Newsletter: October, 2008

East London Rail Branch News Vol I, Issue 7 October 2008

0626 East London Rail
Branch New s
Email: eastlondonrail@rmt.org.uk

Secretary: Ed Shine– 07940340128 Chair: Glenn Wallis – 07789791224

National Union of Rail, Maritime, & Transport Workers’ SPECIAL
GENERAL SECRETARY: Bob Crow REVENUE
P RO T E CT
IO
RESISTA N

RE-INSTATE
NCE
EDITION

THEM NOW!
BAYMAN- CICIRELLO- GODDARD- LEES
IGNORE THE RUMOURS…
HERE ARE THE FACTS
The suspension, for two months So it is down to the RMT to put
now, of our colleagues, RPI’s the full story to our members,
Keith Bayman, Charlie Cicirello, and in doing so, point out ex-
Dave Goddard, and Rob Lees of actly WHO is behaving badly in
National Express East Anglia, this case.
arose out of a criminal case at FACT
Southwark Crown Court. Since That NO criminal charges were
CHARLIE CICIRELLO
then, rumours have abounded ever brought against these four
over their position, some people by the Police or the CPS as a At a public meeting on the 2nd
even taking the view that result of the original investiga- October, attended by RMT Gen-
‘there’s no smoke without fire’, tion. eral Secretary Bob Crow, the
or that the Company would not FACT President of the RMT John
take such severe action if they That none of them were in any Leach, the Lead Officer & Re-
had not done something wrong. way criticised or doubted by the gional Organiser Bob Rayner,
This point of view, although Judge hearing the case. and Council of Executives mem-
wrong, is almost understandable FACT ber Derrick Marr, the true facts
since the management have That not even the Company has were publicised, and what they
never explained themselves over ever suggested they were in- said is re-printed inside: ALAN
the matter, and allowed misin- volved in any criminal wrong PERR Y S TA NDS CON-
formation and misunderstanding doing, before, during, or since DEMNED BY HIS OWN AC-
to flourish. the original Fraud case. TIONS.

NEXT BRANCH MEETING: THURSDAY 16TH OCTOBER 2008, 1700 HOURS:
The Railway Tavern Public House (Conservatory room), Angel Lane,
1
Stratford, London E15… CONTACT THE BRANCH SECRETARY FOR DETAILS


SPEAKING AT THE ‘RAILWAY TAVERN’ MASS
MEETING, LIVERPOOL STREET, 2ND OCTOBER 2008
“THE ALLEGATIONS– SUCH AS THEY ARE– so far presented
to me revolve around Revenue Protection Inspectors, on one
particular shift at Hertford East depot, using each others’ Ad-
vantix [portable ticket machine] and sharing each others’
passwords.

‘MANAGEMENT PASSING THE BUCK’
But what we need to make clear today, and at your depots, is
the extent to which senior Revenue Protection management
are implicated in this whole issue. The reason they are acting
with such a heavy hand is because they are desperate to shift
responsibility from those supposedly in charge of the depart-
ment to ordinary members of staff further down the food- BOB RAYNER
chain; Alan Perry, as Head of Department is possibly the main
culprit in this. I have written some very stern letters to Mike Goddard [Human Resources
Director, NXEA] pointing out this un-necessarily heavy-handed response. I originally got
involved due to the suspension of Charlie Cicirello, Revenue Protection Company Councillor
and Health & Safety representative– a very active Representative, and we are all aware
that he has been a major thorn in the side of Alan Perry. On more than one occasion, I
have had to intervene when Perry has been over-zealous in having a go at him.

‘UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT?’ ‘PERRY REPRIMANDED’
The situation came to a head when the Com- Certainly none of them at any time were
pany suspended four members, with two of reprimanded by the Judge! certainly none
whom I attended their second interviews. of them at any time were reprimanded by
Mark Burgess-Lawrence [Area Revenue Pro- the Judge!
tection Manager– West, NXEA] sent out the But it became equally as clear that one
letters of suspension stating the grounds person representing the interests of the
quite clearly, ‘Unprofessional conduct on the Company actually WAS reprimanded by the
witness stand’. Judge, and that same person now has the
So it is either fortunate– or unfortunate!- that temerity to threaten ME with libel over it!
I am extremely experienced in where indus- That is a joke even if it wasn’t meant as
trial law is concerned, in both criminal and one, as he subsequently corrected me as to
civil cases, and for years I conducted my own ‘the facts’- namely, that it wasn’t a Detec-
Industrial Tribunals. tive Sergeant he texted whilst the Officer
What quite quickly became apparent early on was under Oath, but actually a Detective
was that while some people gave evidence, Constable! This is out in the open now, and
very few were actually cross-examined by the NXEA management have been repeatedly
opposing Counsel. attacked with it.

