When I heard that London Midland had cancelled almost all of its services on Sunday because insufficient staff volunteered to work on the Sunday, I was greatly encouraged. More proof that people really want to spend time with their families on Sunday: my colleagues on the Keep Sunday Special team would be pleased (and see the Relationships Foundation's campaign for a Family Day Bill).

But then as I thought about this, and particularly as more information came to light, the situation became less encouraging.

It occurred to me that even when there was much more widespread observance of a day of rest on Sunday, the railways still ran (albeit a much reduced service). And then it appeared that the railway company had changed the terms of employment for staff such that working on Sunday no longer attracted 'double time'. This was the first Sunday when such rules applied. Staff were, however, still free to volunteer or not volunteer and they chose not to. So was it simply about money after all? The staff weren't really interested in the day with their family, they were responding to the loss of 'double time'.

Then further information came to light. And it was encouraging after all! A bemused news release from London Midland and even a rather bemused union leader interviewed on the TV news confirmed that this arrangement of 'double time' payment for Sunday working had only been put in place over the summer. It had been introduced because the normal contractual overtime rates for Sunday working did not yield sufficient volunteer drivers and conductors over the holiday period. It had always been scheduled to end on August 30th and, it was presumed, everything would go back to normal in September.

So although an MP has complained that London Midland should lose its franchise over this, a rail user group lamented that it was 'an astonishing way to operate a train service', and a rail use pressure group has judged the company and drivers to be at fault (even describing the latter as 'irresponsible'), I think there are aspects of this situation which are hopeful:

1. Despite first appearances, London Midland allow their staff to chose whether to work on Sunday and pay them extra if they do - it's not just another day of the week
2. Despite first appearances, London Midland didn't arbitrarily cut overtime pay for working Sunday
3. Despite the media, the unions weren't orchestrating unofficial action against an employer acting in a provocative manner

But, best of all, it seems possible that the drivers and conductors decided that normal overtime wasn't sufficient to compensate them for the loss of their Sunday. Even though there's still an element of 'selling Sunday' and it's the price that's in question, perhaps people really do prefer to spend time with their families and friends and thus not to work on Sunday. Let's see what happens this weekend .....

• 
• Share