Talks with Thales have reached a near Final Position with Thales offering 1.7%.
The RMT have stated that they are looking to see this money incorporated into RSS Benchmark Figures and also resolve outstanding pay issues such as Annual Leave Payment Backpay.
Once talks have finished, which we expect to complete within the next week, then the offer will be put to our members to accept or reject
LONDON UNDERGROUND TRACK PATROL STAFF TO STRIKE FOR 24 HOURS FROM FRIDAY MORNING
Tube union RMT confirmed today that nearly 500 London Underground track patrol staff are to strike for 24 hours from 0630hrs on Friday morning – 12th February – in a dispute over the use of private contractors to casualise and undermine their jobs.
LU are trying to bulldoze through, without agreement, the training of staff working for contractors, Cleshar, to undertake track patrolling duties in a direct attack on the job security of RMT’s track patrol members.
RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said:
“This dispute is over an outrageous attempt to casualise and undermine the jobs of our London Underground track patrol members through an extension of the use of private contractors. The plan must be halted.
“RMT will continue to fight all attempts to undermine and casualise jobs across London Underground as the company looks to cut corners to meet Government austerity targets. This union will not accept the undermining of jobs, conditions and safety or the creeping privatisation of functions.
“The union remains available for talks.”
RMT slams “pathetic” fine handed out to contractor after rail worker death
RAIL UNION RMT today slammed as “pathetic” and “wholly inadequate” a fine handed out to a major rail construction company for a series of failures that led to the avoidable death of one of their workers
Carillion Construction Ltd has been fined £200,000 and ordered to pay costs of £36,570.39 following a prosecution brought by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) for breaching health and safety laws which led to the death of a Scott Dobson. On 4 December 2012, Scott, from Doncaster, was carrying out maintenance work near Saxilby, Lincolnshire, when he was struck by a passing train.
As part of its statutory duties, ORR investigated and found a series of failings in Carillion’s planning and management of the work. Only one of the two railway lines had been blocked while maintenance was being done, whereas both lines should have been closed, to minimise the possibility of workers being struck by passing trains.
Carillion Construction Ltd pleaded guilty at Lincolnshire Magistrates’ Court.
Ian Prosser, HM Chief Inspector of Railways told the press:
“This accident was wholly avoidable, had Carillion Construction Ltd followed health and safety rules set out for the railways. Our sympathies are with Mr Dobson’s family.
“The safety of workers and passengers is a top priority for the regulator, which is why ORR inspectors are out on the railway daily, monitoring to ensure safety isn’t compromised.”
RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said:
“A fine of £200,000 to a giant company like Carillion is peanuts and will be written off as petty cash. This is a pathetic and wholly inadequate penalty for a series of corporate errors that led to the wholly avoidable death of Scott Dobson.
“This tragedy must serve as a wake-up call to Network Rail and our industry as a whole. The culture of contracting and casualisation on our railways means that corners are being cut and safety compromised. That cash-led gambling with rail workers’ lives has to stop and should be called to a halt right now before we have more avoidable deaths on our hands.”
LUL Track Work Outsourcing
Despite numerous appeals to LUL to withdraw from training Cleshars’ staff to undertake track patrolling, they have now decided to start line based familiarisation and assessments. This cannot be tolerated and makes no economic sense. The harsh reality, in this time of economic cuts to the budget, is that LUL pay way over a £1200 a week for these staff once trained and have their own internal staff that are able and willing to do higher grade working to do these patrols. To be clear:
THERE IS NO ECONOMIC REASON TO OUTSOURCE TRACK PATROLLING
If it is not about economics then it would be easy to see this as a direct attack on the one core area of Permanent Way work that has not been handed over piece meal to private companies. LUL gave a toe hold to contractors in minor works and now LUL are opening the door to see the last vestige of core internal and skilled work placed into the hands of organisations driven by profit.
LUL have also hinted that this is about Night Tube and the need to change rosters. Yet when our members have said they are willing to look at changing their rosters to move to a Sunday to Thursday shift pattern, did management bite their hand off? NO, they instead escalated the issue and started to assess Cleshars’ staff on the Victoria Line.
This confrontational approach can no longer be ignored. The truth is there is no longer any choice, we have to stand up and defend Track Patrolling.
The entire Permanent Way staff across LUL are therefore about to be balloted in an attempt to show LUL our member’s resolve and their strength of feeling. However, should LUL continue with their path, then we may also need to consider whether an all grades situation exists.
