Category: News

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In honour of Bob Crow

In honour of Bob Crow  –  bike ride London to Paris 5 to 7 September 2015 in aid of the British Heart foundation

 http://lastinghope.bhf.org.uk/london-to-paris-bike-ride?dm_i=1QIB,1Q6HK,H86M71,656W9,1

Ben Anderson, Daniel Davies, John Hendy (QC) and Anthony Hoarau (son) are the ‘Red Riders’! we are cycling a gruelling 400KM From London to Paris in aid of the British heart foundation. By undertaking this great challenge we hope that with your help we can raise awareness and fund research into heart related illnesses.
A wise man once said ..“ if you get up and fight you might lose, but if you don’t fight you will definitely lose”.

This is a message that resonates with us as we hope that by supporting the British heart foundation we can fight heart disease which is a leading killer of the under privileged and poor of the western and developing world.

We ride from London to Paris in memory of the late and great Bob Crow, a man with a huge heart and defender of the working people and hope we too can ‘hold the banner’ in some small way and keep his memory and legacy alive.

Nicola Hoarau

Office Manager

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RMT tables response to LU at ACAS Tube dispute talks

RMT tables response to LU at ACAS Tube dispute talks

 

TUBE UNION RMT has set out a position statement in talks with London Underground at ACAS over pay, night tube and continuing job cuts. The LU management have taken away the statement, and responses from the other unions, for consideration.

 

RMT’s position covers the following ground:

 

  • Suspension of two fleet trainers at Ealing Common without pay for carrying out lawful industrial action. RMT’s sees this as provocative, aggressive and an escalation by LU and demands an assurance by the end of today that the staff have been returned to work immediately with their pay reinstated.

 

  • RMT will continue to engage through the ACAS process on the three separate issues in dispute, Fit for the Future Stations, Pay and Night Tube. The settlement of these issues will need to be properly resourced to secure progress.

 

  • RMT opposes the “gun at the head” conditional and confrontational approach adopted by LU which is not conducive to constructive talks. Current agreements must not be undermined or overridden as part of the process. The pay offer of 1% in 2015 and RPI or 1% in the two subsequent years is not acceptable and the union seeks a guarantee of RPI plus. However, in order to make progress RMT suggests deferring immediate discussion on pay at this time.

 

  • RMT is not opposed to Night Tube by agreement and with all issues properly addressed, including:

Rosters and Work/Life balance for all grades to be properly agreed with no one required to work more nights and weekends than at present. Headcount reviews will be required to meet agreed staffing levels in all functions

All volunteers for Night Tube to be properly rewarded, in order to facilitate the new working practices we expect proper rewards and recognition for all.

Transitional Night Tube proposals for Train Operators to be developed, agreed and extended to all functions and grades as part of any agreement.

The Fit For the Future proposals to ensure that all staff have comparable numbers of weekends off with appropriate changes to current agreements to allow new means of rostering the future cover structure which is to be agreed by consent.

 

General Secretary Mick Cash said:

“RMT has made it crystal clear from the start that in return for the very basic guarantees and assurances sought on work life balance that the union will work to agree a final form of station rosters for all areas. A final agreement would have as its basis the best work-life balance and reward for staff while addressing the needs of the business which may well require additional staff resources.

“London Underground  and the Mayor can throw out whatever propaganda they like direct to staff but until these issues are addressed, and the threat of imposition of the rosters is removed,  the dispute will not be resolved and it is now time for them to recognise that and to start negotiating seriously around our position statement. We’ve seen the proposed rosters and if management and Boris Johnson want to know what staff think they should take a trip to depots like Leytonstone and White City and hear what our members think of being rammed in to what are now known across the job as the “rosters from hell.”

“It is also clearly difficult to make progress while Boris Johnson, as Mayor of London and Chair of Transport for London, is boxing in his negotiators through the media while refusing to get his hands dirty himself by talking to us. That is a major obstacle and is at odds with the way that the First Minister intervened directly in Scotland to broker a settlement in the ferries dispute. The ball is now in LU and the Mayor’s court.”

 

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RMT demands an end to posturing by the London Mayor

RMT demands an end to posturing by the London Mayor as he announces that he is to write to all tube staff telling them to accept Night Tube rosters 

Mick Cash said;

“It is time for Boris Johnson to stop the posturing and start talking. This latest stunt of writing to all tube staff just confirms that he is calling the shots on Night Tube from top to bottom and doesn’t understand the fury he has unleashed across all grades, depots and lines.

“The continued refusal of the London Mayor to have any direct contact with the transport unions, despite the fact that he is clearly in charge of the tube dispute, ‎is a ludicrous way to deal with a crisis that has developed on his watch.The appeal direct to the tube workforce ignores the anger and concerns of nearly 20000 union members, reflected in massive votes in successive ballots, and will just inflame the situation.

