“The Branch has been informed that the agreement reached below represents the most that can be achieved through negotiation.

We are concerned that our members need to be fully consulted and involved in deciding whether this agreement is acceptable and our Branch therefore requests a referendum is carried out of all affected members in AP JNP Track and Civils, namely, Civils, Northern and Pic Track, Ultrasonics and the Lube Gang.

We further ask for it to be clear in the referendum that a rejection is likely to lead to a need to take industrial action and a strike ballot will likely follow.

We further ask for the Regional Organiser for Tubelines, write to the Company and ask for full talks at Company Council Level and that there is no imposition from Tubelines as per the Machinery Agreement.

• From Sunday 4th January 2015; all AP JNP Track and Civils staff will be rostered to work a 35hr, 5 shift working week and will incorporate the use of hand-held devices within their duties. Although the 15 Rostered Rest Days (RRDs) will no longer be applicable, annual leave will be increased to 37 days per year and an additional 4 lieu days will be provided to existing employees. In relation to these additional lieu days, they must be taken each year between 24th December and 31st March in the following year. This agreement includes all Q Grades whose are rostered to work Sun/Mon to Thurs/Fri EHs.
• In relation to the use of hand-held devices it was agreed that any individual who had difficulty in transferring information onto these devices would receive additional training to fulfil the input requirement. In the event that any individual could not input information on to a hand-held device after the additional training, they would continue to complete the current paper template, and would remain in their current post.
• For the majority of staff rostered nights their normal roster will be Sunday/Monday to Thursday/Friday EHs. This will be implemented by local agreement to suit business needs on each of the JNP lines, rail ultrasonic team, rail lubrication team and civils department with a completion date of 31st March 2015. For any specific individual who has not changed their roster by the 31st March 2015, their circumstance will be reviewed on an individual basis to find a conclusion.