Come Together AAD in Liverpool
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ASLEFJOURNAL JULY 2018 The magazine of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers & Firemen Come together AAD in Liverpool The train drivers ’ union since 1880 GS Mick Whelan Grayling’s failings ASLEFJOURNAL JULY 2018 The magazine of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers & Firemen 4 10 ‘Our industry seems to get more and more surreal’ HIS month’s Journal captures the essence News T of your parliament, the annual assembly l Exposed – Whitehall scandal of DfT cash 4 of delegates, which is at the core of our representative democracy with reps from virtually l Wayne Hurlow reports on the Wales TUC 5 50% of our branches commenting and building on l Lilian turns spotlight on TOCs’ timetables 6 existing and future policy. May I take this opportunity to thank all delegates, and visitors, for Northern papers slam Northern Rail chaos 7 l your contributions that made the debates so l Naming names in the UK’s coroner’s courts 8 vibrant and valid? The executive committee will 11 meet shortly to collate the items and action them AAD in health & safety and industrial documents for the relevant company / functional councils to list and ASLEF’s parliament, Peter Dowd, the 10 l discuss in the machinery. Morning Star and fringe events Our industry seems to get more and more l EC president Tosh McDonald, Albert 11 surreal with GTR and Northern announcing Kennedy Trust, and Off the AAD Rails timetables that cannot be delivered because infrastructure work, particularly electrification, that John Hendy QC, Kevin Courtney, 12-13 l would facilitate the new timetables, is not in place. Ronnie Draper, and Howard Philips Training has not taken place on routes or tractions l Southern Rail, auditor’s report, rest day 14 needed to facilitate or even operate the basic working, h&s, and ASLEF Education 12 timetable, and where are the people responsible? The press seems to have finally cottoned on to the l Øystein Aslaksen, Bob Hayden, Daniel 15 fact that the failings lie with Network Rail, the DfT, Leece, Elliott Hackett, and Susan Gray and the operators, although on one radio interview l Nick MacWilliam, Dawn Butler, staff 16 I was asked if we were getting revenge for the travel, freight, and rail pensions previous actions of GTR? How much worse would it have been without the goodwill of drivers, and all l Mick Whelan on Tosh, Hugh, Colin, Ray 17 and Cliff; and AAD chair Darran Brown staff, who, in some cases, had their rosters ripped up on the lies of short-term planning? This 18 timetable was known about months ago! We have Regulars areas without trains, hundreds of cancellations, l Branch News 18 overcrowding, and misery. Is it not time that certain people considered their positions? l Obituaries 19 Mark Carne is leaving Network Rail, having not l Letters, 100 Years of Union and 20-21 taken certain bonuses for lack of delivery, and it is Classified Advertisements announced he is getting a CBE; timing and public relations at their best. Naturally, during this period, l Last Word: Aftermath – Art in the 22 Wake of World War One at the Tate it is announced that 16 out of the top 20 best paid civil servants and senior officials in Britain operate l On Track, Prize Crossword, ASLEF’s 23 under the DfT and the top ten all work in the rail Legal Services and Change of Address industry. Actually 36 of the top 50 report to Chris Cover shot at Lime Street station and Grayling. Obviously it is not performance related, conference photos by Nigel Goldsmith and people are being paid for failure, not success. When are the shadowy Tax Payers’ Alliance going to speak out about this? The ASLEF Journal is published every month by: Charles Horton is, belatedly, falling on his sword. ASLEF, 77 St John Street, London, EC1M 4NN I still have not met him – and hope now never to do Tel: 020 7324 2400 l email: [email protected] 22 website: www.aslef.org.uk l twitter: @ASLEFUnion so – but, no doubt, he will appear back in our industry at a future date somewhere else. To end on a happy note, congratulations to Tosh EDitOR Mick Whelan l DESiGNER Michael Cronin l PRiNtER College Hill Press, London, SW19 4HE on his council election win. Well done, mate! ADvERtiSiNG ASLEF Journal, 77 St John Street, London, EC1M 4NN. Contact Keith Richmond on 020 7324 2407 or [email protected] l clASSifiED ADS [email protected] or call 020 7324 2400. The acceptance of a Yours fraternally display or classified advertisement does not necessarily imply endorsement of that product or service by ASLEF Mick Whelan, general secretary chANGE Of ADDRESS Please post your details to ASLEF, 77 St John Street, Clerkenwell, London, EC1M 