Union agreement set to ease Northern's shortages after politicians question bosses

A new rest day working agreement involving Northern train drivers has been agreed, after the operator’s senior managers were questioned by politicians about its “unacceptable” level of service.

Northern’s Managing Director Tricia Williams and Chief Operating Officer Matt Rice were called to appear before members of the Rail North Committee on October 30, to answer questions about a series of ‘do not travel’ notices issued on Sundays in the North West.

Williams admitted crews do not have to work that day, prompting committee chairman Andy Burnham (Mayor of Greater Manchester) to write to the government to request a rest day working agreement for drivers and for a plan for Sundays to be included in conductors’ working week.

An agreement with drivers’ union ASLEF was reached the day after the meeting. As this issue of RAIL went to press, it was due to be ratified by its executive committee.

ASLEF General Secretary Mick Whelan said the deal gave the company “the flexibility it needs to deliver services”.

A Northern spokesman added: “We are pleased to confirm we have secured a new rest day working agreement for our train drivers, after constructive talks with ASLEF. We anticipate this will result in fewer cancellations for our customers over time, but realise more needs to be done to improve performance.”

A report prepared for the Rail North Committee said the issues would also be addressed in a Remedial Plan to be submitted by Northern’s management and presented to the committee at the next meeting on November 20.

The report, written by Transport for the North Partnership and Programme Manager Caroline Young, described Sundays as a “long-standing issue”, adding: “The root cause is that not all staff have agreements, which make Sundays a part of their week, due to historic practices inherited by Northern’s predecessor.

“Where Sundays are not covered by an agreement, it means that working these days is effectively voluntary. Progress on standardising terms and conditions has been slow and, again, requires a mandate from government.”

RAIL understands that 95% of Northern conductors in the North West do not have Sundays included in their working weeks.

When asked if it had authorised talks between the two parties, a Department for Transport spokeswoman said: “The Transport Secretary has been crystal clear - poor rail performance will not be tolerated.

“Ministers continue to hold operators and Network Rail to account to tackle ongoing cancellations and delays plaguing passengers.”

Ministers have also met with Northern managers twice since Labour came to power, to discuss performance, challenges, and to hold the operator to account over delays and cancellations.

The TfN report added that even if the government authorised discussions over Sunday working, “it is likely to take some time” for an agreement to be reached.

It continued: “Although we would hope to see an interim agreement in place with RMT on behalf of conductors to secure some improvement in the meantime, it is essential that Northern is proactive in managing the situation and providing customers with as much clarity and certainty as possible.”

In the Rail North Committee meeting, Williams disputed suggestions that sickness rates among Northern’s drivers is higher than other operators, but that it had plans to reduce absence rates, adding it was “very difficult to cover sickness without a rest day working agreement in place”. Rice said sickness rates at depots vary from 3% to 11%.

Adamant that Northern had sufficient staff amid Burnham’s claims of a “part-time railway”, she also said some services needed to be cancelled to keep up with driving training - something she admitted the operator would “like to go faster”.

The committee also heard that faxes were still used to communicate rota information to drivers.

When asked if Northern could “get rid of them tomorrow”, Williams added: “We wouldn’t be able to get rid of them tomorrow without an agreement with our trade unions. We have to look at these issues with the depth and complexity they have and the historical issues that we absolutely are going to address.

“It isn’t as simple as turning them off tomorrow because at the moment we have an agreement to use the processes that we have. In order to change that, we do have to change the agreement.”

An ASLEF spokesman told RAIL the union met with Northern in December 2021 about “moving to newer technology”, but said the operator decided not to continue discussions.

“It’s not the union holding up modernisation - Northern is the only company still using fax machines, as we’ve made agreements and moved forward with all the other operators. So, the ball is in their court,” the spokesman said.

ASLEF also dismissed suggestions of a technology payment being required for moving communications from fax to email.

N See Haigh, pages 52-53.

Northern 156428 stands at Rose Grove with the 1128 Preston-Colne on September 7. The operator is set to rest day working practices. PAUL SHANNON.