First Capital Connect strike - insider speaks out

16:45 - 13 November 2009

A FIRST Capital Connect insider has contacted the Herts Advertiser to
put across their side in the ongoing industrial dispute.

The rail company is currently running around 50 per cent of its normal
timetable because drivers are refusing to do overtime or work rest
days over a pay dispute. They will endeavour to run a normal service
on Saturdays and Sundays.

But following damning comments from commuters unhappy with the
continuing disruption, the FCC driver, who has requested anonymity for
fear of reprisal, contacted the Herts Advertiser with his take on the
crisis.

He revealed: "FCC failed to recruit enough drivers to cover natural
wastage, retirements and the new routes and rolling stock.

"Their training programme was a shambles and wasn't started early
enough. They took money to fund the overtime required to release
enough drivers for training but used those rest day workers just to
cover an already short-staffed situation."

He explained: "FCC said the problems were a result of ongoing training
when in fact all the training had been stopped in a panic measure as
drivers stopped being willing to work rest days.

"They deliberately stalled pay talks from last April because they knew
they were in a mess and now the drivers simply have had enough of
them.

"The drivers bent over backwards to help them with emergency rosters
and working arrangements while being fobbed off month after month."

The insider added: "This company has used every trick in the book to
hide from the facts, using the recession as an excuse to make cuts and
now they have been found out.

"First Group posted record profits and record payments to shareholders
and took £150 million in subsidies from the Government, all on the
back of their staff's hard work, now they say they can't afford a
small recognition of that.

"As the staff have not had a pay rise since April 2008 it is generally
considered not unreasonable to expect something this year."

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