Category: Strikes

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RATES OF PAY & CONDITIONS OF SERVICE 2022 – RAIL FOR LONDON INFRASTRUCTURE

RATES OF PAY & CONDITIONS OF SERVICE 2022 – RAIL FOR LONDON INFRASTRUCTURE (LUL/0001/RFLI)

 

Further to my previous Circular (IR/217/22, 18th October 2022), the ballot for strike action has now commenced.

 

The ballot papers were posted to members on Friday

 

4th November and the closing date is Tuesday 22nd November 2022.

 

If any member has not yet received their ballot paper, please ask them to contact the freephone helpline on 0800 376 3706 or [email protected] as soon as possible.

 

I will keep Branches advised of all further developments.

 

Yours sincerely

Shape, arrow Description automatically generated

Michael Lynch

General Secretary

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DEFEND JOBS, PENSIONS AND AGREEMENTS – LONDON UNDERGROUND

Dear Colleagues,

 

DEFEND JOBS, PENSIONS AND AGREEMENTS – LONDON UNDERGROUND (LUL/14/2)

 

Congratulations to every member on London Underground (LUL) for taking part in the strike action on Thursday 10th November. This action was solid and showed that your determination to defend jobs, pensions and agreements remains as strong as it was when we took our first strike action in March of this year. Without our action, London Underground would, no doubt, be further down the road of job cuts, pension attacks and the imposition of flexible working.

 

The next action is scheduled for all LUL Station Grades members who will be taking action by refusing to work any overtime between 00:01 hours on Sunday 20th November to 23:59 hours on Saturday 26th November 2022. Station Grades members at Kings Cross Area, Heathrow Cover Group, Victoria Central Cover Group and the SRT will also be taking strike action by not booking on for any shifts commencing between 00:01 hours and 23:59 hours on Friday 25th November 2022.

 

There is also currently a re-ballot underway and papers were posted to members on Tuesday 8th November. The closing date is Thursday 8th December 2022 and all members should be urged to return their ballot paper as soon as possible. Members will also be receiving texts from their Reps asking if they need a replacement ballot paper. Please be assured that this is a genuine communication from RMT.

 

I will keep Branches advised of all further developments.

 

BREAKDOWN IN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS – ISS (KAD CONTRACT) (LUL/14/2)

 

Further to my previous Circular (IR/239/22, 8th November 2022), the ballot for strike action has now commenced. The ballot papers were posted to members on Wednesday 9th November and the closing date is Tuesday 29th November 2022.

 

If any member has not yet received their ballot paper, please ask them to contact the freephone helpline on 0800 376 3706 or [email protected] as soon as possible.

 

I will keep Branches advised of all further developments.

 

RATES OF PAY & CONDITIONS OF SERVICE 2022 – RAIL FOR LONDON INFRASTRUCTURE (LUL/0001/RFLI)

 

Further to my previous Circular (IR/217/22, 18th October 2022), the ballot for strike action has now commenced. The ballot papers were posted to members on Friday 4th November and the closing date is Tuesday 22nd November 2022.

 

If any member has not yet received their ballot paper, please ask them to contact the freephone helpline on 0800 376 3706 or [email protected] as soon as possible.

 

I will keep Branches advised of all further developments.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Michael Lynch

General Secretary

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Tory ban on Rail strikes

General Secretary Mick Cash said;
“Banning strikes is the hallmark of the right wing junta not a democratically elected British government. RMT would fight any attempt to strip our members of their basic human rights.
 
“What the Tories are after is banning rail workers from striking to defend passenger safety and accessibility and that is a disgrace. 
 
“This is old school class war from the Tories and would give the green light to the greedy private train companies to unleash havoc completely unchecked in the pursuit of profits.”
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Latest LUL Pay Offer

Dear RMT members
Today myself and our reps met LUL to discuss pay 2019. The company made the offer as attached
We immediately responded by saying that the RMT would seek to meet all our reps to discuss the offer. Therefore we cannot formally respond in this update  However  I stated that all pay deals in LUL are RPI linked in the past . Also any banked rest days can only be taken in line with our agreements
We still have some way to go in these pay talks
As soon as our NEC has considered the position there will be a further update
Thanks John Leach
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Point Care Gang (LUL)

Despite LUL being informed of serious breaches of agreements with regards to BCV and SSL, management continue to use the JNP Gangs on non-JNP areas.

