RMT press release, issued today

INDUSTRIAL ACTION by Docklands Light Railway control-room staff scheduled to begin on January 5 has been suspended by Britain’s biggest rail union after Serco-Docklands withdrew rosters it had intended to impose, pending further talks.

RMT members in the DLR control room were scheduled to begin a work-to-rule and overtime ban after voting overwhelmingly for both strike action and action short of a strike, and the union had indicated that it would ballot its entire DLR membership in the New Year.

“The withdrawal of the disputed rosters is a common-sense step towards what we hope will be a successful resolution of this dispute,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

“During talks this week the company agreed to set up a working party to discuss the issues involved, and clearly there is more talking to be done to reach a settlement.

“However, the company has stepped back from unilateral imposition of the rosters at the heart of this dispute, and as a result we have suspended the action scheduled to start next week,” Bob Crow said.