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The main article follows:

RMT & TSSA unite to fight for jobs and safety!

RMT & TSSA members have sent a resounding NO to management’s plans to cut jobs and undermine safety on London Underground. With a yes vote for strike action of over 75%, the unions have announced a joint rolling campaign of strike action starting on Monday 6th September with an overtime ban for all grades at the same time.

I had a terrible journey today [Tuesday 7 Sept!] but nothing compared to how it would be every day with the cuts promised. And certainly nothing to how you guys are being treated.
You have this commuter's support. Keep up the fight!
Sean Robinson

An email of wholehearted support to everyone trying striking in defence of services, safety and jobs.
Thanks for the leaflet today which I picked up outside Camden (I walked to work from Finsbury Park in order to give a bit of support of my own). I will contact my member of the GLA and write to TFL and email Mayor Boris Johnson.
Best wishes to Mr Bob Crow and everyone supporting the strike.
Alison Cushing

Dear Union members
I was very pleased to talk this morning to members of the union on strike. As a regular user of London Underground I fully appreciate the concerns of the union about safety and staffing cuts. Travel would be much affected by lack of staff on every level and would leave many of us seeking alternative forms of transport or even changing work patterns, all of which would be detrimental, not only to our quality of life, but to the economy which this government says it is keen to put to rights. I might also add that my own daughter was so nearly caught up on that fateful day of the bombing but was advised by the staff to go home and that the presence of staff in the stations is essential to safety but also makes travel on the underground so much more endurable.
Best of luck in your negotiations. I will certainly voice my concerns to the relevant bodies and would appreciate being kept informed of any other ways the public can help.
Kathy Adams

Hi there,
I'm not in London today so couldn't come down to a picket line to show mysolidarity, but just wanted to say best of luck to all striking RMT members today and over the coming weeks.
As a regular tube user I fully support the staff in their struggle against these crazy job cuts. None of us want to feel unsafe in our own tube stations, nor see a return to the station fires of the 70s and 80s.
RMT should do everything in its power to publicly illustrate the relation between this dispute and the looming breath-taking cuts to the public sector. Both are clear examples of private pockets filling with public money stolen from ordinary workers.
In solidarity,
Greg Brown

SOME 10,000 members London Underground’s two biggest unions will begin a rolling series of strikes on September 6 against plans to axe 800 station and other staff and close ticket-offices, after RMT and TSSA members voted overwhelmingly for action to defend jobs and safety.

Ex-Metronet (maintenance and engineering) staff will begin their first 24-hour strike at 17:00 on September 6, with similar action also scheduled to begin at the same time on Sunday October 3; Tuesday November 2, and Sunday November 28.

Click on the link to download the latest edition of RMT Up front.

The lead article follows:

Time to join the picket lines!

After months of talks, talks and more talks we have finally arrived at the point where our union is asking us to take industrial action in defence of jobs. This is not something that is asked lightly; but with a mandate for strike action from RMT members it is a question which can no longer be avoided and to which the answer must be emphatically in the affirmative!