Northern has said it has written formally to ACAS – the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, asking for them to use their powers to launch an independent inquiry into the ongoing dispute between the operator and the RMT Union.
The inquiry is to look into the future of the role of the second person that Northern has said will remain on the train. It is also to explore the practicality of Driver Controlled Operation (DCO), giving the driver the additional responsibility of operating the train doors.
Northern said the inquiry is an attempt to involve the RMT in discussions to resolve the dispute which will soon be approaching two years, with Saturday 22nd December being the Union's 41stday of industrial action since March 2017.
The RMT Union offered to cancel industrial action if Northern would restart talks after Transport for the North released a statement on 6th December, reinforcing their view that there should be a second member of staff should be retained on Northern services; however Northern failed to respond, and therefore the action planned for Saturday 8thDecember went ahead as planned.
Saturday 22nd of December will the RMT Union's 41st day of strike action since the dispute began in March 2017; with further action planned to take place on Saturday 29th December. Northern expects to run around 700 services on both Saturdays, however very few will run after 1700hrs.
The RMT has also recently announced dates of further industrial action for the New Year:
- Saturday 9th January
- Saturday 12th January
- Saturday 19th January
- Saturday 26th January
Services that are to run, as well as services operated by other companies, are expected to be extremely busy. To find out more on how the RMT Union industrial action will affect your journey, click here.
What did the officials say?
Richard Allan, Deputy Managing Director of Northern said
“The dispute with the RMT has meant customers, businesses and the wider economy across the North has had to suffer 40 days of strike action including every Saturday in September, October, November and now December.
“More than 50% of all rail journeys in the UK are made on DCO trains, and the Department for Transport alongside Transport for the North have publicly confirmed that a second person will be retained on Northern's services.”
The RMT Union General Secretary, Mike Cash, responded calling the inquiry
“nothing but a PR stunt” and that “we have not seen any proposals from Northern whatsoever that would make serious progress in terms of resolving the dispute.
“We don't need an inquiry, we need genuine and meaningful ACAS talks with the company, focusing on retaining a Guard on Northern trains with the full suite of safety and operational competencies, including the crucial Platform Train Interface. The RMT action remains on.”
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I think that Arriva shouldn’t of taken over the Northern rail franchise in the first place. Because its all been about Northern this year and previous years.
Can we not start banging heads together to get this sorted. The RMT seems to be in time warp, this is 2018 not 1978, the staff have to face the prospect of changes at work justice like the rest of us do. Grow up and get it sorted.