Hardship fund GTR Conductors

If you are wondering why set I up this page, I only need to quote the words of DfT Director Peter Wilkinson when speaking about the rail industry and his inflammotory words toward train drivers at the time.

"Over the next three years we're going to be having punch ups and we will see industrial action and I want your support," Mr Wilkinson told residents in Croydon Town Hall last Thursday during a meeting organised by Croydon Central MP Gavin Barwell.

"I'm furious about it and it has got to change - we have got to break them," he said"

"They have all borrowed money to buy cars and got credit cards"

"They can't afford to spend too long on strike and I will push them into that place"

"They will have to decide if they want to give a good service or get the hell out of my industry "

I am a trade unionist , however I am not employed by GTR (Southern Railways) neither on the union side am I involved with the dispute.

However I have become tired of sitting by seeing another set of workers having their hard work and commitment to a business over the years being rewarded by attempts to have their contracts ripped up in the name of corporate profits.

We all have been told it's all in the name of better customer service. I suppose so was removing all catering trolleys ,presumably in their view so is reducing station staffing, closing some ticket offices and reducing other ticket office hours.

On the one hand we have a corporation with an cast iron guarantee of profit through their special relationship with the DfT under their unique management contract. Under this contract it appears there is no way to be found in breach by failing to offer the service they signed up to deliver. We have seen in recent weeks and months that if you don't hit punctuality targets then the expectations get lowered without any significant penalty. You also seem to be free to cut 15% of your timetable whilst charging the same fares, whilst also creating as many barriers in the way to claim reasonable compensation for the long suffering passengers.

So in effect we see taxpayers money bankrolling the corporate side of the dispute, hence why we see no desire at all to reach a mutually agreeable settlement to end the misery to the commuters , because they will continue to be rewarded from the taxpayer funded 'war chest' to pursue an ideological vision which nobody voted for .

When did taxpayer money become so unaccountable ? It seems modern governments are happy to Nationalise , in the sense it's fine to pay for the new rolling stock and infrastructure upgrades. So we Nationalise the risk and investment , and privatise the profits with zero accountability to the government or the greater fare paying commuter.

On the other side we have workers that want to deliver a safe railway and serve their passengers well. Happy passengers make an easier and more enjoyable working environment. Everybody goes to work to earn a wage that hopefully gives themselves a fair shot at a decent future and that of their family.

The suggestion that anybody would take the decision lightly to exercise their democratic right to withdraw their labour , biting the proverbial 'hand that feeds them' losing income is remarkable . Income that was supposed to be able to give parents the opportunity to give their children a better chance at life than they had themselves. Income other staff might dare to dream would help them onto the property ladder. It just doesn't add up that staff would sacrifice so much of their salary to the detriment of their own opportunities, and those of their family if it was truly about pay and conditions. When you consider the company are suggesting you'll be doing a job that requires less work reaponsibility and training for the same money. Realistically what other employer anywhere offers to slash your workload but says you can keep you wages at the same rate as before?

So to draw this to my conclusion . We have on one side the state using taxpayers money to bankroll sweeping aside long standing safety practises. Safety as long as it's the cheap sort of safety that doesn't interfere with profit is the end game.

On the other side we have witnessed in a so called free and democratic society the demonising of people for associating with a trade union movement , being treated less favourably than other colleagues because they decided to stand for what they believe in when clearly as the opening quotations of Peter Wilkinson demostrate they should know their place or leave.

So I would like to show I stand by these men and women who have decided to stand up for their rights . That people will not be starved into submission, that exercising a democratic right should not be based on affordability because they know the consequences to safety if they just step aside .

So to all trade unionists, or those who want to show they are not fighting alone, that there is still such a thing as community and we stand by them , if you can donate any amount no matter how small to support these people then I'm sure it will make a huge difference to those knowing others stand by them
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/19/southern-rail-failure-crush-unions
http://www.rmt.org.uk/news/shocking-new-bbc-audio-reveals-gtr-staff-abuse/
http://m.croydonadvertiser.co.uk/department-transport-says-break-train-drivers/story-28783309-detail/story.html
http://touchstoneblog.org.uk/2016/06/passengers-want-properly-staffed-railway-not-driver-operated-trains/
https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/43191/How+runaway+train+profits+derail+safety