OFFICIAL CIRCULAR
TO ALL BRANCHES AND REPRESENTATIVES
ALL UNDERGROUND AND FORMER LT EMPLOYERS
4th June 2015 Circular No IR/144/15
Dear Colleagues,
EVERY JOB MATTERS – DEFENDING JOBS ON LONDON UNDERGROUND (LUL/14/5)
Further to my previous Circular (IR/081/15, 23rd March 2015), members will be aware that the Union continues to oppose and resist all cuts in jobs, pay and conditions at London Underground and the following resolution has been received from Finsbury Park Branch:-
“This Branch believes that LUL’s latest pay offer, including Night Tube, is completely inadequate and an insult to the hardworking men and women who deliver a world class service for London. If Night Tube is to work, the staff have to be properly rewarded for the extra antisocial hours and the disruption to their work/life balance.
This Branch believes that LUL’s Fit for the Future (FfF) programme is an appalling attack on the working conditions of London Underground station staff and will lead to a system that is unsafe for customers and staff.
This Branch instructs the RMT NEC to:-
- Call an all grades ballot for strike action and action short of a strike in pursuit of our pay claim, our demand for a reduction in our working week, and our belief that Night Tube should be properly staffed and properly rewarded.
- Call a ballot for strike action and action short of a strike for RMT station staff and a ballot for action short of a strike for all other grades in support of RMT’s Every Job Matters campaign.”
This matter has been considered by the General Grades Committee, which has taken the decision to re-ballot all of our Station Staff members on London Underground over the dispute regarding Every Job Matters which, despite huge opposition from staff and the public remains unresolved. The issues included in this dispute are as follows:-
- The closure of London Underground Ticket Offices
- Loss of round the clock Station Supervision
- Non Filling of Vacancies across London Underground
- Restructuring of Station Staff, with job roles changing and staff being re-evaluated for their own jobs
- The unacceptably high number of job losses
- The unacceptable rosters being imposed on Station Staff, including lone working
- The unacceptable displacement of huge numbers of staff on London Underground
- Detrimental changes to employment policies
I am currently acting in accordance with the decision and will keep Branches advised of all further developments.
RATES OF PAY & CONDITIONS OF SERVICE 2015 and NIGHT RUNNING – LONDON UNDERGROUND (LUL/0001)
Further to my previous Circular (IR/124/15, 14th May 2015), members will be aware that the pay offer received from London Underground consists of a 0.75% increase effective 1st 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.
This offer has been rejected and following the resolution received from Finsbury Park Branch (as above) and a resolution received from LU Engineering Branch, the General Grades Committee has taken the decision to conduct a ballot of all our London Underground members for strike action and action short of strike action as the pay offer from management and the proposals for and imposition of Night Tube are unacceptable.
I am currently acting in accordance with the decision and will keep Branches advised of all further developments.
INTRODUCTION OF AGENCY TRAINERS, FLEET – LONDON UNDERGROUND (LUL/13/2)
Further to my previous Circular (IR/107/15, 23rd April 2015), members will be aware that preparations were underway to conduct a ballot for industrial action of all London Underground Fleet members over the Company’s intention to employ agency trainers at Ruislip Depot. The LU Fleet Branch also submitted a resolution on this matter and the Company has now been informed that a dispute situation exists.
The ballot papers will be posted out to all LU Fleet members on Tuesday 9th June and the closing date for this ballot is Tuesday 30th June 2015. I will keep Branches advised of all further developments.
DISMISSAL, N. ROBERTS – LONDON UNDERGROUND (LUL/4/1)
Further to my previous Circular (IR/070/15, 12th March 2015), members will be aware that preparations were underway to conduct a ballot for industrial action of all Station Grades members at East Ham, Tower Hill and Embankment over the unfair dismissal of Brother Noel Roberts. The Company has now been advised that a dispute situation exists as this Union finds it completely unacceptable that a long-standing employee is dismissed on spurious medical grounds, despite being cleared as fit for duty by his GP, London Underground Occupational Health and even the East Ham GSM who dismissed him.
The ballot papers were posted out to Station Staff members at East Ham, Tower Hill and Embankment on Wednesday 3rd June and the closing date for this ballot is Tuesday 16th June 2015. I will keep Branches advised of all further developments.
M DOOR ALARM PROCEDURES, JUBILEE LINE – LONDON UNDERGROUND (LUL/14/10)
The following resolution was received from our Jubilee South Branch:-
“This Branch is concerned that once again a new procedure has been introduced on the Jubilee Line which decreases safety checks in order to avoid disruption to the train service.
The latest Jubilee Line supplement changes the procedure for responding to an ‘M door alarm’. Previously a rear M door alarm would require the train driver to stop the train where it is and check the rear M door is secured before proceeding. LUL want to alter this procedure so that the train can continue to the next station and then be checked.
We ask that the Union Executive take whatever action is necessary, up to action short of strike, to prevent LUL imposing this new process.
We also note that recent changes to procedures for train drivers effectively remove or less the role of the train driver and subsequently are less safe. We believe LUL’s primary aim is to enable the introduction of driverless trains”.
The Lead Officer has also raised this issue with the Company however, the situation remains unresolved. The General Grades Committee has now taken the decision to ballot our Train Operators and Instructor Operators on the Jubilee Line for industrial action short of strike action. I am currently acting in accordance with the above decision and will keep Branches advised of all further developments.