2


‘HYPOCRISY’
How can they, without a charge of HYPOCRISY being laid
at their door, argue like Perry has done that our members
acted unprofessionally on the witness stand when none of
them were criticised by the Judge, when the senior Reve-
nue Protection manager was? It is perfectly possible that
the Judge restrained himself from immediately issuing a Contempt of Court order. It is
equally apparent, as I have repeatedly accused Mike Goddard of, that old and much fa-
voured charge of ‘bringing the company into disrepute’ only ever refers to ordinary mem-
bers of staff and never seems to refer to or be pertinent to management, who therefore
seem able to do what they like, when ordinary members of staff cannot?!

‘RESPONSIBLE MANAGEMENT?’ ‘IF NOT, WHO IS?!’
The central issue here is that management are There is no doubt that some people
themselves compromised in regard to their own were aware and did use each others’
undertakings on the Company’s franchise agree- AVB’s and passwords, but we are
ment because they had to state quite clearly as equally aware that often people didn’t
part of the franchise agreement that they would have access to the correct number of
protect and defend their revenue. And it was machines that were required for a
quite clear from the fact that people were sharing particular job, and that Alan Perry
AVB’s and passwords that the Company’s revenue himself issued instructions that a per-
was far from being protected. son was not actually required to hand
So WHO is responsible for this? out machines to everybody.
We do not share managements’ view that respon- So if something went wrong– as often
sibility should only ever go DOWNWARDS; we be- happens in Incident Enquiries- man-
lieve that these managers are paid a certain agement have to take responsibility .
amount of money to take on this responsibility If something has gone wrong, it
within a Department. So it’s the old Harry Truman means the managerial process is
phrase: ‘The buck stops here’; but it seems in wrong, and not necessarily that peo-
modern management, the buck stops as far down ple are so much in breach of the Code
the ranks as they can get it and never reaches of Conduct that they are required to
them! be severely disciplined

‘SPREAD THE WORD!’ ‘WHERE ARE THE FACTS?!’
It’s important that we get members who The one irony is that in the interviews we
AREN’T INVOLVED to understand how impor- had, one of the things they have been us-
tant this case is for everyone. We have to ing to attempt to prosecute these mem-
publicise these facts to any members of staff bers, is that they have notes that were
who have only heard management’s side of taken by a manager in Court. I challenged
the story or who think ‘no smoke without Perry on this, which of course he denied
fire’. This particular group- or cabal!- of man- (that they were his notes), but in which
agement needs to be shown some resistance case he or some other manager has in-
and needs to be shown that they have a re- structed another manager to make sure
sponsibility and duty of care to their staff and they took notes.
NOT just deny all responsibility when some- DO THE COMPANY THINK THEY HAVE GOT
thing goes wrong and pass responsibility THE RIGHT TO INVESTIGATE A STATE-
downwards as they have here. MENT TAKEN ON OATH IN COURT?

3


‘MIS-USE OF COURT NOTES’
This raises the question- a very serious question- as to
whether management have the right to take disciplinary
action against somebody who said something- the truth,
which no-one is denying, since they were never cross-
examined or censured for it or investigated for perjury.
But if they’re are going to do that, they should at least use the official court transcripts
which are accurate and word-for-word. Of course, these have the obvious disadvantage, for
management, that they might not read as they would like them to! The sudden and recent
decision to use the Court transcripts has now become the Company’s excuse to prolong
these suspensions, a decision made only after pressure from this union. Even though two of
the members concerned here received their transcripts (at their own expense) weeks ago!
And it is worth pointing out that their portion of the transcripts are not very long due to the
fact that they were questioned so briefly.

‘APPLY RULES FAIRLY’
But it would be interesting to see a transcript of Alan Perry in court: as if the Company are
arguing that people CAN be disciplined for what they said in Court, then the same principle
should go for senior managers!

