RMT PARLIAMENTARY GROUP Parliamentary Convenor: John McDonnell MP

RMT

Parliamentary

Group

Annual Report

2007 – 2008

1 RMT PARLIAMENTARY GROUP Parliamentary Convenor: John McDonnell MP

Introduction

The RMT Parliamentary Group has continued its work on a wide range of issues on behalf of RMT members. The Group’s membership has remained stable this year at 22 MPs. The Group membership is:

1. Diane Abbott Hackney North & Stoke Newington 2. John Austin Erith & Thamesmead 3. Michael Clapham Barnsley West & Penistone 4. Katy Clark Ayrshire North & Arran 5. Islington North 6. Jim Cousins Newcastle upon Tyne Central 7. Ann Cryer Keighley 8. David Drew 9. Bill Etherington North 10. Kelvin Hopkins Luton North 11. Bob Marshall-Andrews Medway 12. John McDonnell Hayes & Harlington 13. Jim McGovern Dundee West 14. Stephen Pound Ealing North 15. Gwyn Prosser Dover 16. Linda Riordan Halifax 17. Marsha Singh Bradford West 18. Alan Simpson Nottingham South 19. David Taylor North West Leicestershire 20. Jon Trickett Hemsworth 21. Rudi Vis Finchley & Golders Green 22. Bob Wareing West Derby

Gwyneth Dunwoody 1930-2008

At the Group meeting on 10th June 2008, the Group recorded its appreciation for the work of the late Gwyneth Dunwoody MP, who chaired the Transport Select Committee for over 10 years.

On behalf of the Group, Simeon Andrews (Group co-ordinator) attended her funeral on 8th May 2008. A member of the previous RMT Group, Gwyneth was a passionate supporter of the rail workers and passengers and often worked with the union and the Group in her role and interest in transport issues. The Group circulated a tribute from Bob Crow around Group members, stating that “Transport workers have lost a good and true friend in Gwyneth Dunwoody”.

Reporting back

Throughout the year, the Group has given interim report-backs to the RMT’s Council of Executives on 5th December 2007, 27th March 2008 and 4th June 2008.

Group Chair John McDonnell will be delivering this annual report to RMT Annual General Meeting in Nottingham on 23rd June 2008. Earlier this year, John has also addressed the Engineering Grades conference in on 24th April and the Shipping conference in Aberdeen on 15th May.

2 RMT PARLIAMENTARY GROUP Parliamentary Convenor: John McDonnell MP

Group meetings & Parliamentary Seminars

The Group held regular meetings throughout the year when the House was sitting on 4th July 2007, 10th October 2007, 11th December 2007, 23rd January 2008, 12th March 2008 and 10th June 2008. The next meeting of the Group will be held, following the summer recess, in October 2008.

In addition to the regular Group meetings, the Group hosted the RMT annual Rail Seminar ‘Rail and the Sustainable Transport System’ on 20th June 2007, with contributions from the rail industry, Government, trade unions and MPs. John McDonnell chaired the event, and speakers included Tony Ambrose (More Trains, Less Strain), Bob Crow (RMT), Gerry Doherty (TSSA), Tom Harris MP (Rail Minister), Sian James MP, Stephen Joseph (Transport 2000), and John Spellar MP.

On 18th October 2007, the Group hosted a day in Parliament for the RMT Political School: explaining how Parliament works (and how it doesn’t!); and the work of the Group within Parliament on behalf of the union. The Group is hosting a day in Parliament for the 2008 RMT Political School in July 2008.

Ministerial Meetings and Correspondence

The Group has also held several ministerial meetings in 2007/08 on a range of issues of concern to RMT members:

· Rail Minister Tom Harris on the Rail White Paper – October 2007 · Maritime Minister Jim Fitzpatrick on seafarers and the Race Relations Act – November 2007 · Business Minister Pat McFadden on seafarers and the national minimum wage – December 2007 · Rail Minister Tom Harris on the First Great Western franchise – April 2008 · Business Minister Pat McFadden on seafarers and the national minimum wage – May 2008 · Transport Minister on busworkers’ rights in the Local Transport Bill and on London Underground PPP (in June 2008).

