Workers' Liberty

RMT and TSSA are jointly balloting staff at the 19 major stations which Network Rail manage. Harmonisation, it seems, is an issue on the stations as well as the track, and NR are unwilling to harmonise terms and conditions as they reorganise staffing.

On top of this, the company refuses to guarantee that there will be no compulsory redundancies, which is always a strong indication that they are planning some!

As usual, an employer up to no good is messing around with the agreed processes for negotiating with unions. In this case, Network Rail seems to think that it can impose its plans locally before completing discussions nationally.

There needs to be a single set of terms and conditions for workers at National Rail’s stations, but perhaps NR thinks that if it can avoid this, it can get away with worse conditions at some stations than others. Divide and rule, it’s called.

Whatever the grade, Network Rail treats its workers with contempt. We have no choice but to stand up to them.