by our corporate objectives, together with values and behaviours Welsh government, employers contractors will procure the
which will support the development of our culture. Employee and trade unions, and enable steel for these schemes from
satisfaction surveys and feedback from our wellbeing and ethical procurement and Welsh manufacturers, keeping
engagement champions will inform our programme of employee employment. the money in this country and
engagement. he believes that whilst the helping protect our jobs.
We are excited to be on this journey of improvement together with central energy policy is in Examples a tory government
our people, and look forward to delivering on the ambitious vision for tatters, Wales, at the western could learn from or, preferably,
our transport network. edge of the UK, is the best place that a labour government
to take advantage of wind and could mirror across the UK.
March 2019 l The ASLEF Journal 13You can also read