The Group has also written to a variety of Ministers, industry figures and other parliamentarians in connection with RMT campaigns. The letters sent by the Group in the last year are listed below:

· Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State for Transport, re: Transport policy – July 2007 · Tom Harris, Rail Minister, re: Rail White Paper – July 2007 · Ken Livingstone, then Mayor of London, re: Metronet and London Underground – July 2007 · Jim Fitzpatrick, Maritime Minister, re: Race Relations Act and Seafarers – July 2007 · Tom Harris, Rail Minister, re: First Great Western rail franchise – December 2007 · Rosie Winterton, Transport Minister, re: London Underground PPP – March 2008 · Tom Harris, Rail Minister, re: First Great Western rail franchise – April 2008 · Rosie Winterton, Transport Minister, re: busworkers’ rights in the Local Transport Bill – May 2008 · Jim Fitzpatrick, Maritime Minister, re: Race Relations Act and Seafarers – June 2008

3 RMT PARLIAMENTARY GROUP Parliamentary Convenor: John McDonnell MP

In addition the Group has hosted several briefing meetings for MPs and peers on parliamentary legislation such as the Employment Bill and Local Transport Bill.

Written Questions

Over the course of the past year, the Group has tabled written questions on the following issues:

· London Underground PPP · Staff assaults on transport workers · Seafarers and the national minimum wage · UK train manufacturing · First Great Western buffet services · Staffing levels at rail stations

Early Day Motions

In the 2007/08 parliamentary session, which began in November 2007, the Group tabled or is supporting the following EDMs. These will remain available for MPs to support until the new 2008/09 parliamentary session, which begins on 3rd December 2008

EDM No. Title Tabling MP No of sigs. 485 London Living Wage for London Underground Cleaners John McDonnell 43 506 Rail Freight and the Environment Jim Dobbin 57 546 First Great Western Rail Services David Drew 32 597 ECJ Ruling on Viking Line Kelvin Hopkins 29 650 Britain's Railways Kelvin Hopkins 43 715 Assaults on Northern Rail Staff Linda Riordan 54 901 Assaults on Transport Workers John McDonnell 77 962 UK Train Manufacturing Bob Laxton 67 1006 Employment Bill and Seafarers Gwyn Prosser 70 1089 Tax Paid by Railway Companies John McDonnell 36 1130 London Underground PPP John McDonnell 27 1368 Protection for Bus Workers in the Local Transport Bill David Drew 61 1604 Freedom Bill Campaign John McDonnell 77 1723 Withdrawal of First Great Western Buffet Car Services David Drew 28 1787 Arriva Cross Country Catering Services John McDonnell 6

Briefing Materials

In addition, the Group has circulated over detailed written policy briefings to MPs, as well as dozens of press releases to keep MPs informed of RMT campaigns. In the last year, briefings have been circulated on the following issues:

Rail · Crossrail Bill · First Great Western rail franchise · Performance of Network Rail · Staff assaults on Northern Rail · Tyne & Wear Metro

London Underground 4 RMT PARLIAMENTARY GROUP Parliamentary Convenor: John McDonnell MP

· East London Line · London Underground PPP

Maritime · Scottish Ferries · Seafarers and the national minimum wage · Seafarers and the Race Relations Act · Seafarers and Working Time · Tonnage Tax and industry training

Road Transport · Busworkers’ rights in the Local Transport Bill · Longer Heavier Vehicles (‘super lorries’)

Other issues / campaigns · Abortion in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill · Trade union rights in the Employment Bill

5 RMT PARLIAMENTARY GROUP Parliamentary Convenor: John McDonnell MP

Campaigns

Summary reports on the major campaigns throughout the year are set out below. The Group has also campaigned on numerous other issues on behalf of RMT members, which have been reported back to the Council of Executives at quarterly meetings throughout the year; and at the regular meetings of the Group in parliament.

Rail

The Group has continued to work within Parliament to push the case for public ownership of the railways and to highlight the levels of profiteering and the dangers of fragmentation on the railways. The Group has also been at the forefront of emphasising the environmental benefits of the expansion of the passenger and freight rail networks.

Assaults on Transport Workers

The Group scored a major victory in January 2008 when it exposed plans by the Northern Rail franchise to change the payment arrangements for staff who have to take time off work as a result of assaults suffered in the course of their duties.

Led by Linda Riordan (MP for Halifax), the Group tabled EDM 715 ‘Assaults on Northern Rail Staff’ exposing this unilateral and callous change of policy – and, in consultation with the union, press released it and gained considerable press coverage of Northern Rail’s policy change. Within days of the EDM being tabled and their decision exposed in the media, Northern Rail retracted their proposed new policy. The EDM gained the support of over 50 MPs.

