Today (November 13) 650 managers at Network Rail will be told that they have been selected for redundancy. Staff including contract managers, finance managers, IT managers, signalling operations managers and major station mangers will be told their last day at work is December 31, 2003.

Rail union TSSA is disappointed that Network Rail has not reconsidered its decision to go ahead with the redundancies. The union believes that if Network Rail is looking to control costs, it should not be sacking people now who it will have to employ as expensive consultants later.

Morale among key managers is now at an all-time low, which is worrying at a time when the company is planning to take 18,000 employees from infrastructure and maintenance companies in house.

The Railway Safety Inspectorate has said that it will be checking that Network Rail complies with safety constraints because of the potential loss of safety critical employees. TSSA will be making sure that this does not overburden the remaining staff who are already under substantial pressure.

The union has also criticised Network Rail's efficiency programme which selected staff for redundancy. Where the company would normally look at its workload and scale back staff where needed, Network Rail is dumping their employees and making the work fit around those who are left.

National negotiations officer John Munday said: "The selection process has caused a great deal of distress to managers and the damage that this has done to the company morale will have a long lasting effect.

"This is a sad day for those who are leaving and a sad day for those who are left. Remaining staff will be forever looking over their shoulders wondering if they can trust this company again."

Ends

For further information, please contact:

Press officer Hannah Leggett (020) 7529 8059 or 07769 682806 (mobile)

Notes to Editors

1. TSSA represents 33,000 members in administrative, clerical, managerial, professional and technical jobs in the railways, buses, the London Underground, the travel trade, canals, ports and ferries, and road haulage.

2. Last year TSSA won the biggest union recognition ballot there has been in the rail industry, covering 4,500 managers, engineers, technicians and other professionals in Network Rail.

UNHAPPY NEW YEAR FOR DUMPED NETWORK RAIL STAFF