Southern Railways has announced, again, that it has reached agreement with the train drivers' union ASLEF to settle the dispute between them (subject to approval of their members, of course). But the terms of the agreement have not been made available to MLAG or, more importantly, to the other union involved, the RMT. This failure to involve the RMT happened the last time a draft settlement was reached.
MLAG can’t help feeling this is another false dawn, but we can only hope. From our point of view (and we can only imagine also the RMT) all depends on what has been agreed about a second safety-qualified member of staff being on board.
[Editor's note: The Inspector's report to the government's Railway Regulator was conditional and said Driver Operated Trains were safe provided there was "suitable equipment, procedures and competent staff". The unions' argument has been that the new OBS (On Board Supervisors) replacing guards and Southern's overall management did not comply with these conditions]
Photo: Library image
