Category: Strikes

RMT confirms tube strike dates

Tube union RMT confirmed that members across London Underground will be taking strike action from 1830 hours on Wednesday 5th August to 1829 hours on Thursday 6th August. The on-going overtime ban, which has already severely impacted on staff availability to run services, also continues.

The strike times for driver members will run slightly later, between 21.00 on 5^th August to 20.59 on 6^th August.

General Secretary Mick Cash said;

“The unity and determination of staff across London Underground in the dispute ‎over night tube, the imposition of the rosters from hell and the destruction of any semblance of work/life balance remains rock solid. Workers in all grades are furious at the attempt to rip up long-standing agreements in an effort to bulldoze through these wholly unacceptable new working patterns.

“RMT also remains in dispute over the parallel issue of the axing of 850 station staff jobs, cuts which make a mockery of the safe delivery of the night tube in just a few weeks time.

“RMT remains available for talks and tube managers need to understand the universal anger of their staff if we are to start making some serious progress in negotiations. “

RMT salutes tube workforce for solid, united and determined action and demands that LU return to serious negotiations.

General Secretary Mick Cash said;

“RMT congratulates the 20,000 members of all four tube unions who have stood united, solid and determined today and who have shown the world that ‎you can stand and fight for workplace justice if you are organised and strong. They are a credit to the entire trade union movement.

The tube management need to take a long hard look at today’s shutdown and recognise that they have managed to alienate and anger their entire 20000 workforce across all grades with the way they have approached the issue of night running. Instead of macho, death-or-glory posturing over take-it-or-leave offers now is the time for serious and mature negotiations which address the issues at the heart of this dispute. We now expect that to happen as a matter of urgency.

Bulldozing through the new rosters without discussion and outside of the long-standing agreements was always a disaster waiting to happen. Of course staff feel angry that they are being bullied into accepting new patterns that would wreck work life balance. LU have to wake up and understand that grievance instead of pretending that it doesn’t exist.

“The company also need to remember that we remain in dispute with them over the parallel issue of 850 station staff jobs losses – job losses that would make a mockery of delivering passenger and staff safety on the night tube.  The ball is now in firmly in LU’s court. “

General Secretary Mick Cash said;

“The strike action on London Underground is rock solid across all lines, all grades and all depots and the unity and solidarity of the entire workforce, which has now brought London to a standstill, must force the tube bosses back to the negotiating table to address the issues at the heart of this dispute.

“That means an end to the attempt to bulldoze through new working patterns that would wreck work/life balance and leave staff in safety critical jobs burnt out and stressed out at a time when tube services are facing unprecedented demand. We’ve wasted three months in negotiations that failed to address staff concerns and it’s essential for London that there’s no repeat of that fiasco and that puts the ball firmly in LU’s court this morning. ”

General Secretary Mick Cash said

“Despite strenuous efforts by union negotiators to press London Underground to address the issues of fairness, safety, worklife balance and equality at the heart of this dispute they have come up with nothing in the talks this afternoon.

“The action is on and RMT will be mobilising picket lines and effective action with our sister unions and there are no further talks planned at this stage. ”

6^th July 2015

IMMEDIATE

RMT to recommend rejection of “divisive and unacceptable” LU pay offer

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said:

“RMT has received the latest offer from London Underground during the ACAS talks today.

“Our representatives on London Underground have discussed it and are clear that it is divisive and unacceptable. While a small minority of staff are being offered a non-consolidated one-off lump sum the remainder of staff are ignored and the key issues of work/life balance and the personal health and safety concerns are side lined. The deal as it stands is financed off the back of the proposed axing of over 800 safety-critical station jobs and is deliberately constructed to play individuals off against each other in the most cynical fashion.

“RMT is a democratic organisation and the views of our reps on LU are being taken into account. There will be a meeting of the union executive tomorrow morning at which there will be a recommendation to reject the offer. As is normal in all industrial negotiations RMT will remain available for talks.”

1 July 2015

London Underground

Dear Colleagues,

If you wish to see how to fill in a ballot paper to vote yes, see attached below

LUL BALLOT UPDATE

Latest Leaflet

ALL London Underground Workers will be receiving Ballot papers through their letter boxes in the next few days. This is a massive dispute by anyone’s standards and ALL the Tube Unions are standing together (RMT, Aslef and TSSA) and any strike is likely to have a massive impact across London. It is the actions of LUL that have driven those unions into dispute through sham talks and. The new Tory Government has stated their intention to change the law on Balloting to make it harder to take Industrial Action on the Tube, so it is vitally important that people get out and return those ballot papers as soon as they arrive.  Let’s show any changes in the Law will not defeat our right to fight.

PAY & Night Tube

LUL are demanding the Unions accept a below Inflation Pay Rise of a measly 0.75% effective from 1^st April 2015, and an RPI increase in 2016. Also included, in return for the future operation of Night Tube, is a non-consolidated lump sum payment for all COO and CPD Operational to be paid at two stages of £250, making £500 in total. Train Drivers and Track and Signals staff only would be offered a further £250 for Night Tube running. Even then the extra £250 is ONLY paid to affected staff and not everyone (i.e. day signal and track staff are not being offered the extra £250). If that was not bad enough LUL have now decided to start imposition talks on how they intend to implement these changes. That in short is a declaration that they intend to drive a steam roller through our agreements on rosters.

CMO Roster Agreement

The shame is that talks in Engineering were progressing quite well until LUL decided almost randomly that they would impose a solution. Now we have managers jumping on the bandwagon with rosters that they’ve wanted for years such as on the Bakerloo and Victoria Line track, which have never even been proposed to your functional union reps, let alone discussed. The truth is that Signal Staff went on strike for that agreement, which in effect made rosters an issue of Negotiation. LUL cannot be allowed to rip up our agreements.

What did other companies get this year?

Network Rail 2% (gone to referendum)

Thales 1.68%

DLR 2% (referendum)

MP’s 10%

BALLOTING PERIOD – JUNE 16th – JUNE 30th

Ballot papers MUST be returned by June 30th

If you haven’t received a ballot paper please contact RMT membership department 0800 376 0376

 MAKE SURE YOU USE YOUR VOTE