RATES OF PAY & CONDITIONS OF SERVICE 2015 – INTERSERVE FACILITIES (KEOLIS AMEY DOCKLANDS CONTRACT) (DLR/0001/I(KAD))
Further to my previous Circular (IR/124/15, 14th May 2015), members are congratulated for their solidarity in returning a magnificent result in favour of taking strike action however, despite being given numerous opportunities by our negotiators, Interserve has failed to take the initiative to resolve this dispute. The General Grades Committee considered this matter and took the decision to instruct members not to book on for a 48 hour period between Wednesday 27th May and Friday 29th May 2015.
The determination and resolve of our members is absolute in this dispute and the General Grades Committee has now called further action and instructed our Interserve (KAD) members NOT TO BOOK ON FOR ANY SHIFTS THAT COMMENCE BETWEEN:-
- 05:30 hours on Monday 8th June 2015 and 05:29 hours on Wednesday 10th June 2015.
I am sure all Branches will show their support for these members who continue to fight for fair and decent wages and for long-standing agreements regarding differentials to be maintained. I have advised the Company that we remain available for talks at ACAS to resolve this dispute but management have stated they are unable to attend a meeting until late next week. I will keep Branches advised of all further developments.
RATES OF PAY & CONDITIONS OF SERVICE 2015 – KEOLIS AMEY DOCKLANDS (DLR/0001/KAD)
Further to my previous Circular (IR/124/15, 14th May 2015), members are congratulated for their solidarity in returning a magnificent result in favour of taking strike action. This prompted some movement from KAD management and our RMT Reps recently attended a meeting with the Company where the following revised three year pay offer was tabled:-
Year One
- A 2% pay increase, backdated to 1st January 2015 (including for allowances) and running to 31st March 2016.
- Those with a salary of less than £30,000 will receive a minimum increase of £750.
Years Two & Three
- An increase of March RPI + 0.25%, with a guaranteed minimum increase of 1.5%.
- To reflect the movement of the pay anniversary date, one additional day’s leave will be given in 2016 to each member of staff employed on 1st January 2016. This extra day of leave applies to 2016 only and is equivalent to 7 hours. Usual rules for rostering and/or booking of annual leave will apply.
The General Grades Committee has considered this matter and the improved offer from the Company and taken the decision to conduct a referendum with a recommendation that members VOTE ‘YES’ TO ACCEPT THE OFFER. The voting papers were posted out to members on Tuesday 2nd June and the closing date for this referendum is Tuesday 16th June 2015.
I will keep Branches advised of all further developments.
RATES OF PAY & CONDITIONS OF SERVICE 2015 – TUBE LINES (LUL/0001/TL)
In line with Union policy, a claim was submitted to the Company for a substantial increase in rates of pay and improvements to conditions of service. The Company initially tabled a 0.5% pay increase which was rejected. At a further recent meeting, the Company offered a two year deal which was the same as the offer received from London Underground – a 0.75% increase in year one, an RPI increase in year two and a one-off payment in return for the introduction of Night Tube. Following our rejection of the offer, the Company advised that this was not its final offer and agreed that further meetings would take place.
The General Grades Committee has considered this matter and taken the decision or convene a meeting of Tube Lines Reps to discuss the pay offer and to decide whether or not they wish to be balloted for industrial action alongside our London Underground members. I am currently acting in accordance with this decision and will keep Branches advised of all further developments.
COMPULSORY OVERTIME, TRANSPLANT DRIVERS (RUISLIP DEPOT) – TUBE LINES (LUL/8/10)
The following resolution was received from our London Underground Fleet Branch:-
“This Branch calls on all RMT Ruislip Depot Tube Lines Night Transplant Drivers to be balloted for strike action and action short of a strike, to defend our members’ rights and to fight back against the imposition of compulsory overtime.
LU continuously book a number of transplant trains paths to stable after 06:15am at Ruislip Depot when management are fully aware that their shift finishes at 06:15am this is unacceptable to our membership and we expect management to adhere to our members’ contractual hours”.
This matter has been considered by the General Grades Committee, which has noted the reports on file and taken the decision to organise a ballot of Tubelines Night Transplant Drivers at Ruislip Depot. I am currently acting in accordance with this decision and will keep Branches advised of all further developments.
BREAKDOWN IN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS – THALES TRANSPORT & SECURITY (GTS) (LUL/14/2)
Further to my previous Circular (IR/098/15, 10th April 2015), members are commended for returning a solid vote in favour of taking industrial action. A number of meetings then took place with the Company and following lengthy discussions, an agreement was reached and the Company provided the required assurances and protections regarding redundancies and rosters. The threat of compulsory redundancies was withdrawn, all affected staff will retain their alignment compensation and members in an alternative role will have their pay protected for a period of 12 months so they do not suffer a detriment, all at risk members will get the opportunity to apply for Rapid Response Technician roles ahead of other staff. The Company has withdrawn its unacceptable roster proposals and all future rosters will be discussed through the machinery of negotiation.
This matter has been considered by the General Grades Committee and as confirmation of the agreement has now been received in writing from the Company, I have advised that the dispute situation is resolved.
Yours sincerely
Mick Cash
General Secretary