 

The man concerns of this are:

  1. The JNP Point Care Team includes dual skilling track and signals staff that we believe is a direct threat to job security
  2. There has been no discussions to vary any BCV and SSL agreements.
  3. Impacts on existing staff in the SSL gang have included being placed into the redeployment pool, alienated so that the have wanted to move and we believe there is now a complete breakdown in Industrial Relations over the matter

Sadly, it seems that we have been given no choice but to look to our members to defend our agreements and our job security. We are therefore compiling a ballot matrix of all BCV and SSL Signal Staff with a view to Industrial Action.

 

We remain available for talks.

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LUL Point Care Gang

It has come to the attention of the RMT that JNP Managers have been looking to export former Tube Lines working methods into BCV and SSL areas.

 

One such example is the Point Care Gang. The RMT supported this initiative within BCV and SSL as a way of recruiting staff and given members a career opportunity.

 

However we now find that there has been a steady creap of JNP (former Tube Lines) working practices that involve the blurring of lines between signals and track staff roles. This is directly against BCV/ SSL Agreements and will not be accepted

 

To that end we have asked our National Executive to Ballot all our members in Signals in Former Metronet areas

 

We remain available for talks

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PAY, TERMS & CONDITIONS – PROTECTION STAFF MORSON & CLESHAR (LU CONTRACTS)

PAY, TERMS & CONDITIONS – PROTECTION STAFF

MORSON & CLESHAR (LU CONTRACTS)

 

Further to previous correspondence regarding the above, this matter has been considered by the National Executive Committee, which has taken the following decision:-

 

“That we note the report from our Lead Officer and that our members having waited 6 months for the union to address this issue and are beginning to lose faith.

Accordingly we instruct the General Secretary to prepare a ballot matrix of all affected members employed by Morsons, Cleshar, JMK and Rift for industrial action in the form of a strike, and concurrently over a 4 week balloting period conduct a referendum of our self-employed members with a recommendation to withdraw their services from London Underground’s business.

We also instruct the General Secretary to obtain legal advice to facilitate protecting our members, and to arrange a meeting between our IR Representatives, the Lead Officer, Senior Assistant General Secretary and members of the NEC.

Members to be advised by e-mail and text.

Bob Crow Branch and the London Transport Regional Council to be advised”.

 

As a result of the above decision, all affected companies have been informed that we are in dispute and Papers to be dispatched on Tuesday 4th June with a closing date of Tuesday 2nd July.

 

The referendum of self employed members to run concurrently

 

Yours sincerely

Mick Cash

General Secretary

 

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Protection Staff Morsons and Cleshar

The RMT are very close to completing its ballot matrix for all protection staff that work on London Underground Contracts for Morsons and Cleashars.

 

This has been a lengthy and complex matter, but it is important to get it right.

 

The companies affected should be notified by your union that their level of pay is unacceptable to our members and that we intend to fight for an increase.

 

Ballot papers will follow within the next few weeks and we will keep you udated

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LUL Transformation: Why it matters to us all

LUL have announced a new wave of job losses as our mayor implements both the government austerity measures, along side his own cuts agenda.

 

However, these cuts are now starting to occur within operational areas and also include areas that have already been cut before, for example:

 

Asset Performance Control Centre (APCC) and Duty Operation Manager Engineering (DOM(e)) was reorganised less than 2 years ago. That reorganisation in the APCC and DOM(E) area saw over a 17% cut in staff and that lead to increased pressures and workload for the remaining staff. Despite assurances that to the contrary, we now find that they are being attacked again. It is obviously that if you give so much as an inch then the company will take a mile. The DOM(E) and their counterparts on JNP, will go from 20 staff to 7 staff, again being unworkable and will effect the lives of those left in these roles

 

In the Fault Report Centers, LUL want to lower the number of operators on both from 50 staff to 28 operators and 7 team leaders despite the fact that staff there are struggling with their current workload. The RMT do not accept that this is safe and we believe will effect our members health and well-being and workload balance.

 

And no surprise bu tno senior manager is losing their job!

 

It is obvious that the company want us to pay for their cuts with our jobs and we say NO!

 

Breach of agreements

 

RMT have taken the serious decision to refuse to enter into talks and have entered into dispute instead. This is because LUL are refusing to acknowledge the processes and agreements that you Union negotiated for us all to protect us and protect our jobs.

 

Jobs for life deal.