The Group has also been working to highlight assaults on transport workers more widely – and tabled EDM 901 ‘Assaults on Transport Workers’ – which has now been signed by over 80 MPs.

In addition, the Group has tabled a series of written questions on staff assaults and on staffing levels at rail stations.

First Great Western franchise

The Group has been highlighting the poor performance of the First Great Western (FGW) franchise with the Rail Minister for the past two years – and has held meetings specifically on this issue with the Minister, Tom Harris.

The Group has tabled EDM 546 ‘First Great Western Rail Services’, which calls for a “public review to determine whether the interests of passengers would be better served by bringing the franchise back into public ownership”. The EDM was tabled by David Drew (MP for Stroud) and has been supported by about a dozen MPs in the franchise area, and several others.

At the end of February 2008, it was announced that the had issued FGW with a Remedial Plan Notice and a Breach Notice for its persistent poor performance and its flagrant misreporting of cancellations data. The Secretary of State Ruth Kelly issued a Written Ministerial Statement to the Commons in which she stated that:

6 RMT PARLIAMENTARY GROUP Parliamentary Convenor: John McDonnell MP

“The performance of First Great Western has fallen persistently short of customers' expectations and has been unacceptable to both passengers and Government.

“The measures I have announced today will lead to a reduction in train cancellations and also provide a substantial package of benefits to First Great Western's customers."

In spite of FGW’s manifest failure to fulfil the terms of its franchise and growing public exasperation the Government still seems adamant on refusing to terminate the franchise. The Group therefore issued the following press release calling for the return of the franchise to public ownership:

RMT PARLIAMENTARY GROUP Convenor: John McDonnell MP

PRESS NOTICE:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

RMT Parliamentary Group welcomes sanctions on FGW, but public control is the only solution

The Secretary of State for Transport has today announced a series of sanctions on failing rail franchise First Great Western (FGW), which has breached its franchise agreement and been issued with a Remedial Plan Notice for its service failures, and a Breach Notice for misreporting its cancellations.

John McDonnell, RMT Parliamentary Convenor and MP for Hayes & Harlington, said:

"The measures announced today won't resolve the problem. The only solution is for this franchise to be brought back into public ownership.

"If we can nationalise failing banks, we can nationalise failing rail franchises."

David Drew, MP for Stroud, said:

"I'm really pleased that the Government is taking steps against this franchise, but actions must follow words. I praise the RMT Parliamentary Group and the union for representing the voice of commuters and the local community and we must now step up the campaign for public ownership."

-Ends-

Following the letter that the Group wrote on 12th December 2007 from John McDonnell and David Drew the Minister agreed to meet with a delegation from the Group to discuss further developments on the FGW franchise. The meeting took place on Tuesday 1st April – and MPs attending included Martin Caton (Gower), David Drew (Stroud), Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East), and John McDonnell (Hayes & Harlington).

The Group has also continued to table written parliamentary questions on the performance of the franchise, and in correspondence following the April meeting, the Minister stated that:

“We expect to be able to put the First Great Western (FGW) Remedial Plan and related documentation into the public domain very shortly.”

7 RMT PARLIAMENTARY GROUP Parliamentary Convenor: John McDonnell MP

As well as performance issues, the Group has also highlighted the proposed withdrawal of buffet car services on FGW services, and also on Arriva Cross Country, through EDMs 1723 and 1787 respectively.

UK Train Manufacturing

The Group has retabled the EDM on UK train manufacturing from the previous session, in support of “a public procurement policy which safeguards existing UK capacity, skills and jobs in the train manufacturing and associated industries”. The EDM is sponsored by Derby North MP Bob Laxton – who the Group also invited to address the Rail Seminar. However, Bob Laxton was unable to attend, and so former Transport Minister John Spellar spoke in his place about the need for a “substantial base in manufacturing”.

EDM 962 ‘UK Train Manufacturing’ was co-sponsored by MPs with train manufacturing capacity in their constituencies, as well as the late Gwyneth Dunwoody (then Chair of Transport Select Committee) and John McDonnell (Group Convenor). The EDM has been supported by over 70 MPs.

The Group also raised this issue when it met with Rail Minister Tom Harris in October 2007 – and the Rail Minister stated that when first appointed he asked about HM Treasury and EU rules on procurement, and how other EU states get around this. Overall the Minister appeared sympathetic but offered no Government commitment of any sort. He added that the manufacturing industry welcomed the recent white paper, which announced ring-fenced funding over seven years – and will save UK jobs.

