The future of 3,000 train manufacturing jobs is looking bleak after government decided to award the contract to build new trains for Thameslink, to Siemens. Canadian firm Bombardier which owns the plant in Derby have announced 1,400 redundancies as a result. Bombardier would build the new trains at Derby, Siemens (if the contract stands) will build in Germany.

The Transport Secretary Philip Hammond, has said he will not change his mind on the Thameslink contract, but don't let that put you off signing the e-petition and put pressure on his poor decision. If the petition gains 100,000 signatures or more, the issue is eligable for a debate in the House of Commons. Click here to sign the e-petition

This link will take you to a BBC Derbyshire local news report. The article is dated the 8th of September 2011 after a delegation of 200 workers, union representatives and politicians lobbied Parliament.

After years of battling to keep what we always knew to be rightfully ours, an Employment Tribunal has unanimously found in our favour. This landmark victory was hard earned by a great many people who all played their part.
Thanks go out to District Organiser Graham Morris, Executive Committee member Simon Weller, Vicky Phillips and the legal team at Thompsons, retired member Bob Parker in who's name the claim was made, and of course all the Drivers at Waterloo who were so solid in the 2006 strike. We are also grateful for the support and encouragement received from the other branches on SWT and those further afield.
Click here to view a copy of the judgement