 

The below agreement was reached with LUL prior to privatisation of the Engineering Functions and is contractual. They cannot make anyone compulsory redundant and have to show, very importantly, that a job loss is SAFE. There is no point in talks if they refuse to follow these agreements and insist on sham talks without FULL and THOROUGH discussions with our health and safety reps prior to any further discussions. That does not mean us going cap in hand to LUL and saying this is wrong, but working together to identify all the risks and making sure it is correct. We fail to understand why LUL are refusing to cooperate with us on this matter unless they intend to to force these changes through.

 

Jobs for Life Deal click here>>

 

If it is not safe, then there is nothing to accept.

 

Negotiation and NOT consultation.

 

The below agreement is also contractual and LUL are refusing to acknowledge and follow its principles for these talks. This is the precedent that will be used to beat us ALL up with and is not acceptable.

 

Negotiation means we talk, we agree and we work together. Consultation means they told us now off we go like good little children. We will defend our agreements and we will not accept them telling us anything especially when it comes to people’s livelihoods.

 

Code of Practice PPP click here>>

 

 

LUL need to come to the table and start talking seriously with your union and honour our agreements and we intend to ballot our members to ensure this occurs

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Thales Rail Signals redundancies

The following report has been sent to Unity House regarding the situation on Thales Rail Signals

 

Late last week, I was contacted by local Thales Rail Signals HR regarding the potential for 11 job losses in the testing and commissioning area of the company working on the London Underground 4LM Contract to upgrade the Metropolitan and District Line Signalling Systems. They offered no details and did not accept the need to formally consult with the RMT. I informed them that such an approach would be an error and that we would be in dispute.

 

I then contacted the Director responsible for Employment Relations in this area and demanded urgent talks and that this matter is held in abeyance until such a time that formal discussions had occurred and I stated that the RMT would not accept any compulsory redundancies and we began to align diaries to meet next week.

 

On Monday 10th September NIght and Tuesday 11th September morning, local Thales Rail Signal Managers have escalated this matter by forcing through this redundancy process and have informed those eleven staff ‘at risk’ of redundancy. These people appear to be chosen more on the personal will and as an act of vendetta by the Department Manager, rather than on business needs. I have organised the members into communication groups and am visiting their work sites with the local RO, John Leach and Asst General Secretary, Steve Hedley, to boost our members confidence to fight these proposals. I have also spoken to the ER Directorand stated that we will not accept these actions and our union will oppose them and we are agreeing urgent talks as soon as possible.

 

I have also discussed this matter with our representatives and numerous members and they have unanimously asked me to state that I do not believe that Thale’s actions are acceptable and the company are obviously trying to fast track these job losses through as a matter of urgency. I therefore request that the National Executive Ballots all our Rail Signals Members for strike action and action short of strike.

 

Regards

 

 

Paul Jackson

LU Engineering Branch (0962)

07810 643 681

 

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RMT Circular 23rd May 2018

INTRODUCTION OF WTT15 – TRAIN OPERATORS – JUBILEE LINE, LONDON UNDERGROUND (LUL/14/2)

 

Further to my previous Circular (IR/228/18, 10th May 2018), the ballot has concluded with members voting as follows:-

 

Are you prepared to take strike action?

 

Number of individuals who were entitled to vote in the ballot:        108

Number of votes cast in the ballot:                                              58

Number of individuals answering “Yes” to the question:                 46

Number of individuals answering “No” to the question:                  12

Number of spoiled or otherwise invalid voting papers returned:      0

 

Are you prepared to take industrial action short of a strike?

 

Number of individuals who were entitled to vote in the ballot:        108

Number of votes cast in the ballot:                                              58

Number of individuals answering “Yes” to the question:                 50

Number of individuals answering “No” to the question:                  8

Number of spoiled or otherwise invalid voting papers returned:      0

 

This matter has been considered by the National Executive Committee, which has taken the decision to instruct all affected members to take part in strike action to demand that the company withdraw the imposition of a timetable which is detrimental to their work life balance and not to book on for shifts that commence between:-

 

  • 00:01 hours to 23:59 hours on Wednesday 6th June 2018

 

  • 00:01 hours to 23:59 hours on Thursday 14th June 2018

 

I will keep Branches advised of all further developments.

 

DISMISSAL, L. VIGO, TRAIN OPERATOR, BAKERLOO LINE – LONDON UNDERGROUND (LUL/4/1)

 

Further to my previous Circular (IR/228/18, 10th May 2018), this matter has been considered by the National Executive Committee, which congratulates our Bakerloo Line Branch, Trains Functional Council Reps, the Lead Officer and Senior Assistant General Secretary on the re-instatement of Bro Vigo by London Underground on Tuesday at a resolution meeting with the Employment Tribunal Judge and London Underground management.

