www.rmt.org.uk                

 

 

                                                               NEWS RELEASE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12^th July 2011

 

 

Immediate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RMT warns of lethal consequences as tube bosses plan to replace station staff with untrained volunteers during the Olympics

 

 

 

 

 

TUBE UNION RMT today cast a public safety warning over London Underground’s Olympic strategy for staffing stations as it emerged they plan to use “Non Licensed Volunteers” to work throughout stations doing “way finding”- a coded term for crowd control - a skill and task that should only be carried out by  experienced competent members of staff.

 

 

 

 

 

The main reason behind LU’s plan to use volunteers is their admission to the unions that they need an extra 400-600 Olympic duties per day to able to cope with the demand. This admission totally demolishes the company’s case for dumping station staff posts and solidly proves RMT’s point that the 650 operational jobs shed by the company this year was a short sighted and dangerous move that has now left them desperately short of personnel.

 

 

 

 

 

RMT General Secretary said today

 

 

 

 

 

“Using unqualified, non-professional, non-trained staff at key crowd control pressure points is a recipe for disaster with potentially lethal consequences. With the tube already at bursting point, and with millions more expected for the Olympics, the last thing needed is wholly unprepared volunteers controlling hundreds of thousands of passengers through stations like Oxford Circus or Stratford.

 

 

 

 

 

RMT senior stations reps have already made it crystal clear to LUL management that we will not accept this dangerous suggestion and we now call on LUL to reverse the 650 jobs cuts and to get back to the safe and sensible policy of having trained operational railway workers carrying out safety-critical operational railway tasks”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ends

 

 

 

 

 

Further information: Geoff Martin 0207 255 9146  or   07831 465 103

 

 

 

 

 

                      

 

 

www.rmt.org.uk                

 

 

                                                               NEWS RELEASE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12^th July 2011

 

 

Immediate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RMT to take dossier of “fit and proper” evidence to Transport Secretary over Siemens Thameslink contract award

 

 

 

 

 

RAIL UNION RMT today released a dossier of evidence on the history of Siemens global activities which the union will take into a meeting with Transport Secretary Phillip Hammond tomorrow demanding that he investigate whether the company is “fit and proper” to be awarded the Thameslink fleet contract.

 

 

 

 

 

RMT research has revealed that:

 

 

 

 

 

• Canadian academic, Robert Hickey of Queen’s University, Canada has described Siemens as engaging in “Aggressive Bargaining and Union Busting” and that Siemens has an “aggressively anti-union business strategy”.

   

• In the USA Siemens has consistently sought to break Unions such as International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Kentucky or in Monroe County, New York. The National Labor Relation Board have ruled against Siemens for union-busting in the past. Human Rights Watch has condemned the behaviour of Siemens in the USA in its report: A Strange Case: Violations of Workers’ Freedom of Association in the United States by European Multinational Corporations.Published Sept 2010

   

 

 

 

• 2007 - Siemens was found guilty of paying €15m to the chairman of a “non-traditional” union in Germany in order for it to compete with IG Metall. This led to the resignation of Siemens Chairman who was then replaced as Chairman by Gerhard Cromme who was also head of the German Corporate Governance Commission.

   

o   2009 - On the 2nd July, the World Bank announced that Siemens was required to pay $100 million to support the global fight against corruption, as part of its settlement with the World Bank Group following bribery by a Siemens' subsidiary in Russia.

 

 

 

 

 

• 2011 - Siemens lost its appeal to a European Court to have an anti-trust fine overturned. The EU Commission imposed a fine of almost €400million on Siemens in 2007 for heading a cartel on gas insulated switchgear for electricity grids.

   

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

 

 

“Not only have we demolished the Government’s claim that Siemens represented the “best value for the British tax payer” by exposing the fact that the wider economic impact of running down Bombardier was never taken into account but we now have some serious questions that need answering about the business practices of Siemens.

