Government to protect Nissan jobs
Dec 18 2008 by William Green, The Journal
Train operator reveals plans to axe hundreds of staff
RAIL workers across the region could lose their jobs after East Coast train operator National Express revealed plans to cut hundreds of staff to save £15m a year.
And passengers could face serious disruption after the RMT union warned the bus and train operator that compulsory redundancies across the group, which includes rail company East Coast National Express, would be resisted with every means at its disposal – including industrial action if necessary.
The Birmingham-based company, which runs the East Coast and East Anglia rail franchises, said the review of staffing would focus on support services and administration across all its businesses, but declined to say where the cuts would fall. The proposals are still subject to consultation, but National Express said the total of up to 750 roles included a previously-announced plan to close a call centre in Norwich with 70 job losses and 50 posts going in its East Coast rail operation.
The company, which employs around 18,000 people in the UK, said it would complete the programme by the end of next year.
The move came after it said the weakening UK economy had hit its rail business – although passenger revenues for its East Coast operations rose by more than 9% in the year to date.
National Express chief executive Richard Bowker said: “Looking ahead, the transport sector cannot be wholly immune from the global recession.
“While cautious about the econ- omic outlook, we are taking the initiative to reduce costs across our UK operations and counteract any slowdown in growth.”
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: “They are supposed to be running public services but they are making it clear that they are interested only in the bottom line and that they do not care one jot about the knock-on effect these cuts will have on the economy. We will fight redundancies all the way.”
Page 4: Let's plan for beyond the recession, says MP