 

Not only have LU re-instated the member back to his driver position but they have also agreed to back pay all his wages – well over a years’ worth – and pay his legal costs plus compensation; all due to the fact that trumped up charges were levelled at him with procedures bent and misused to try and make them stick.

 

The company’s attempt to rule by fear has been exposed by this case and the whole debacle also serves as a wake-up call to London Underground to end the bullying culture which is rife throughout the company and stop setting up and picking off individual staff.

 

The Company has been informed that as a result of the above the dispute situation between us is no longer in place.

 

TFL TRANSFORMATION (TFL/15/4)

 

Further to my previous Circular (IR/23/18, 11th January 2018), the following resolution has been received from our LU Engineering Branch:-

 

“This branch condemns the cuts being carried out across LUL and TfL.

 

We note that LUL are now informing staff that they are intent on ignoring our jobs for life deal (Annex H, PPP Code of Best Practice) and have stated that people may be made compulsory redundant.

 

We also note that the TfL and LUL behaviours in these discussions have fallen short of the expectations that our union has on how these matters will be negotiated. We believe that the companies have failed people on Maternity Leave or with Mental Health, among many other factors and have driven change through that will not work and will make life miserable for many that remain.

 

We also note the feedback of our members that attended the mass meeting on Transformation on the 8th May and unanimously decided to fight these cuts. We therefore ask the National Executive Committee to:

 

  1. Ballot all Engineering Members in TfL in the PMO and Engineering for strike action and action short of strike.
  2. Ballot all members in LUL affected by Transformation for strike action and action short of strike.
  3. Ballot all members in LUL Asset Operations for strike action and action short of strike.
  4. The General Secretary meets with the Mayor and asks him to condemn the cuts and put a halt to Transformation.
  5. That general legal advice on the contractual nature of the PPP Code of Best Practice and particularly Annex H, is distributed to our affected branches”.

 

This matter has been considered by the National Executive Committee, which has taken the decision to arrange for a special meeting to be held with our LT Regional Organiser, Transformation Reps and London Underground at the most senior level to discuss all matters outstanding on LUL Transformation, including individual’s cases. Also to prepare a ballot matrix of our LUL membership as requested in the LU Engineering Branch resolution.

 

I am currently acting in accordance with this decision and will keep Branches advised of all further developments.

 

BREAKDOWN IN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, DRIVERS, HAMMERSMITH & CITY LINE – LONDON UNDERGROUND (LUL/14/2)

 

The following resolution was recently received from our Hammersmith & City Branch:-

 

“The H&C Branch has received news from the LUL TFC that London Underground management plan to push ahead with disciplining Drivers (and possibly members of other grades) who they deem to be taking excessive PnR’s (personal needs relief). It is a long standing Branch policy that members should not be subject to disciplinary action for taking PnR’s, in accordance with the LUL rule book.

 

As this forms part of our former dispute resolution from a previous dispute and was as far as we are concerned agreed at ACAS that this practice would cease, we must re-enter into dispute with the Company.

 

Therefore we seek an immediate ballot of all Train Operator and Instructor Operators at Edgware Road and Hammersmith Depots for strike action and action short of a strike”.

 

This matter has been considered by the National Executive Committee, which has noted the resolution from our Hammersmith & City Branch regarding the heavy-handed approach of disciplining members for taking personal needs breaks; and that the company is breaching agreements on this reached at ACAS. This is an intolerable situation to our members and this union and we will not tolerate such a violation of our members’ human rights, agreements and LU’s own rule book.

 

The NEC has taken the decision to inform London Underground that a dispute exists between our two organisations and to ballot our Train Operator and Instructor Operator members at Edgware Road and Hammersmith Depots for strike action and action short of a strike. The Company has been advised accordingly and I am currently making preparations to act in accordance with this decision. I will keep Branches advised of all further developments.

 

ABUSE OF ATTENDANCE AT WORK POLICY – LONDON UNDERGROUND (LUL/5/9)

 

The following resolution has been received from the London Transport Regional Council:-

 

“This branch notes ongoing abuses of the AAW policy and resolves to request that the Regional Organiser raise this issue with LU at Director level as soon as possible”.

 

This matter has been considered by the National Executive Committee, which has taken the decision to seek a report from the Lead Officer regarding this matter. I am currently acting in accordance with this decision and will keep Branches advised of all further developments.

