CrossCountry Trains – News Update

As you will no doubt be aware the industry is having to make huge savings, in the region of £2billion, which will have huge consequences for TOCs and their employees. TSSA has serious concerns that cuts will be made far too deep that may impact the safety of the railway and our members workloads and mental health.

Most TOCs have now competed their SVSS process and those who were accepted have been notified. The issue is that the SVSS has not delivered anywhere near enough the savings the industry wants. TSSA has demanded a no compulsory redundancy guarantee from the DfT and TOCs, but both have failed as yet to give this assurance. As a trade union our priority has to be job security.

I am sure you are all aware of the current RPI figure which we use as a bench mark for yearly pay increases, plus the ever-increasing cost of living such as the rise in petrol, gas, electricity, food, mortgages etc, and that is why TSSA will be demanding a real cost of living pay increase for our members this year.

CSMs

Work is still on-going by the Company in relation to your new JD and its content and the outcome of this will be reported to you once we are in a position for sign off. As part of this process for CSMs we want a maximum number of direct reports per CSM that you will be responsible for, but most importantly the role needs a salary review. It would appear that there is not one salary for the role, even though the role is generic, many of you are paid different salaries for doing the same role and that is just not fair or acceptable.

Engagement Forum

This forum is for those of you who are TSSA members but fall outside of formal collective bargaining due to your salaries being above the threshold (around £31k) for you all to have a voice and be heard. You have staff reps raise issues and concerns on your behalf collectively with management. YOU need to support your reps and ensure you raise any issues, concerns etc to your reps so they can seek answers for you. This forum will prove absolutely critical during Rail Reform, as changes start to be made to your roles and potential re-orgs and redundancies happen, you need to be able to collectively stand together. The next engagement forum meeting is 29th March, so please raise any questions, concerns, or issues with your staff reps.

Know Your Rights

I am aware that TSSA members, and non-members, amongst the CSM grades, were recently asked by the Company to issue letters and have conversations with RMT members who were embarking on industrial action to advise them they may be breaking the law. YOU should have never been asked to do this, this is the job of HR and the business NOT you. Never in all my 20-years as a Trade Union full time officer have I ever come across an employer getting their manager employees to do their dirty work for them! If Cross Country believed they had staff acting in an illegal way, they should have approached that trade union who had the dispute with them NOT you.

TSSA advice for members is check with us before you carry out any similar instruction in the future, make us aware so we can raise this immediately with the Company. DON’T put yourself at risk!

Bullying and Harassment

This behaviour will not be tolerated at all and anyone who is experiencing this needs to speak confidentially to their staff reps or myself.

TSSA will not accept or tolerate such behaviours from members against our staff reps and any such behaviour will be dealt with swiftly by TSSA.

Your staff reps are your voice in the workplace and have your best interests at heart and are the ones who are prepared to put their head above the parapet and challenge management on issues that affect you, and they do not deserve to be ostracised or bullied for doing so.

Reps Vacancies

We have two vacancies for staff reps from amongst members who are covered by collective bargaining (earning below £31k). Until such time as someone comes forward to be a staff rep you do not have a voice at the top table with management and the other trade unions when it comes to pay, pensions, or re-orgs, no-one is there to raise your issues and concerns!! It is essential you have staff reps if you are to make improvements to your grades. If you are interested, then please get in touch asap for more information.

There is also one H&S staff rep position. Anyone can stand for this position regardless of your salary, role, and collective bargaining status.

All staff reps will receive comprehensive training and support.

If you know of a colleague who is not yet a member, ask them to join. Trade Union members win on issues when they are a strong united collective group. Non-members can join on-line.

Your staff reps are:

Industrial reps - Donna Tudor, David Heathcock, Wayne Brewster

H&S Safety Rep – Neil Reynolds