 

 

“On Wednesday we will be calling on Phillip Hammond in face-to-face talks to call off the jobs massacre at Bombardier, and the destruction of the UK train building industry, and to take full account of the barrage of new evidence that has been uncovered since this process began. The fight to save train building in the nation that gave the railways to the world remains well and truly on.”

 

 

 

 

 

Ends

 

 

 

 

 

Further information: Geoff Martin 0207 255 9146  or   07831 465 103

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOTE:

 

 

Full dossier below:

 

 

 

 

 

Global investment Watch – August 2008 – Company report – Siemens

 

 

 

 

 

o   “recent bribery scandal is indicative of Siemen’s lack of transparency as a company”.

 

 

 

 

 

o   As reported by Agence France Presse, Siemens has been wracked by a recent bribery scandal, claiming in early November, that it had uncovered 1.3 billion euros (1.9 billion dollars) in a number of dubious transactions, highlighting the scope of corruption scandals that have engulfed the company. The group in particular is alleged to have paid nearly $2 billion in bribes in foreign countries to obtain contracts and has struggled with the revelations since late 2005. Siemens had participated in the Oil-For-Food Program, which was supposed to ease the impact of Western sanctions on Iraq. It was discovered that more than half of the 4,500 companies participating in the program, including Siemens, had paid illegal surcharges and kickbacks to the government of Saddam Hussein.

 

 

• Burma, Mexico, China, Phillipines examples

   

• 10% of the countries Siemens operates in are on the AFL-CIO watch list for either lacking labor legislation or failing to enforce it. Additionally, the company conducts business in a number of other countries deemed sensitive by JMR (such as Burma and Pakistan) due to factors concerning labor, political freedom, civil liberties, and human rights.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anti-Union activity

 

 

According to Canadian academic Robert Hickey of Queen’s University Canada Siemens engages in “Aggressive Bargaining and Union Busting: Following the expansion of the European Union (EU) in May 2004, Siemens led German employers in demanding concessions from its unions, particularly in the length of working hours. Under the threat of significant production shifts, IG Metall agreed to longer working hours and changes in compensation in exchange for job security guarantees. The ascension of a new generation of top executives may also reflect a cultural shift towards more contentious labor relations. In the U.S., Siemens recently busted a union organized by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) at an Osram Sylvania plant in Kentucky. In general, Siemens has an aggressively anti-union business strategy...”.

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/globalunionsconference/research/reports/siemens.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apr 2, 2007 Siemens sued for anti-union payoff

 

 

MUNICH, Germany, April 2 (UPI) -- Germany's IG Metall trade union it filed a lawsuit against Siemens AG alleging the engineering giant financed a rival union to undermine IG.

 

 

Rival AUB, a small group that positions itself as an alternative to a traditional union, is considered more "employer friendly," Germany's Deutsche Welle broadcaster reported.

 

 

"We have the suspicion and indications for the fact that the AUB was financed by Siemens in order to build up a kind of anti-trade union in opposition to IG Metall," IG Metall union leader Juergen Peters said.

 

 

Siemens central management board member Johannes Feldmayer was arrested on suspicion of having paid bribes to an AUB official. Former Siemens finance chief Karl-Hermann Baumann was also investigated in the matter, Deutsche Welle reported.

 

 

The men are alleged to have paid $20 million to $27 million to AUB chief Wilhelm Schelsky, who was arrested in February.

 

 

Chief Executive Klaus Kleinfeld said he considered IG Metall Siemens' "partner when it comes to wage talks," adding he did not "have the impression that the AUB is particularly employer-friendly," Frankfurt's Allgemeine Zeitung reported.

 

 

http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2007/04/02/Siemens-sued-for-alleged-anti-union-payoff/UPI-20211175556948/

 

 

 

 

 

Siemens chairman Heinrich von Pierer resigns because of anti-union finding

 

 

4/20/2007 5:08 AM EDT

 

 

MUNICH, Germany. Siemen's long-time CEO Heinrich von Pierer resigned as supervisory board chairman.