 

MANAGEMENT USE OF ‘YAMMER’ SOCIAL MEDIA – LONDON UNDERGROUND (LUL/27/1)

 

The following resolution has been received from the London Transport Regional Council:-

 

“This branch believes “yammer” is used by management to bypass and undermined collective bargaining and trade unionism.

 

This is shown by their blanket policy of deleting any union material posted there, leading to a one-sided ‘conversation’ in which the bosses can circulate their propaganda, but we cannot respond.

 

This branch calls for a companywide campaign to expose the true nature of “yammer” and encourage members who want to let management know their views to instead use the unions’ structures and industrial action to do that”.

 

This matter has been considered by the National Executive Committee, which taken the decision to launch a companywide campaign to expose the true nature of “yammer” and encourage members who want to let management know their views to instead use the unions’ representative structures and industrial action to do that. I am currently acting in accordance with this decision and will keep Branches advised of all further developments.

 

PAY PARITY, TRANSPLANT MAINTENANCE & STORES STAFF – LONDON UNDERGROUND (ex-AP JNP) (LUL/10/2)

 

Further to my previous Circular (IR/107/18, 23rd February 2018), members have been taking part in industrial action including an ongoing overtime and rest day working ban but due to recent changes to balloting legislation in the 2016 Trade Union Act, the current mandate for action will expire on Wednesday 6th June.

 

As this dispute remains unresolved the National Executive Committee has taken the decision to conduct a re-ballot. Ballot papers will be posted to members on Thursday 24th May 2018 and the closing date for the ballot is Tuesday 5th June 2018. If any member does not receive their voting paper, or knows of a colleague who has not received it, please call the freephone helpline on 0800 376 3706, RMT Head Office on 0207 387 4771 to ask for the Industrial Relations Department or e-mail [email protected] to request a replacement.

 

TRAIN PREPARATION PAYMENTS, TRANSPLANT MAINTENANCE STAFF – LONDON UNDERGROUND (ex-AP JNP) (LUL/1/8)

 

Further to my previous Circular (IR/107/18, 23rd February 2018), members have been taking part in industrial action including an ongoing overtime and rest day working ban but due to recent changes to balloting legislation in the 2016 Trade Union Act, the current mandate for action will expire on Wednesday 6th June.

 

As this dispute remains unresolved the National Executive Committee has taken the decision to conduct a re-ballot. Ballot papers will be posted to members on Thursday 24th May 2018 and the closing date for the ballot is Tuesday 5th June 2018. If any member does not receive their voting paper, or knows of a colleague who has not received it, please call the freephone helpline on 0800 376 3706, RMT Head Office on 0207 387 4771 to ask for the Industrial Relations Department or e-mail [email protected] to request a replacement.

 

Yours sincerely

Mick Cash

General Secretary

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UPDATE ON TfL ENGINEERING CONSULTATION

UPDATE ON TfL ENGINEERING CONSULTATION

 

On Friday 20th April the TUs met with management for a Consultation meeting.

 

I am aware of the email sent out to staff at 11.32, which was just under 30 minutes before we met them. We had no knowledge of the email’s contents. As you are aware the TUs had been asking for weeks for staff to be taken out of scope so we were pleased that common sense prevailed finally and the management have agreed to remove the immediate threat of redundancy.

 

However, based on the second email sent out and also on the Consultation meeting we attended, I have grave concerns over the way the management will put in place the “targeted development plan”. They will be on a restricted timeframe, which has not been specified, but the management did state they did not see this being as long as 6 months. They will not be using the Performance Improvement Policy to do this either. If staff are not successful during this period then they could be terminated on capability grounds. This is not something that has been done before during a reorganisation under the RSRP. There has been no detail on how this will work, what support will be given and how staff will be assessed to see whether they meet the competencies following this ‘plan’.

 

The TUs have been advised that staff will be given the option of undergoing the development plan or taking VS, but people won’t be able to go through development, and then ask for VS if they don’t meet the standards.

 

There has been no mention of whether SAE will be looked at as part of this plan, or whether staff will have to ask about this instead of the plan.

 

There are a significant number of things which will need to be in place to make this acceptable to the RMT, one of which will be that no member of staff who wants to stay, will leave until every option has been looked at.

 

I have a list of questions which I will be raising at Consultation and am more than happy for any feedback to be sent to me so I can add questions if necessary.

 

Maria Taylor

[email protected] or [email protected]

 

Other Reps

Mounir

07944 835 952

 

PMO

Jamie Parry

[email protected]

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