Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
From the PF thread:
In the end if the job description includes doing tickets, and the person isn't doing tickets, then they're committing misconduct and can be disciplined through due process, first through informal warnings, then through improvement plans, then a final written warning, then if even that doesn't work the sack. (I am not an expert in this so there could be a couple more stages, but that's the gist). Yes, there could be one or two tribunals but I doubt the TOC would lose.
It's a lot easier for a lazy guard (e.g. many but not all of those on the south WCML) to say "but my safety duties would be compromised" while sitting in the cab reading the Sun*, but OBSs have no safety-critical duties, the only other essential one is to nose out at each station that doesn't have dispatchers to see if they need to load a wheelchair user or not. Thus almost all their time should be spent walking through the train scanning e-tickets and looking at other tickets, including regular checks of 1st because gatelines don't do that. The job is essentially very similar to a tram conductor, and they manage to keep on top of it all. Sure, they can't do a whole 12 car train between 3 minute stops, but they should be moving up and down it all the time. I'm not saying they should not be able to pop to the loo or sit down for a rest occasionally, we all need that, nor is a quick text home about what's for tea tonight disastrous, but if they have time to be standing scrolling Instatwitterbook on their phone then they have time to be patrolling the train.
I do get that some are upset they are no longer guards due to how bad the situation got, but in the end we are where we are, and if they're that bothered about wanting to be a guard rather than an OBS plenty of other TOCs still have them (and are likely to for the foreseeable) and they can apply there.
* Other red-tops are available, and may be preferred e.g. on Merseyside.
In the end if the job description includes doing tickets, and the person isn't doing tickets, then they're committing misconduct and can be disciplined through due process, first through informal warnings, then through improvement plans, then a final written warning, then if even that doesn't work the sack. (I am not an expert in this so there could be a couple more stages, but that's the gist). Yes, there could be one or two tribunals but I doubt the TOC would lose.
It's a lot easier for a lazy guard (e.g. many but not all of those on the south WCML) to say "but my safety duties would be compromised" while sitting in the cab reading the Sun*, but OBSs have no safety-critical duties, the only other essential one is to nose out at each station that doesn't have dispatchers to see if they need to load a wheelchair user or not. Thus almost all their time should be spent walking through the train scanning e-tickets and looking at other tickets, including regular checks of 1st because gatelines don't do that. The job is essentially very similar to a tram conductor, and they manage to keep on top of it all. Sure, they can't do a whole 12 car train between 3 minute stops, but they should be moving up and down it all the time. I'm not saying they should not be able to pop to the loo or sit down for a rest occasionally, we all need that, nor is a quick text home about what's for tea tonight disastrous, but if they have time to be standing scrolling Instatwitterbook on their phone then they have time to be patrolling the train.
I do get that some are upset they are no longer guards due to how bad the situation got, but in the end we are where we are, and if they're that bothered about wanting to be a guard rather than an OBS plenty of other TOCs still have them (and are likely to for the foreseeable) and they can apply there.
* Other red-tops are available, and may be preferred e.g. on Merseyside.
