Long service award changes

LONG SERVICE AWARDS AND RETIREMENT - TRANSPORT FOR LONDON (TFL/18/1)

Further to Circular IR/134/17, 27th March 2017, correspondence has been received from TfL concerning changes they intend to make to Long Service Awards.

The Long Service Award event that should have taken place on 26 March 2020 was cancelled due to the outbreak of the Covid19 pandemic, and there is currently no likelihood of society and TfL's ways of working returning to a pre-Covid situation for some considerable time. The company said they hadn't the situation to last as long as it has, and they have reflected on whether they can continue to host the Long Service Award events in the future given their current financial and resource restraints, their ability to host events involving large numbers of people, dealing with the backlog, as well as higher forecast numbers in the future.

TfL say they want to continue to recognise staff that have achieved their service milestones and intend to increase the value of the current vouchers, but Long Service Award events themselves would not take place any longer. They intend to increase the value of the 25-year award from £250 to £400, and the value of the 40-year award from £500 to £650. They aim to continue to provide a signed certificate, lapel pin and for the relevant Managing Director to do an informal presentation to the employee.

This change in the way Long Service Awards are managed would be effective from when the last event was cancelled (i.e. 26 March 2020), and the new amounts would apply from this date.

Having considered this matter the NEC has taken the following decision: -

“That we note the report from our lead officer and instruct the General Secretary to inform TfL that RMT considers this matter to be negotiable under our agreed machinery of negotiation. LTRC and branches to be informed”

I have written to TfL to advise them of our position requesting they contact the lead officer to ensure this is discussed as per our Machinery of Negotiation. Branches will be kept informed of any further developments.