“In Scotland, when RMT had a dispute on the ferries, the First Minister stepped in and brokered talks which led to a settlement. The Mayor cannot continue to lurch along in ignorance of the facts, ducking his responsibilities as chair of TFL,  when the whole of London is crying out for a negotiated solution that deals with the fundamental issues at the heart of this current dispute.. “

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Secret RMT Plans

The RMT always prides itself on being an all grades union. We are open. We like to communicate with each other and inform our members what is going on.

Its always nice to see senior managers subscribing to our webpage/ facebook or twitter.

So in the spirit of openness, please click the below link for all our secret plans.

Secret Plans: Click here

 

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RMT calls for Urgent Meeting with Boris

With Boris Johnson taking direct control of Night Tube dispute RMT calls for urgent meeting

 

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said;

 

“It has become clear from the media coverage over the past forty eight hours that Boris Johnson has taken direct control of the current tube dispute.

 

“As the Night Tube is his personal project, and as chair of Transport for London, it is now time for the Mayor to reverse his long standing policy of not meeting with the trade unions and to give our negotiators an opportunity to set out the facts to him directly.

 

“From the Mayor’s statements it is clear that he has not got the message that this dispute is not about money it is about work/life balance and it is essential that with Mr Johnson now taking charge of the dispute that he grasps the fundamental issues. That can only happen through a direct meeting which looks like it’s now essential to making serious progress towards a resolution of this dispute. “

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Picket Line Bear

The RMT has seen reports that a bear has been photographed attending official picket lines. Mick Cash is unavailable for comment.

Industry insiders suspect it may in fact be a monkey in disguise and even potentially a major Night Tube recruitment drive to recruit nocturnal animals for all those friday and saturday nights. London Zoo have confirmed that they have checked and it has not escaped from them.

If seen, the travelling public are advised to give him a cuddle as pickets are entirely peaceful and appreciate the love. People attending work in order to strike break are advised to just turn round and go home.

Some of the above may not be entirely accurate 😉

Picket Line Bear

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LUL Strike rock solid

Rock solid tube action sends out clearest possible message that issues must now be addressed

 

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said;

 

“The action is absolutely solid on London Underground ‎across all unions, all grades and all lines and depots. That sends out the clearest possible message to Boris Johnson and his tube bosses that they must now take the staff grievances seriously and get back into genuine and meaningful talks.

 

“Our dispute is not with the travelling public it is with those who have botched the introduction of Night Tube and who are trying to plug staffing gaps by wrecking any chance of a decent work/life balance for our members. It really is as simple as that.

 

“The anger and determination of a wholly united tube workforce can be seen on the joint picket lines across the network this morning. Those voices must be heard and understood now and talks convened so that the fundamental issues at the heart of this dispute can be resolved. ”

 

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RMT RESPONDS TO LATEST STATEMENTS FROM LU'S NICK BROWN

General Secretary Mick Cash said

“The offer tabled by London Underground is just a rehash ‎of an earlier package and does nothing to tackle the fundamental issue of our members being called into work at the beck and call of management to plug staffing gaps in the Mayor’s botched Night Tube plans.

“This dispute is not about money, it’s about being able to plan for and enjoy some downtime with friends and family away from work. The current plans wreck that and the unilateral issuing of the new rosters has simply inflamed the situation .

“It’s obvious to most people that if you expand and extend a service then you need more staff and not less. That is the crucial issue. Instead of conducting talks through the media LU should be back round the table with the unions sorting out a solution to this mess. ‎”

In response to Boris Johnsons demand that the rehashed offer be put to members Cash added;

‎”We have a network of elected representatives who consulted members across the combine and the latest rehashed offer was universally rejected. We are not about to start taking lectures in democracy from Boris Johnson and instead of grandstanding in the media he should be instructing his officials to get back into serious talks with the trade unions which address the fundamental staffing issues thrown up by his Night Tube plans.”

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RMT calls for indefinite suspension of botched Night Tube plans

RMT calls for indefinite suspension of botched Night Tube plans

 

TUBE UNION RMT today called for an immediate and indefinite suspension of the Mayor’s Night Tube vanity project warning that is so fundamentally flawed from top to bottom it risks wrecking expensive infrastructure, compromising staff and passenger safety and leaving essential safety critical engineering and maintenance works on the shelf in a move that will lead to breakdowns and disruption on an unprecedented scale.

 

RMT says that is an open secret across the job that senior managers do not believe that the Night Tube is deliverable on the 12th September without unleashing repeated chaos. As a result of the project being dumped on tube bosses on a political whim without proper planning the most basic preparation and planning has not been carried out, not least in terms of calculating and costing the additional staff that will be needed to deliver it without imosing rosters from hell on the existing workforce.

 

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said;

 

“Despite all the bluster from Boris Johnson Londoner’s need to be aware that Night Tube was rushed and botched from the off and that is why five weeks before it starts staff are striking because they will not accept that their work/life balance should be wrecked to plug the gaping holes in staffing capacity that should have been dealt with from day one.