 

 

The scandal series took its start when in autumn 2006, police raided the Siemens headquarters over bribery allegations - according to the reproaches, the company in the past years had spent up to €420 million (about $567 million) to bribe potential customers in order to receive orders. Another scandal came to daylight recently, when managing board member Johannes Feldmayer was arrested over embezzlement allegations: Feldmayer is said to have funded an 'independent' anti-union group in the Siemens works council with €15 million (about $20 million), which is a criminal offense.

 

 

As von Pierer's successor, the supervisory board proposed Gerhard Cromme, a long-year steel industry manager who presently is also member of the Siemens supervisory board and chairman of the company's audit commission. Cromme also is head of the German Corporate Governance Commission.

 

 

http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4187721/Siemens-chairman-Heinrich-von-Pierer-resigns

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Corruption

 

 

 

 

 

On 3 March 2011, Siemens lost its appeal to a European Court to have an anti-trust fine overturned. The EU Commission imposed a fine of almost €400million on Siemens in 2007 for heading a cartel on gas insulated switchgear for electricity grids.

 

 

July 2009: On the 2nd July, the World Bank announced that Siemens was required to pay $100 million to support the global fight against corruption, as part of its settlement with the World Bank Group following bribery by a Siemens' subsidiary in Russia.

 

 

http://www.againstcorruption.org/   

 

 

 

 

 

FOR CORRUPTION SEE ALSO GLOBAL INVESTMENT WATCH SECTION BELOW.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Global investment Watch – August 2008 – Company report – Siemens

 

 

 

 

 

·         “recent bribery scandal is indicative of Siemen’s lack of transparency as a company”.

 

 

 

 

 

·         As reported by Agence France Presse, Siemens has been wracked by a recent bribery scandal, claiming in early November, that it had uncovered 1.3 billion euros (1.9 billion dollars) in a number of dubious transactions, highlighting the scope of corruption scandals that have engulfed the company. The group in particular is alleged to have paid nearly $2 billion in bribes in foreign countries to obtain contracts and has struggled with the revelations since late 2005. Siemens had participated in the Oil-For-Food Program, which was supposed to ease the impact of Western sanctions on Iraq. It was discovered that more than half of the 4,500 companies participating in the program, including Siemens, had paid illegal surcharges and kickbacks to the government of Saddam Hussein.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

·         Bad employment practices internationally

 

 

• China

   

  • Siemens was suspected of rejecting Hepatitis B carriers in its Chinese facilities, according to a 2007 report by Students and Scholars against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and Beijing-based Yirenping – support groups for Hepatitis B carriers.

     

  • A Chinese factory supplier to Siemens investigated in 2006 was found to be in violation of international labor laws. According to the SACOM report, alleged infringements included child labor, excessive overtime and overtime pay below the legal minimum, no social insurance and occupational health risks.

     

  • Additionally, an investigation into the Fujitsu-Siemens supply chain in both China and the Philippines found a number of ILO infringements including excessive hours, low wages and compensation for overtime, health and safety issues, unnecessary layoffs (e.g., when demand is low), lack of union representation and therefore the denied right to collectively bargain, and poor job security. The study was carried out by a Netherlands group, Stichting Onderzoek Multinationale Ondernemingen (SOMO), in collaboration with the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations.

     

 

 

 

o   Mexico

 

 

• According to Human Rights Watch, in 1998, female employees at Siemens AG’s Mexican plant in Ciudad Juarez were routinely required to undergo pregnancy tests before being offered work. They were also required to undergo inspection of sanitary napkins as a proof of non-pregnancy in order to retain their jobs.

   

 

 

 

o   Burma

 

 

• In October 2007, The ITUC called on Siemens to leave Burma (Myanmar). Siemens responded to the ITUC letter, acknowledging company operations in the country, yet stating disapproval of the human rights situation and the disregard of ILO-standards in Myanmar. However, the company objected to withdrawal from the country, stating instead that international trade and activities of foreign companies can effectively contribute to the aim of moving the situation in the right direction, resulting in help for the local people.

