EXCLUSIVE! Northern rail staff incandescent at “insulting” DfT offer to RMT: “F*ck them bunch of c*nts, I’d tell them to shove their job up their a*sehole”.

RMT members working for train operator Northern have told Chime Whistle Publishing that strikes are inevitable if the operator – at the behest of Government – tries to push through its proposed reforms – some staff saying that it's not even worth the union putting the reforms to a ballot. Since the pandemic, the Government has been paying all the running costs of most train operators, keeping the revenue and paying train operators a small management fee.

The ‘Workforce Reforms Proposal’ includes the paragraph : ‘The former BR Conditions of Service books are to be jointly reviewed with any former conditions of service that have not already been withdrawn or superseded to be rescinded unless they are agreed to be retained and updated to align with modern and more agile working practice’ and hints at a reduction on ticket office staff by saying there will be a ‘Reconfiguration of Ticket Office Windows and Staffing Levels.’

Staff say that if an agreement can't be reached by April, it will go to avoidance of dispute – having until the end of May to reach to reach an agreement. One Manchester based Northern guard said “I think we will be on strike again in August or September” , adding fellow guards have told him “fuck them bunch of cunts, I'd tell hem to shove their job up their arsehole”. The proposals include conditions that, according to RMT members, have “hard red lines that the union just couldn't and wouldn't accept.”

Some of the proposals that have caused the most distress include a reduction in sick pay from six months full followed by six months half pay, to three months at 90% followed by three months at 45% – one guard remarking that such conditions would result in staff having to “choose between our health and the roof over our heads” adding “I would have to save up to go sick.”

Morale at the operator is already near rock bottom, with staff saying that since last month there has been an exodus of train crews staff from Manchester Piccadilly – Northern will have lost approximately 30 guards and 40 drivers by April. Most are staying within the industry and moving to TransPennine Express or Avanti West Coast. Working conditions on some Northern routes around Manchester are thought to have also played a part, with a woman Northern guard being viciously attacked recently – suffering a number of fractures.

Tucked away in the proposals is a plan to extend the 'contact out of working hours' clause, According to staff that could see staff on a rest day being called in at short notice to cover a job. As one said “What happens if you're in the supermarket shopping or the other end of the country visiting relatives?” When asked about the implications of the independent Hidden report that was produced following the Clapham crash in 1988 – where a signal engineer was found to have worked excessive hours without a day off – a guard replied “one or two managers across the industry as a whole have told me that the Hidden report is only advisory”.

Ticket office and platform staff will be expected to surrender leave entitlement to additional bank holidays – such as Easter Tuesday, Spring bank Tuesday – the proposals saying ‘There will be no entitlement to paid time off for additional bank holidays named by the government in addition to the 8 statutory bank holidays and no entitlement to enhanced payments for working on such days – and remain at work for an additional hour after the official end of their shift should there be disruption on the rail network.

Northern would like all current dispatchers in the Manchester area to be area dispatchers. This would be specific to the Manchester area and would cover dispatch roles at Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Victoria, Manchester Oxford Road & Salford Crescent. This would allow Northern to have better cover & flexibility at dispatch locations.

Most train operators are expected to commence talks with the RMT on 13 Match, but staff I've spoken with say they are “very suspicious”, believing that train operators, at he behest of the DfT will present the RMT with near identical terms and conditions for each operator – a back door way of getting an agreement for national terms and conditions , something that the Government has been eager to achieve since the start of industrial action.

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