The 2003 Pre-Budget Report announced the establishment of the Wood Review, in response to industry concerns about the ability of UK manufacturers to compete for EU train procurement. When it reported in 2004, however, the Wood Review concluded:

“In the UK capacity has wound down because of a reduction in investment in rolling stock over some years. This means that when new orders are placed, the UK simply does not have the capacity to manufacture its orders locally”.

House of Commons Library research shows that both France and Germany commission 100% of their train capacity from domestic suppliers, while UK manufacturers only accounted for 71% of production of UK trains between 1996-2005.

London Underground

In December 2006, the Group tabled an EDM to mark the fourth anniversary of the London Underground PPP. Within a month of the last Group Annual Report, one half of PPP contract (Metronet) had collapsed into administration, and John McDonnell joined RMT members on 26th July 2007 in protesting at Downing Street to bring the Metronet contracts back in-house.

Supporting the then London Mayor’s Living Wage campaign, the Group tabled EDM 485 in November 2007 welcoming the commitment to pay LU cleaners (brought back in-house following Metronet’s collapse) a living wage. The EDM was supported by 43 MPs, and called on Tube Lines, the other PPP consortium, to do likewise. In March 2008, the Group tabled EDM 1130 calling for Tube Lines contract to be brought under public control under London Underground – and was supported by about 30 MPs.

On 10th March 2008, the Transport Select Committee forced a debate on the floor of the House of Commons based on its report ‘The London Underground and the Public–Private Partnership Agreements’ on the collapse of Metronet. An RMT briefing on the report was 8 RMT PARLIAMENTARY GROUP Parliamentary Convenor: John McDonnell MP

circulated to Group MPs in advance, and Group MPs Harry Cohen, Kelvin Hopkins and David Taylor intervened in the debate.

A delegation from the Group met with Transport Minister Rosie Winterton on 18th June 2008 to discuss the future of the London Underground PPP, following the change of London Mayor in May 2008.

Maritime

The Group has continued to campaign for greater employment rights for seafarers and maritime workers through its campaigning on the National Minimum Wage, Tonnage Tax, Race Relations Act, Working Time, and in other areas of maritime law.

Race Relations Act

Since its inception, the Group has been campaigning to repeal Section 9 of the Race Relations Act, which exempts seafarers from the provisions of the 1976 Act. Both the union and the Group responded to the Government consultation which was announced following the EU judgement that Section 9 was outside European law.

When the Group met with Maritime Minister Jim Fitzpatrick on 13th November 2007, he stated that he expected any legal change to be contained within the Single Equality Bill as part of the next Queen’s Speech – now scheduled for 3rd December 2008.

The Group has written to the Minister, in June 2008, to request a meeting for an update on the situation.

National Minimum Wage

Since its inception the Group has been also been campaigning for the National Minimum Wage (NMW) to be made applicable to seafarers operating in UK territorial waters. The Group understood that it had a commitment from David Jamieson MP, the then Maritime Minister, in 2003 – but this was later interpreted to apply only to UK internal waters.

Through discussion with Lord Richard Rosser (former TSSA General Secretary) and Baroness Muriel Turner, the Group tabled amendments in the to the Employment Bill to extend the scope of the NMW to UK territorial waters. In the Lords, Government Minister Lord Bach responded to debate, in which Lord Wedderburn also spoke in support, and rejected the amendments.

The Group will be continuing the fight when the Bill reaches the Commons – which it is not expected before July – and the Group has arranged a briefing session for all Labour MPs on 1st July 2008 hosted by Gwyn Prosser, Katy Clark and John McDonnell.

The Bill is the responsibility of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR – formerly the DTI). A delegation of Group and other MPs with seafaring constituencies met with DBERR Minister Pat McFadden MP on 14th December 2007 to raise his awareness of the Group’s concerns around this issue. Following the Bill finishing in the Lords, the Group again met with McFadden in May 2008 and secured his agreement to establish a working group on the Group’s proposed amendment.

The Group has tabled EDM 1006 ‘Employment Bill and Seafarers’ which calls on the Government to amend the Bill in favour of seafarers and has already been supported by over 50 MPs. 9 RMT PARLIAMENTARY GROUP Parliamentary Convenor: John McDonnell MP

Road Transport

Bus workers and the Local Transport Bill

The Local Transport Bill was announced in the Queen’s Speech in November 2007. The Group welcomed the introduction of ‘Quality Contracts’ as a small step towards full re- regulation of the bus industry.

