Railtrack plans direct offer to strikers

IN AN attempt to break signal workers' strikes Railtrack is preparing a direct appeal to individuals to sign up to the management's pay offer.

Letters would be sent to the 4,600 signal workers' homes, urging them to return a slip accepting the package on offer, which improves total earnings by about 3 per cent. Under a more hawkish option, workers would be asked to agree to individual contracts which would mean that, in effect, their union would be 'derecognised'.

But, first, Railtrack will try a new 'hearts and minds' campaign, starting tomorrow, to urge signal staff to put pressure on the RMT transport union to call off disruption. Meanwhile, the RMT yesterday made new allegations that Railtrack was endangering safety in trying to keep services running.

The company is under pressure from the Government to 'do something' to undermine the industrial action after union leaders called for 48-hour stoppages to follow the sixth 24- hour strike this Wednesday.

Railtrack managers believe that appealing to signal workers over the heads of the union could work because an increasing number of employees are worried about mounting pay losses. Signal staff are set to lose nearly pounds 700 each.

The management is also considering the imposition of a deadline after which it would withdraw its offer. Railtrack's package gives staff increases on extremely low basic rates of between 13 and 26 per cent. The effect on total earnings, however, will be about 3 per cent.

In confidential 'brainstorming' sessions at Railtrack, managers have considered dismissing signal staff who refuse to cross picket lines and then training new operators to replace them. This drastic initiative is not on the agenda 'at the moment', sources say, partly because it could take an estimated three months to get the network back to normal.

A critical part of the present strategy is to keep improving the number of services available during industrial action. Railtrack ran about 20 per cent of trains last Wednesday; it hopes to run more this week.

But the union has a dossier of incidents which, it says, shows that some substitute signal operators are not competent.

In one case, track workers at Euston were said to have been put at risk because a manager in a signal box did not follow procedures for switching off the current. Union officials are threatening to seek an injunction against Railtrack if the Health and Safety Executive, of which the inspectorate is part, fails to act.

An internal note to supervisors from Railtrack's production manager in Glasgow said the company was preparing to issue 'letters of authority' to supervisors to work signal boxes. The union says this will further undermine safety.

The RMT plans stoppages of 24 hours this Wednesday; 48 hours next week from noon Tuesday 26 July to noon on Thursday 28 July; 24 hours the following Wednesday; and a further 48-hour strike in the week beginning 7 August.