Strikers squabble over a letter

Hundreds of thousands of commuters suffered their second successive day of chaos as the third 48-hour strike on South West Trains led to huge disruption across the South and South-West.

As passengers waited on stations or attempted to board one of the few jam-packed services which did operate, SWT and the RMT rail union continued to squabble over who wrote to whom two weeks ago to try and set up fresh talks.

SWT says it wrote to the union on 15 January and has not received a reply and refuses to write again. The union says it is willing to talk - but not under the conditions set out by the company.

As the stalemate continues, 350,000 passengers are caught in the middle, while London's businesses are losing an estimated £12million a day.

The strike, involving 2,100 train guards and station staff, remained solidly supported. SWT admitted that only a few employees had returned to work, despite the first tranche of a rejected 7.6 per cent pay increase being "forced" into the pay packets.

RMT leaders, bolstered by continuing support for the stoppages, will meet soon to discuss the naming of further strike dates. There have been calls, as revealed in the Evening Standard yesterday, for an escalation of the industrial action to week-long stoppages.

There is no date set for the meetingof the union's powerful executive-committee, which will decide the next step.

SWT now has no option but to press ahead with "Plan B" to maintain services during future strikes ordered by the RMT in a twin dispute over pay and the alleged abuse of disciplinary proceedings against activists employed by the company.

More white-collar managers are being trained to take the place of strikers during future stoppages - scheduled for Tuesday 12 and Wednesday 13 February.

The Stagecoach-owned company ran 640 train services yesterday out of a possible 1,700, and expects the same number today. For the next strike it plans to operate 800 services. Emergency timetables will be published next week.

If the dispute continues, SWT managing director Andrew Haines says the company will gradually increase the number of trains run by white-collar managers until the strikes will have no effect on services.

On pay the RMT is claiming parity for 2,100 train guards and station staff with Aslef drivers - not on strike - who received a 7.6 per cent increase last year.

SWT says it will pay station and train guards 7.6 per cent, but the union says that because of the way the payment is staggered, it is only worth just over four per cent.

The second issue concerns the alleged abuse by SWT of the disciplinary proceedings against union officials employed by the company. These include activist Greg Tucker, secretary of the RMT's Waterloo branch. He was demoted from driver to ticket inspector for alleged repeated safety incidents - speeding.

Acas is trying to get the two sides together but with little success. SWT says it will return to Acas but points out the pay award has already been made and will not be changed.

The real sticking point is that the company refuses to discuss disciplinary cases at Acas, saying these are safety matters and not up for negotiation.

The RMT says it will return to the negotiating table - but only if the two disputes are discussed at the same time.

An RMT spokesman said today's strike was about pay and nothing to do with the disciplinary dispute. He said the union had agreed to go to arbitration and had discussed with Acas the terms of reference, adding: "But the last letter we have had from SWT is dated 15 January - we have had nothing from them since then.

"This shows that SWT is not intent on negotiating with us properly and that its passengers are taking second place."

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