The Group met with Gillian Merron in May 2007 and secured her agreement to establish a working group between the department and the unions. This has met throughout the year, and has improved the provisions within the Bill. However, the Bill does not yet go far enough.

The Group has therefore been working with peers and MPs to secure the employment conditions and pensions of busworkers whose employment is transferred through a Quality Contract, through amendments to the Bill in Parliament. A delegation from the Group is meeting with Transport Minister Rosie Winterton on 18th June, and the Group is hopeful that the necessary assurances can be introduced. MPs are expected to debate the Bill in early July 2008.

Longer and Heavier Vehicles

We have had a definite victory in our Campaign against the introduction of heavier vehicles onto UK roads, which the Group has been leading in Parliament. For the last year, the Government has been considering the trialling and introduction of the Longer and Heavier Vehicles (LHVs) – 60 tonne, 25 metre long ‘super lorries’. The Group has lobbied the Secretary of State on this issue, arguing that these lorries would have a poor environmental effect, as well as causing traffic and safety problems on UK roads. The Group has consistently argued for expansion of freight on rail.

On 3rd June 2008, the Secretary of State announced that, following a review, the DfT would not allow LHVs on UK roads. The Group welcomed the announcement with a press release, in which John McDonnell said:

"After a lengthy and dogged campaign within Parliament, this is a major victory for common sense - both in terms of the effect on traffic and road safety, and also in terms of the environmental impact of these super lorries."

The Group tabled EDM 506 ‘Rail Freight and the Environment’ to oppose the introduction of LHVs, which was supported by over 50 MPs.

General Campaigns

Trade Union Freedom Bill

The RMT and its parliamentary group have been prominent in the campaign to promote the Trade Union Freedom Bill. EDM 1604 ‘Trade Union Freedom Bill Campaign’ was tabled by John McDonnell in May 2008, and has already been supported by 80 MPs

The private member’s Bill introduced in the name of John McDonnell as the Trade Union Rights and Freedoms Bill (TUFB) in the 2006-07 parliamentary session was talked out and 10 RMT PARLIAMENTARY GROUP Parliamentary Convenor: John McDonnell MP so not debated. No MP has chosen the TUFB as their private member’s bill in the new 2007-08 parliamentary session. However the RMT Parliamentary Group will continue its active support for this measure in lobbying other MPs to promote the Bill and in seeking to persuade the Government at least to allow a Green Paper on the issue. This would not commit the Government to anything other than consultation, but would at least open up the debate.

Consultations are under way to see if it may be possible to table amendments to the Employment Bill, currently being debated in the Lords, to achieve some of the aims of the Trade Union Freedom Bill (TUFB). That would enable us to have the issues properly debated in Parliament which so far the Government has gone to great lengths to avoid. Unfortunately the Employment Bill appears to be very tightly drafted which poses very real difficulties in including all of the provisions of the TUFB, but the Group is negotiating with the bill clerks, trade unions and lawyers to include as much in the Bill as possible. The Employment Bill is not expected to reach the Commons before July 2008.

Later in the year John McDonnell may also introduce the TUFB as a Ten-Minute Rule Bill which would allow him to speak on the substance of the Bill for ten minutes on the floor of the House, on a date which could be used to coincide with further parliamentary lobbying.

It had also been hoped that the forthcoming Constitution Renewal Bill would allow us the possibility of amendment. However from the advance publicity it seems that the Bill does not include anything like a Bill of Rights and is now likely to be delayed until 2008/09.

Public Service Not Private Profit Campaign

The RMT is an important part of the campaign right across the public sector to defend public services in the face of the Government’s ongoing privatisation strategy. The aim of the campaign is to highlight the threat of privatisation and commercialisation running throughout the Government’s policy proposals for the public services, and to promote the value of public services.

Sixteen public sector trade unions initiated the campaign, supported by a number of campaigning organisations, such as Defend Council Housing, Health Emergency, and the National Pensioners’ Convention. BECTU has also joined the campaign.

The website www.publicnotprivate.org.uk has been recently overhauled and should provide a good focus for the campaign, linking together various trade union campaigns right across the public sector.

The Campaign has recently organised a number of ‘Public Services Not Private Profit’ meetings across the country in 2007/08, including in Bournemouth, Coventry, Croydon, London, Liverpool, Nottingham, Manchester, Sheffield, Swansea – many of which have been attended by RMT members. Future meetings planned include Newcastle, Manchester and Barrow, and Wrexham as well as fringe meetings at various union conferences.

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