   

Political Risk

 

 

Siemens operates in over 190 countries around the world in the regions of North and South America, Canada, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Russia, Asia and the Pacific.

 

 

Siemens operates in Angola, Bahrain, Belarus, China, Colombia, Egypt, Guatemala, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Serbia-Montenegro, Swaziland, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe. These countries are identified on the AFL-CIO country watch list for either lacking labor legislation or failing to enforce it. Additionally, the company conducts business in a number of other countries deemed sensitive by JMR (such as Burma and Pakistan) due to factors concerning labor, political freedom, civil liberties, and human rights.

 

 

 

 

 

·         http://globalinvestmentwatch.com/company-report-siemens/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Human Rights Watch

 

 

A Strange Case: Violations of Workers’ Freedom of Association in the United States by European Multinational Corporations.

 

 

Published Sept 2010

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monroe County, New York

 

 

The National Labor Relations Board USA ordered Siemens to:

 

 

 

 

 

1.      Cease and desist from

 

 

 

 

 

(a) Failing and refusing to recognize and bargain collectively and in good

 

 

faith with the Union as the exclusive bargaining representative agent of its

 

 

employees in the appropriate bargaining unit ...

 

 

 

 

 

(b) In any like or related manner interfering with, restraining, or coercing

 

 

employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed them by Section 7 of the

 

 

Act.

 

 

 

 

 

2. Take the following affirmative action necessary to effectuate the policies of

 

 

the Act.

 

 

 

 

 

(a) On request, recognize and bargain collectively and in good faith with the

 

 

Union as the exclusive bargaining representative of employees in the above described

 

 

appropriate unit and, if an understanding is reached, embody that

 

 

understanding in a signed agreement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The NLRB further ordered Siemens to post a notice in the workplace stating:

 

 

“

 

 

We will not unlawfully fail and refuse to recognize and bargain in good faith

 

 

with the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 832, as your

 

 

exclusive collective-bargaining representative …

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We will not in any like or related manner interfere with, restrain, or coerce you

 

 

in the exercise of the rights guaranteed you by Federal law.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We will recognize the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 832,

 

 

as your exclusive collective-bargaining representative and on request

 

 

bargain with the Union in good faith concerning wages, hours, benefits, and

 

 

other terms and conditions of employment.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MEDIEN INFO Eisenbahn- und Verkehrsgewerkschaft:

Fachkonferenz Güterverkehr: Europäische Gewerkschafter fordern Ende der asphaltlastigen Verkehrspolitik

Gewerkschafter aus mehreren europäischen Ländern fordern eine klima- und umweltverträgliche Verkehrswende. Auf einer Fachkonferenz der Eisenbahn- und Verkehrsgewerkschaft (EVG) in Fulda verabschiedeten sie eine entsprechende Erklärung. Darin wird eine Investitionsoffensive in die Schieneninfrastruktur gefordert. Kritisiert wird insbesondere, dass wichtige verkehrspolitische Projekte zur Stärkung des Schienengüterverkehrs am fehlenden politischen Willen scheitern.

Gewerkschafter aus mehreren europäischen Ländern haben die politischen Akteure in Europa aufgefordert, eine klima- und umweltverträgliche Verkehrswende einzuleiten. "Klares Ziel dabei: Deutlich mehr Güter müssen auf die umweltfreundliche Schiene!", heißt es in einer Erklärung, die die rund 80 Teilnehmer einer Fachkonferenz der Eisenbahn- und Verkehrsgewerkschaft (EVG) zum Schienengüterverkehr verabschiedet haben. An dem Treffen in Fulda nahmen Eisenbahngewerkschafter aus den Niederlanden, der Schweiz, aus Österreich, Luxemburg und Ungarn teil. Sie forderten unisono "das Ende einer ideologisierten Verkehrspolitik, die aus Angst vor der Automobil-Lobby die gesellschaftlichen Kosten des Verkehrs ausblendet und damit den klimaschädlichen Straßengüterverkehr hoch subventioniert."

