22nd June 2022

RMT represent a large number of rail workers who’s jobs are currently at risk. The Tory Government, after slashing £4bn of funding from National Rail and Transport for London, has actively prevented a settlement to this dispute.

Train companies paid shareholders almost £800,000,000 last year. Now they claim they have to cut rail workers’ pay and sack people to stay afloat.

With the current cost of living crisis, these job loses would be devastating to many, and also risk passenger safety.

Worker’s who are at risk include cleaners, ticket office staff, guards and platform staff.

Labour’s Kezia Coleman said “Railway staff are essential to assisting disabled people, such as wheelchair users and people with sensory impairments. As a public transport user with a small child, I always look for the carriage with the guard in to help me. Getting a push chair off the trains at some stations is really difficult. At stations without lifts staff have had to assist me. If I am travelling alone on trains in the evening, I feel safer with a guard.”

Striking is always a last resort. Kingston Labour stand in solidarity with the workers. The public deserve a better service than the shambles private railway companies such as South Western Railways provide us. They are forever putting profits before passengers and their own staff. Enough is enough.

Why the Railway Workers are striking:

As a result of this transport austerity, the employing companies have taken decisions to:

• Attack the Railway Pension Scheme and the TFL scheme, diluting benefits, making staff work longer and making them poorer in retirement, while paying increased contributions.
• Cut thousands of jobs across the rail network while not giving a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies.
• Cutting safety inspections on the infrastructure by 50% in order to facilitate mass redundancies.
• Attack terms, conditions and working practices in a form of internal fire and re-hire, including lowering existing salaries and increasing the working week.
• Re-starting the disputes on the role and responsibility of the guard and massive cuts to catering services.
• Closing every ticket office in Britain regardless of the accessibility needs of the diversity of passengers
• Cutting real pay for most of our members through lengthy pay freezes and well below RPI inflation pay proposals

Source: RMT 

Pictures Below: Kingston and Surbiton Labour Constituency Party Members and Kington Unison Support the strikers on the picket line in Surbiton.