THE PRESIDENT’S VIEW: 2ND OCTOBER 2008
THE REASON I CAME DOWN HERE TODAY rules, then they’ll come after
is to get as many insights as possible as to you.
why you are placed in the situation you are. Well, regarding the allega-
Now it’s completely relevant that in your tions against our members,
group of grades, in the London area, other and the short memories of
Representatives are facing suspension– over management, a long time
in the Underground, on Metronet– and not ago I worked on the ticket-
to go into detail about it– but an experi- ing side of the Underground
enced Rep has been stood down and sus- and I still remember what
pended on completely trumped up charges: went on to keep the job go-
and there’s the common theme! ing. We knew that management knew that
Because from what you arer saying here we knew, and if we hadn’t have operated
about Charlie and your other three Brothers, like that, nothing would have got done.
though I don’t know you, what it appears So it really sticks in the gullet that even then
management are doing is something you’ve they manipulated a situation where some-
all got in common with Andy Littlechild, our body has looked the other way– poor man-
comrade from Metronet– which is that, if agement, in essence– to try and get the job
they think they've got something on you done, and others are being shot up for it
and others, on possibly some technical because they went into the witness box and
point, that they can call a breach of the blew the whistle.
Continued next page

4


And it’s a shame, as with Andy Littlechild on
the Underground, that they think they can get
away with it. The reality is nothing to do with
the minutiae of whether or not an Avantix PIN
number has been shared. Charlie is being set
up because of what he stands for, which is an RMT Rep and activist, and management are
clever enough– and cynical enough– to know they’ll have to line up a few other people with
him, in order to take out the cornerstone of their
problem, which is Charlie.
There’s a lot of people he’s defended and advised, THOUGHT
in this room and down there on the station, and FOR THE MOMENT
doing it so successfully, makes himself a target in
doing so. You can almost take odds on activists “Ten thousand times has
being picked on, and at the moment, when man- the Labour movement
agement may feel lucky– we have to rise to the stumbled and bruised it-
occasion and confront them. self.
I don’t know the details of this case, but what I do
We have been enjoined by
know is that we at Head Office have a job of work
the courts, assaulted by
to do, as do you on the shop-floor being the peo-
thugs, charged by the mi-
ple out there– who engage this group of grades in litia, traduced by the
Charlie's’ defence. Because if they think they can press, frowned upon in
take out Charlie and the others, they won’t stop public opinion, and de-
there– they’ll get a taste of blood. Get him out the ceived by politicians.
way and they’ll come back for more and more and
more. That’s why we have to be absolutely deter- But notwithstanding all this
mined in our defence of these people. and all these, labor is to-
day the most vital and po-
The other thing that needs to be said is that all
tential power this planet
Grades on the railway have the power to apply
has ever known, and its
pressure on management. We’ve got to be imagi- historic mission is as cer-
native in what action we take at work, and how we tain of ultimate realization
can apply maximum pressure on NXEA to defend as is the setting of the
these members. We can’t rely on just talking about sun…”
whether or not we’ve got the Company over a
barely legally or not, even if we have! Eugene V. Debs (1855–1926)
Because these people are already prepared to go
to court just to get rid of members– we face this American Trade Union
every week and we are facing it now, and we leader, and founding
member of the Interna-
should do everything in our power to stop it get-
tional Labor Union and the
ting to that stage. Industrial Workers Of The
I’ve come down here today as President of this World (IWW)
Union to make sure that every single activist who
puts their head above the parapet, with their
members and for their members, gets the full ser-
vice, and the full back-up, of this Union. Because
where they go, we all go. The National Leadership
of the RMT are right behind you, and together we
can fight this successfully to the end.