4NN July 2018 l The ASLEF Journal 3 News Exposed – Whitehall scandal of top paid officials rewarded for failure by the DfT RANSPORT Secretary Chris Grayling – In fact, roles that report to Failing Grayling dubbed Failing Grayling by fed-up account for 36 of the top 50 salaries on the list. T cabinet colleagues – is under David Peattie, chief executive of the Nuclear pressure to resign after it was revealed that 16 Decommissioning Authority, who gets of Britain’s 20 highest paid civil servants and £370,000, is the highest-paid non-DfT senior officials operate under the Department Whitehall wallah on the list. for Transport – and the top ten all work in the Prime Minister Theresa May earns £150,000 rail industry. while Jeremy Heywood, the country’s top civil That’s right. The men responsible for the servant, as cabinet secretary and head of the mistakes, failures and chaos on Britain’s civil service, earns £200,000. Mick and Andy – ‘time for a taxi Mr Grayling’ railways are the best-paid officials in Britain. GS Mick Whelan said: ‘These figures will The revelation, which comes hot on the heels shock many people. It’s not just the scale of TWEETS OF THE MONTH of the uproar over the award of CBEs ‘for the rewards from the public purse – which failure’ to Mark Carne and Ian Prosser, is dwarf what most hard-working men and Well done, Thameslink. Amazing another serious embarrassment for Chris women earn each year – it’s the fact that they start. All trains cancelled. Grayling. are being paid over the odds for failure, rather Chris Howe Figures for senior civil service salaries than success.’ published by the cabinet office show that Andy McDonald, Shadow Transport Well done @northernassist the 1st Carne, the outgoing chief executive of Secretary, said: ‘This government’s train on the new improved Network Rail, is paid a whopping £750,000 a catastrophic rail policy is threatening the very timetable is late. I am truly in awe at year – £600,000 more than the Prime Minister integrity of the rail industry as well as future your ineptness. – while Mark Thurston, chief executive of High funding and growth. Following the news that Mark Williams Speed 2, takes home £600,000 and Francesco so many of the highest paid civil servants Paonessa, managing director, NR, picks up work directly in rail, taxpayers and passengers 83 MPs demand Northern is stripped £485,000. will rightly ask if they are getting what they of its rail franchise ‘The privatised Philip Hufton, managing director, England pay for.’ rail franchise system is not fit for purpose. & Wales, NR, gets £480,000; Graham Hopkins, The vast majority of the travelling public group safety, technical and engineering would welcome a radical solution to this director, NR, £475,000; Steve Allen, chief QUOTE… systemic failure and a return to public financial officer, HS2, £420,000; Jim Crawford, ‘I got a phone call saying, “Hello, I’m a ownership.’ phase one managing director, HS2, £405,000; journalist from The Sun .” I said, you can Grahame Morris Jeremy Westlake, chief financial officer, NR, be one or the other but you can’t be £390,000; David Waboso, managing director, both.’ – John McDonnell Since 2010 we’ve invested in our NHS digital railway, NR, £385,000; and Peter Hendy, …UNQUOTE meaning there are 14,900 more NR chair, £380,000. doctors. 13,200 more nurses on our wards. Conservatives @Conservatives Councillor Oh, Go(via) Horton, go I have to admire your brass neck, charles horton, chief executive officer of Govia thameslink Tosh chaps. Since 2010: 1. You’ve culled Railway, has been forced out of his job. the Go-Ahead Group 15k hospital beds 2. You’ve created worst announced on friday 15 June that horton ‘has tendered his 4 hour A&E waits since records began 3. resignation’ but insiders say he was told to fall on his sword You axed the nursing bursary 4. You ‘went after a litany of failures, mistakes and desperately poor nuclear’ with junior drs 5. You mean we’re decisions made on his watch. 40k nurses short 6. And 10k doctors. Rachel Clarke @doctor_oxford Passenger numbers and Workers may have to choose tosh – elected between being replaced by a robot season tickets plummet EC president Tosh or being treated like one. New figures published by the Office of Rail and Road reveal McDonald was elected The Economist that passenger numbers fell by 1.7 billion in the 2017-18 to Doncaster financial year – the sharpest decline since privatisation – while metropolitan borough There may be better choices. season ticket sales plummeted 9.2%. Soaring fares, council as the Labour Finn Brennan overcrowding, delays, cancellations and ‘the greed of the Party candidate for the privatised train companies’ have been blamed by passengers.