A letter to the company

I have been asked if we can keep the petition open while the current dispute is running. I will do so if we continue to get new signatures every day. It seems like a good idea - there have been another 50 or so since the strike day started this morning, and people at the station were reading the company's noticeboard them asking if there was something they could sign to give their support to the guards (so much for the company trying to set the passengers against their staff!) I sent this message to Charles Horton this morning... ------------ Dear Mr Horton, I love trains, and have loved travelling by train. My grandfather worked on the railways and his family used them a lot as a result (the whole family got free passes in those days). I follow events on our train services because I am a passenger and because I have always loved them, so I have a good idea what is going on. Sad to say, I won’t be using them so much in the future because I travel alone and am not super-confident. If you had your way I would be expected to cope alone in many cases and as I often need the help and support of the guards, and want to know that there is someone watching the doors and someone on the station and in the ticket office. I was very distressed to hear about the way the Southern guards and other staff have been treated, so I started a petition and got over 2000 signatures in a few days. The petition is still running but, as your company are publicly berating the guards for trying to keep the jobs they were trained for, and because you are trying to claim downgrading them won’t make any difference, I thought you should hear from us today. The message is: Please stop penalising your staff for standing up for safety and personal service. Keep the guard on the train, keep the train safe. --------------- No reply so far - he must be busy writing more adverts telling passengers that train staff are unnecessary, or that downgrading safety-critical staff won't make any difference. Please consider emailing the company, and/or your MP as well. Photo: Guards at Eastbourne Station this morning, putting their case to the public...