The solution is clear, we are NOT against the workers, LUL have available vacancies for Track Staff and it makes sense that these staff would be suitable for these roles. So it’s now down to management, get back into talks with the RMT, stop the rhetoric and let’s make sure that safety critical track walks are completed professional, safely and more cost effectively by INTERNAL LUL employees.
The LUEngineering Branch will be discussing whether to ballot all Permanent Way staff over management’s decision to start to mentor Cleshar’s staff to undertake T001 Patrolling at tonight’s branch meeting. In what can only be seen as a pointless exercise and a total waste of tax payer’s money, LUL have waited months since they trained these staff to now, all of a sudden, start to mentor them.
Originally, management had hoped to use these people to help break any strike action over Night Tube. Now it can only be seen as an obvious attempt to undermine the job security, promotional prospects and the ability of staff to work overtime. Furthermore, this is a fundamental breach of our agreements reached at functional council over the use of non-Line based patrol staff.
Questions have already been raised as to why LUL would decide to use these provocative steps at a time when they are stating they are looking to recruit. We believe our members will see this as an act of treachery and we again call on LUL to drawer back from this futile gesture and sit down with the RMT and agree a sensible approach to patrolling and how staff are rostered to be available
LU management have imposed a new rule, section 15 possession protection, which removes the requirement to book out with the Track Access Controller and allows the Service Controller to implement protection in a planned possession in engineering hours.
Although management state that consultation was completed with the trade unions, this is untrue. Consultation of any sort only happened when your RMT Track & Signals H&S representatives forced management to get round the table.
Consultation had not been exhausted and management reneged on the Terms of Reference which had jointly been agreed between the RMT and management. A review of the so called “trials” was still in discussion, when management went and stopped any further review workshops.
The RMT believes these so called “trials” were a farce, which did not even meet the success criteria laid out in the DRACCT documentation. Possession plans were inaccurate, the risk assessment was “historical” and not updated, and many safety incidents were reported within these “trials”. Even a basic request from the RMT reps, to see evidence of staff working within the trial sites were correctly certificated, could not be adequately supplied by management.
Contradictions run throughout this procedure. We believe this will add confusion and lead to serious safety breaches. Longstanding principles of avoiding staff carrying out unrelated activities when engineers trains/mechanised vehicles are working, are ripped up! One example,train movements between worksites and possessions, will happen if so called “planned”. How this will be controlled on the ground is kept vague.
The RMT are constantly calling for management to get back round the table (via the unfinished workshops and then to a joint safety forum), so that we can find a safer solution. Management have refused our requests up to now and we are left with no other option but to prepare to ballot, for action short of strike, all LU and JNP members who work on or about the track.
UNITY IS STRENGTH!
SAFETY BEFORE PROFIT!
The RMT have been asked to research the issue of whether self-employed/ agency-employed members meet the legal tests for being treated as employees of end user (LU)
We are especially interested in copy of contracts, which will remain private and will be returned, and details about how members actually work (eg whether provide own uniform/ equipment, who controls how do job, subject to disciplinary proceedings). Depending on feedback, we may carry out a survey of our members to get a fuller picture.
However, if you can help please email
Paul Jackson, Branch Secretary
or
Gabriel Barton, Research Officer, National Policy Department
The RMT have massive safety concerns ref Section 15. Let’s be straight about this too. This is NOT a safer replacement for Track Access Controllers, but a slippage in safety for us to work on the track without fear.
LUL have now stated that they will be suspended the trial soon to undertake talks with the RMT. However, by not suspending the trial immediately suggests they have already made up their minds.
So why do we think this is dangerous. Here are a just a few reasons why?
With regards to the Amersham trial last week.
There is obvious an Industrial element to this change too with Protection Master roles and Track Access Controllers jobs being under threat. To find out more come to the next Branch meeting on 3rd August at 18:00 Conway Hall
Dear Colleagues,
It has been brought to our attention that MJ Quinns wish to alter their Fuel Policy and remove Fuel Cards. Our members believe that this will potentially make them financially worse of and impact on their ability to carry out their work and contract. The RMT did write to MJ Quinns, however, they have ignored the opportunity to deal with this matter collectively.
Unless you are completely happy, we would advise you not to sign the ‘confirmation of contractual variation’ and lodge reasons as to why not.
We attach a proform that may assist you on how to lodge your concerns.
Or you can simply amend the text below
——————————————————————————
Name:
Grade:
Employee Number:
Date:
Sonia Burridge,
HR Resources Consultant
Ref Fuel Cards:
I would like notify you that I am not currently in a position to accept the company proposal regards Fuel Cards and require the following:
Regards,
Signature
The Secretary
ALL BRANCHES
ALL REGIONAL COUNCILS
Dear Colleague,
MIGRANT WORKERS
Please find attached a new publication from the T.U.C. in relation to migrant workers, it will prove to be a valuable tool for our reps in both the Industrial and Health & Safety sectors where we organise.