Die Gewerkschafter kritisierten, dass "wichtige verkehrspolitische Projekte zur Stärkung des Schienengüterverkehrs in Europa, wie z.B. der Lötschberg-Basistunnel, der Gotthardt-Basistunnel, der Brenner-Basistunnel und die Anbindung der Seehäfen" ausgebremst würden, "weil die Zulaufstrecken in Deutschland nicht zur Verfügung stehen." Erforderlich sei eine "nachhaltige Investitionsoffensive für eine leistungsfähige und wachstumsorientierte Infrastruktur". Allerdings habe der Ausbau des Schienenverkehrs derzeit mit Akzeptanzproblemen zu kämpfen. Der Ausbau der Schieneninfrastruktur müsse zudem durch ein "Investitionsprogramm zur Senkung der Lärmemission des Schienengüterverkehrs" flankiert werden.

EVG-Vorstandsmitglied Martin Burkert sprach von "einem starken Signal für ein Ende einer asphaltlastigen Verkehrspolitik". Es sei "deutlich geworden, dass "mehr Güter auf die Schiene" das Motto der Zukunft ist." Ansonsten werde es gewaltige Probleme geben, wenn die Transportmengen, wie vielfach prognostiziert, zunähmen. "Hier haben wir in Deutschland viel Nachholbedarf. Während sich die Nachbarländer bereits auf den Güterverkehr der Zukunft einstellen, werden in Deutschland immer noch die falschen Prioritäten gesetzt."

Rückfragen:

Oliver Kaufhold 0172 615 65 80

　

　

---

 

Eisenbahn- und Verkehrsgewerkschaft

Pressestelle/Redaktion

Chausseestraße 84, 10115 Berlin

 

Tel (030) 42 43 90 70

Fax (030) 42 43 90 71

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www.evg-online.org

　

 

TRANSLATION:

 

MEDIA INFO Railway and Transport union:
Freight Conference: European trade unions call for the end of the asphalt-heavy transport policy

Trade unions from several European countries calling for a climate-and environmentally-friendly transport reversal. At a conference of Railway and Transport union (ECG) in Fulda, they adopted a declaration. This campaign is required to invest in rail infrastructure. Criticism is especially important that transport policy projects fail to strengthen rail freight transport as a lack of political will.

Trade unions from several European countries have urged the political actors in Europe to launch a climate-and environmentally-friendly transport reversal. "A clear goal: to significantly more freight on rail, the environmentally friendly," it said in a statement, the approximately 80 participants of a conference of Railway and Transport union (ECG) was adopted for rail freight. At the meeting in Fulda railway unionists were from the Netherlands, Switzerland, part of Austria, Luxembourg and Hungary. They demanded in unison "the end of an ideological movement politics, the fear of the automobile lobby, the social costs of transport and hide it subsidizes the harmful road transport high."

The union complained that "important transport policy projects to strengthen rail freight transport in Europe, such as the Lötschberg base tunnel, the Gotthard Base Tunnel, the Brenner Base Tunnel, linking the ports" would be thwarted, "because the access routes in Germany are not available stand. " Require a "sustained investment drive for an efficient and growth-oriented infrastructure" was. However, the development of rail transport was currently struggling with problems of acceptance. The expansion of rail infrastructure must also be accompanied by an "investment program to reduce the noise emissions of rail freight."

EDC board member Martin Burkert spoke of "a strong signal for an end of an asphalt-heavy transport policy". It has "become clear that" more freight on rail, "the motto of the future." Otherwise there would be huge problems if the transport quantities, as is often predicted were increasing. "Here in Germany we have a lot of catching up. While the neighboring countries have already adjusted to the future of freight transport, are still in Germany set the wrong priorities."