Protests

Here are some photos from the 'March for the Alternate' on 26th March in London. Hundreds of RMT members turned out to the demo from across the country.

To see more of the photos click 'Read More.'

RMT members joined other trade unionists and students in marching through London today to protest against rises in tuition fees, cuts in education funding, and the scrapping of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA).

The last photo shows me speaking at the opening rally, giving solidarity greetings from RMT - after a speaker from the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts had sent a speaker to our Regional Council meeting two days previously.

RMT and TSSA union activists and supporters urged London Mayor Boris Johnson to reverse ticket office closures on London Underground that will see 800 jobs cut and safety seriously compromised. They delivered 1,500 protest postcards signed by Londoners warning of the dangers of the plan and demanding a rethink. Video filmed and edited by Chris Kasrils.

RMT activists joined students and university unions in their protest outside parliament as MPs debated increasing university tuition fees to £9,000 per year. Later, the House of Commons backed the Con-Dem government's proposals by just 323 votes to 302 with a total of 27 Tory and Lib-Dem MPs voting against the government. Students and their supporters have pledged to fight on. Build for the mass anti-cuts demonstration called by the TUC for March 26, 2011. Video filmed and edited by Chris Kasrils.

Assemble on Victoria Embankment for a massive march against cuts and for jobs and public services.

More details, and downloadable publicity materials, here.

Join RMT in protesting outside Mayor's Question Time at London's City Hall (nearest station: London Bridge, map here). We will be handing in the thousands of postcards that Londoners have filled in demanding that cuts to station staffing be withdrawn.

We want lots of protestors to join us, in order to crank up the pressure on the Mayor, to get positive media coverage, and to maintain the momentum of our campaign.

On Saturday, we will be marching against cuts. So on Thursday, we will be giving out leaflets encouraging people to join us on the march. Please come and help if you can.

Details here

On 11 August, RMT members protested outside Euston station against London Underground's planned job cuts.

Click '1 attachment' / file names to download the leaflet and poster that we used on the day.

Wednesday 11th August, Euston Station, London, 8.30am

RMT is holding a mass leaflet of the public on Wednesday morning outside Euston Station and we’d be grateful for your assistance. Wednesday is the day that the LUL ballot result will be announced.

Four weeks ago an escalator fire at Euston was identified by station staff - who might not have been present if the cuts had taken place. For details, click here.

RMT has hired a coach to lobby the TUC to hold a national demonstration against the vicious cuts of 25-40% which the government wishes to inflict upon the transport industry and right across the public sector.

The coach will leave Unity House (39 Chalton Street, London NW1 1JD) on Sunday 12 September at 7.45am. There are 56 seats, which we hopefully will fill totally with RMT members. We will take people on a first-come-first-served basis.

On Monday morning, the re-opened and extended East London Line officially welcomed its first weekday passengers.

On Sunday 23rd May the extended East London Line will re-open, as part of private company, LOROL (London Overground). Obviously we support the extension but not when part of the tube network has been privatised through the back door. The whole of LOROL should be integrated with London Underground and owned and run by the Greater London Authority, elected by Londoners, which is RMT policy.

URGENT: Rail Cuts Cost Lives

Demonstration at Network Rail Office, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London

To coincide with the Network Rail maintenance ballot result and to publicise the massive amount of MPs who have signed the Early Day Motion condemning Network Rail’s proposed cuts and the threat to safety, the RMT has called a demonstration outside the Network Rail Offices in central London. I do appreciate the short notice, but we’d like you to be there as part of a loud and colourful demonstration.

URGENT MESSAGE FROM UNITE AGAINST FASCISM ________________________________________ UNITE AGAINST FASCISM Emergency protest against the EDL in London this Friday Assemble 11am, Friday 5 March Houses of Parliament, London

For more information please call 020 7801 2782 or visit the UAF website

on www.uaf.org.uk

The English Defence League (EDL) will be marching in London on Friday 5 March in support of the far right Dutch MP Geert Wilders who is visiting the House of Lords to whip up hatred against Muslims.

Tenants of affordable keyworker housing owned by the Crown Estate are opposed to the sell off of their homes to a new landlord. The estates comprise some 1300 homes in central London.

Sign the online petition calling on Gordon Brown to intervene to stop this sell off:

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/crownresidents/

Bob Crow writes ...

RMT is among many unions and other organisations supporting a major national demonstration to defend the welfare state and public services, initiated by the National Pensioners’ Convention.

The march will assemble from midday at Temple Place on London’s Embankment on Saturday April 10, with the rally beginning at 2pm in Trafalgar Square.

With a general election likely to take place soon after, this is an opportunity to speak out in favour of defending the National Health Service, improving pensions and defending public services against cuts.

A rally and lobby of parliament will take place on Wednesday of 27th January 2010 in the fight to stop the axing of nearly 1500 safety-critical maintenance jobs by Network Rail. A timetable for a national ballot for industrial action by rail maintenance staff will be confirmed shortly.

The severe weather conditions this week have underlined the importance of having proper staffing levels on the rail network with reports that some of the transport problems have been worsened by a shortage of crew to de-freeze tracks and points – and that’s before Network Rail push through a further 1500 job cuts.

‘Fight for 1 million Green Jobs’

The Campaign Against Climate Change has called demonstrations in London and Edinburgh on Saturday 5th December to fight for one million green jobs and publicity flyers are attached. The RMT is affiliated to the Campaign and I would urge all members to participate in these demonstrations. Assembly at the larger London event will be from 12pm in Hyde Park.

Tube andTfL union RMT will be holding a demonstration in support of London Underground cleaners fight against privatisation this Wednesday (18 November) as it emerged that senior TfL bosses have received a 50% increase in bonus payments over the past two years from £3.6 million in 2007 to £5.3 million this year.

The tube cleaners, who are also fighting for TfL Chair Boris Johnson’s London Living Wage, will be outside the former Metronet headquarters at Templar House, 81-87 High Holborn at 12 noon on Wednesday 18th November.