Working together is the key to continued industrial success and safer workplaces.
The booklet covers a wide range of issues and is well set out to assist our members & representatives on matters such as Welfare, PPE, Risk Assessment, Employment Status, Accident Reporting, First Aid Provision, Training and Working Together, along with detailed case studies.
There are contact web-sites towards the end of the booklet which can provide members and reps with further information as and when required.
The booklet can be downloaded from the following address;
Please bring the contents of this circular to the attention of all relevant members.
Yours sincerely
Mick Cash
General Secretary
There was stunned silence followed by audible gasps in the High Court when Matthew Nicklin QC read out documentary evidence indicating that the blacklisting firms had deliberately set out to destroy evidence of their illegal conspiracy. The unions UNITE, UCATT & GMB plus solicitors Guney, Clark & Ryan (working in association with the Blacklist Support Group) are representing 581 blacklisted union members in ‘group litigation’ against 40 of the UK’s largest construction firms, including Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd, Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Kier, Costain, Laing O’Rourke, Vinci, Skanska, Bam.
The procedural hearing yesterday was deciding on case management issues to be put in place before the full trial which is now confirmed to take place on 16th May 2016 and set to last 10 weeks. With directors of multinational firms and former undercover police officers set to give evidence, this will turn into a show trial for the construction industry.
The major issue to be decided in this week’s hearing was one of disclosure of documents to be used in the trial. The firms have repeatedly denied holding documents relating to the illegal Consulting association blacklist, despite invoices proving that directors of the companies attending quarterly meetings from 1993-2009. The told the court that to search for the relevant documentation would cost them £27million and that they had already provided a list of documents that they have found on their computers.
But Matthew Nicklin QC, representing the blacklisted workers from UCATT, told the court that the pitiful disclosure by the firms was “worse than useless” and that the firms were being deliberately obstructive. Nickiln QC then read out documentary evidence that showed that David Cochrane, director of Human Resources at Sir Robert McAlpine & chairman of The Consulting Association (TCA) when it was raided in 2009 instructed Ian Kerr (chief executive of TCA) to destroy blacklisting documents and to ring round others to tell them to do the same. The document was a hand written record made by Ian Kerr of a series of conversations he had with various industry grandees immediately after the Information Commissioners Office served its warrant. The relevant part of the note read to the High Court states that David Cochrane told Ian Kerr:
“Ring everyone – Cease trading – Close down – We don’t exist anymore – Destroy data – Stop Processing”
Later sections of the same note record conversations with other senior managers who say they have already destroyed the documents they held.
(full note attached)
Roy Bentham, blacklisted joiner from Liverpool & Blacklist Support Group said:
“The wheels of justice turn painfully slow but we now have a date for the full trial. In 12 months from today, I look forward to seeing those captains of industry being questioned about their illegal blacklist with ruined so many lives”.
Dave Smith, BSG secretary added,
“We have repeatedly called for jail sentences for these wretches who violated our human rights. If the destruction of documentary evidence is proved in court, those responsible should be prosecuted for perverting the course of justice and be sent to prison. That would be real justice”.
Other issues decided by Judge Supperstone
20 lead cases decided upon.
Application by defendants for further information regarding DWP and HMRC records for lead cases regarding schedules of loss.
Length of trial – 10 weeks
2 further hearings scheduled. Next on the 14th July and two to be set in October including a costs hearing.
Expert evidence. Professor to give overview and detailed analysis of earnings and specifically loss of earnings of the claimants.
Defamation, data protection, libel, slander, conspiracy cases are all in the mix for which criteria that will be selected.
Blacklist Support Group
book: http://newint.org/books/politics/blacklisted-secret-war/
video: Blacklisting 2013 – The Workers Strike Back
blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/blacklistSG/
The RMT have held talks with AGS regarding the cutting of hours. The following report was sent to the Union Head Office
“I met with AGS and discussed the following:
Hours: AGS stated that they notified staff that they wanted people to work their 8 hours. They stated they asked for volunteers to start earlier 9pm (ish) and clean on key stations. This was on an adhoc basis on not every night. 95 % said no. They are well aware that LUL staff work just 7 hours and people are job and knock. They have no intention to checl whereabouts at the end of the shift. They are willing to go back to 8 hours if people are willing to work earlier as above. They feel they are asking people to work for the hours they are being paid for.
They have agreed to send me this is writing”
Obviously we will monitor this situation with our members