Hi all,
Further exciting news, at least for those of us waiting for start dates, is the new Guard Deal going through now.
Full pay after being fully productive may take a bit longer, (75% for 6 the first months, 90% 6-12 months and 100% from 1 full year) but, knowing from various threads how long it can take from passing OPC and MMI to getting employed, made worse by COVID, I would rather get an earlier start date with less pay initially, then get to the stage where my 3 years OPC has expired and I would need to take it again.
For anyone who hasn't read it, this is the guts of it.
Please correct me anyone if I have interpreted any of this incorrectly, and, anyone already employed in the Guards role, please understand that I am posting this purely as a ray of hope for those of us waiting to start training who, with the current situation may be feeling some doubt, like myself, after a long wait. I am aware after reading another thread that there are elements of the deal that are considered by some to be detrimental to those already employed, such as the introduction of the Metro Guard role on 701's and less leave days etc.
For anyone who hasn't seen it this is the guts of it.
Firstly, weekly hours are being reduced from 42 hours to 37, with no drop in pay.
Additionally there is now a guarantee that ALL SWR trains will have a guard.
Good news!!!
As an example, I have been waiting for a start date at Fratton as a Commercial Guard since December 2019. I was recently told that there is in excess of 100 Comm Guards employed at Fratton currently alone. That really surprised me, I thought there was maybe 10-20.
Even if there is only 100, thats 500 hours a week (minus leave) to be filled. That's 14 new Guards required without the extra trains and the increase in peak seats planned, for which was I was recruited in the first place.
I'm number 4 in the que for Fratton, and I'm aware that there are a few guys at various stages at ROC Basingstoke, waiting to complete training. So, what with Guards retiring or moving to other roles within the company or the wider industry, I'm now very confident that when the backlog of trainees has cleared that I and others are looking to start date earlier next year rather than towards the end of it. I might be wrong but everything is crossed that I'm not.
Also, one of the ladies at recruitment told me last week that although there is no guards courses 'planned' for the rest of the year, that they hadn't been told definitively that there would be none. There may well be some towards the end of 2021, it all depends how quickly those who have been stagnating on course can progress.
So, there is hopefully light at the end of the tunnel for all of us
You can find the complete Guards deal on the RMT website
Good luck everyone, I hope this info cheers you all up as much as it did me
Re(guards)