NETWORK RAIL MUST RETHINK JOB CUTS

Monday, 30 June 2003

TSSA, the UKs second biggest rail union, has reacted angrily to news the Network Rail (NR) plans to axe 2,000 jobs over the next three years.

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.

TSSA General Secretary Richard Rosser said: This announcement is a major threat for our members and for the travelling public.

NR needs to think through the consequences of these jobs cuts. We always knew that Railtrack was inefficient, but not so inefficient that it employed 2000 people too many. How can Network Rail hope to get rail back on track having axed so many workers?

NR was created as a not-for-profit organisation so every pound went into building a better railway. Last week we hear of loyalty bonuses for directors and now thousands of jobs will go this simply does not add up.

“On the one hand, NR claims record sums of cash are being invested in the railway and is taking maintenance contracts in-house to get a tighter grip on costs. On the other, it says it needs less people to carry this increased workload.

Railtrack started a culture of employing agency staff and consultants, rather than investing in their workforce. NR needs to turn this round and give priority to the interests of its loyal and committed permanent staff.

If NR requires staff savings, these must be from reducing the dependency on agency and contract staff and not at the expense of permanent staff.

We have already made it clear to NR that they should come clean and specify exactly what jobs they think should go and what the implications are for train punctuality and reliability.

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For further information, please contact:
Hannah Leggett, Press Officer (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.