5


FROM THE GENERAL SECRETARY, RMT, TO ALL
N.X. REVENUE PROTECTION STAFF BOB CROW

“THE FACT IS, EVERYONE CAN SEE WHAT get out there and do disciplinaries, getting
HAPPENED HERE, that people went to court people off, getting people re-instated from
and told the truth under oath, and in Na- the sack, and like for the West Anglia people,
tional Express’s reality, this seems enough to negotiating at various levels to get them bet-
get people the sack. These people could lose ter pay and conditions. He has basically de-
their jobs, yet they are innocent. Therefore, fended YOUR RIGHT to be in a Trade Union.
whatever happens in future he should be re- They’ll try and divide you and pick you off
instated now or get his job back in future. one by one; but if you pick on one person in
Unfortunately, UNDER British Employment this Union, you pick on 80,000 members.
law, if– as in this case- you’re found not We’ve got to speed up this process while
guilty in court, or purely secondary to a case, they’re trying to slow the process– at least if
it doesn’t mean a thing. we ended up in a tribunal that would speed
They say that justice should be swift, yet things along, but with suspension, comes
these suspensions have now lasted eight stigma. People think they know what hap-
weeks and counting; so what are they wait- pened, or guess, or believe Company lies. It
ing for? is a fact that this originates with manage-
What we’ve got to do is stand together as ment pressing charges when there is no
one on this, and we’ve got to say to mem- charge to be brought. They are delaying the
bers, if you don’t support these four people, issue because they have no case.
it could be Colchester next time, or You have our full support, and anything that
Southend, or Liverpool Street, getting picked can be done, industrially, politically, and le-
on next. gally, will be done.
I don’t think the membership of this organi- I came down here today to tell you, standing
sation should be denied the right to ballot: shoulder to shoulder with John Leach, Bob
because if they can pick off these four peo- Rayner, and Derrick Marr, and you who are
ple, senior activists or not, and you can’t de- suspended, you are NOT on your own. We
fend them, then what chance have we got at represent the rest of the RMT, and you have
defending our members? THAT IS THE BRU- our full support. If there is a move to ballot
TAL TRUTH OF THE MATTER. for action, some people will be afraid of ac-
One certain thing is though, is that if people tion: but the one guarantee is, that if you
contribute to a Trade Union, then we as stand up to them, you cant guarantee you
Trade Unionists must stand together and win, but if you don’t stand up to them, you
support them, because these people have can guarantee they’ll walk all over you.
chosen to get out there and fly the flag of We have to stand together and tell this rot-
this union and support the rest of you on a ten company that we’re organised, and that
day to day basis! if they do damage these people, we stand
People like Charlie are amongst the first to with them to get them and their jobs back!”

6


At the Branch meeting held on resolve and commitment he has shown in
Thursday 18th September 2008 furthering this cause.
at 17:00 at The Railway Tavern East London Rail Branch considers that this
Hotel, Angel Lane, Stratford, is nothing less than an outright, indefensi-
the following Resolution passed. ble, and unjustifiable attack upon one of our
most active comrades, as well as the Union
“This Branch notes with dismay itself, and our ability to organise, recruit,
and disbelief the continuing sus- and defend our members.
pension of our Comrade and
This Branch believes that failure on behalf
activist, a Stage II RMT/ Health
of NXEA to immediately re-instate Bro Cici-
& Safety representative and rello and publicly vindicate him will lead to a
Company Councillor for London
state of dispute existing between this Union
Eastern Railway (‘National Ex-
and the Company. Therefore, such a situa-
press East Anglia’), Bro. Charlie tion developing as a result of NXEA intransi-
Cicirello. gency and procrastination, this Branch re-
This Branch notes the contribu- quests that the General Grades Committee
tion he has made to the devel- instructs the General Secretary to ballot our
opment and organisation of this Revenue Protection grades within NXEA for
Union in many workplaces, as both strike action and action short of a
well as to the recruitment and strike.”
retention of members, helping
SIGNED:
to make this Union a fighting
Secretary: Ed Shine
and just Union in the face of
years of management assaults Chair: Glenn Wallis
of exactly the same kind as we
see him facing himself now. He
has represented many mem-
bers, and won many cases and
has faced down many attacks,
in the interests of our members.
The so-called managers- senior
managers at LER, both within
the Revenue Protection depart-
ment and above them- respon-
sible for his suspension have
only demonstrated, and con-
tinue to demonstrate hypocrisy and arro-
gance.
This Branch believes that the treatment so
far meted out to Bro. Cicirello amounts to
nothing more, and nothing less, than vic-
YOUR
timisation from a management who claim to
be professional but have proved themselves COLLEAGUES
by their own actions to be purely vindictive.
We salute the sterling work of our Lead Offi- NEED
cer in continuing the struggle for justice for
Bro Cicirello and we commend him for the YOU!!!
7


NEXT
BRANCH MEETING
THURSDAY 16TH
OCTOBER 2008
17:00 HOURS

THE
RAILWAY TAVERN HOTEL
ANGEL LANE
STRATFORD

SPECIAL GUEST:
BRIAN WHITEHEAD
(ACTING LONDON TRANSPORT REGIONAL ORGANISER)
WILL BE UPDATING THE BRANCH ON LOROL & NETWORK RAIL ISSUES AND
THE LATEST CAMPAIGNS.

8

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