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. “