 

“It is a measure of the current shambles that no further talks are planned and staffing posts essential to delivering a safe extension of operating hours are still being axed. That is ridiculous.

 

“Millions of week day commuters, who fork out a fortune in fares, risk seeing their safety compromised and their services reduced to chaos so that a few thousand revellers can be shipped home in the early hours of Saturday and Sunday morning and experienced tube managers know that. We urgently need to get talks convened with tube professionals who understand the reasons behind a crisis which should never have been allowed to get this far. ”

 

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Tube Lines Pay Dispute

Dear Steve,

We met Tube Lines today 2.8.15 where they tabled the following regarding our pay claim for 2015.

year 1  1% + £500 consolidated then another £500 for 24hour running non consolidated
year 2 & 3  1%  or  RPI  which ever is greater each year

The second £500 non consolidated for 24 hour running will be paid to all Tube Line Staff covered by collective bargaining.

It was also mention that Tube Lines were working on a work balance plan for the P/way which could mean more track workers being bought in house. At the moment some 40% of all track work is covered by Sub Contractors/Agency workers.

There was no mention of full PRP pot and the RMT is pushing hard to include this as part of any settlement

We said that this does not meet our members aspirations of a substantial pay increase and that any multi year deal would have to be RPI PLUS for us to contemplate any offer. It was also pointed out to them that without divorcing night tube from these pay talks we are only complicating everything and requested that pay be dealt with separately and after an agreement was reached on Pay we would then be able to talk about night tube.

This was rejected by Tube Lines.

We rejected the offer from management and informed them that we would be reporting the offer to our Executive Committee with a recommendation of rejection and that a dispute would then exist.

The TSSA also rejected the offer and aslef told management to talk to there EC member who was not present, unite did not attend the talks.

Can you please place this report before the GGC.

Regards
Brian Whitehead
Regional Organiser

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VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN TRANSPORT WORKERS POSTER

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN TRANSPORT WORKERS POSTER

 

I am pleased to report that earlier this year the European Transport Workers’ Federation Women’s Committee endorsed the RMT submission for the poster competition “Violence against women transport workers – it’s not part of the job”.

 

A few copies of the poster are enclosed for distribution and display in workplaces.  If you would like more copies, please do contact our Equal Opportunities Officer, Jess Webb, j.webb@rmt.org.uk

 

Yours sincerely,

Mick Cash

General Secretary

 Violence against women posterv2

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RMT rejects latest Night Tube offer

3rd August 2015

Immediate

 

RMT rejects latest Night Tube offer– strike action goes ahead

 

TUBE UNION RMT has confirmed that it has rejected the re-packaged offer from London Underground over the Night Tube in a meeting at ACAS this afternoon.  As a result the strike action scheduled to begin on Wednesday afternoon goes ahead as planned across all grades and all lines.

 

RMT reps were furious when they examined the details of the current proposals earlier today only to find that they are a re-hash of previous plans and would continue along the course of smashing up long-standing agreements and destroying work/life balance in the interests of delivering the Mayor’s ill-conceived Night Tube vanity project. The union has said that it is prepared to continue talking.

 

RMT has also said that it will now be embarking on a renewed campaign to inform the public of the heavy price that the millions of weekday commuters, paying thousands of pounds of year, will be paying in terms of safety, reliability and quality in order to get a few thousand revellers home from central London in the early hours of Saturday and Sunday morning.

 

The union has also questioned the viability of getting the new services running for the 12th of September start date without any adequate risk assessments, a complete ignorance of the consequence of losing the weekend engineering and maintenance slots and without any agreement in place on staffing arrangements. RMT is warning that every Monday morning, when the volume passengers that pay for the Underground head back to work, is going to be a potential nightmare as the consequences of running flat out for nearly three days without a break become only too clear. All in order to deliver Boris Johnson’s legacy scheme that was cooked up on the back on an envelope without any understanding of how the railway runs in reality.

 

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said:

 

“Our members have made it clear that the latest offer from London Underground is merely a rehash of the previous package and does nothing to tackle the core issue which revolves around staff being at the beck and call of management to be hauled in during their free time to try and plug the staffing gaps which riddle the Mayor’s Night Tube vanity project.

 

“RMT is also deeply concerned that the talks are being conducted by people who have no background on the tube and no understanding of how processes and logistics work. That is deeply worrying and a major departure from when the combine was managed by people with a deep-seated knowledge of the railway. That is a major barrier to progress in the talks and one that we hope can now be cleared.

 

“The Night Tube plan has been botched from the off. The basics haven’t been done and those who will pay for this shambles will not only be our members but the London daily travelling public who cough up a fortune and who will find their safety and the reliability of the service compromised from 12th September onwards.

 

“The action goes ahead and RMT remains available for talks regardless of the point we have reached in the dispute which is perfectly normal.”

 

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