RMT press releases

Representatives of RMT and Unite will be joining a 20 strong delegation of US Teamsters at a protest against union-busting outside the AGM of global transport giant National Express, tomorrow 9th May at 2pm at Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9AG.

Coach and bus operator National Express has faced growing protests from US bus drivers who have accused the company of "anti-worker, anti-union" policies.

The ConDem government's planned new laws were laid out today at the Queen's speech.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

“This mangled set of measures contains further attacks on workplace health and safety and workers protection through the employment tribunals. One again, this rotten Government has loaded the dice in favour of bad bosses and against workers who all already taking the full force of austerity smack in the face."

TUBE UNION RMT confirmed today that electricians and engineers working for contractors Mitie on the TFL contract are to be balloted for strike action and action short of a strike in a dispute over redundancies and unilateral changes to working conditions.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said: “One of the first things fascist dictators like Hitler, Mussolini and Pinochet did when they seized power was to ban transport workers from taking strike action so the Tory group on the London Assembly find themselves in some high profile company on this one.

Tube union RMT today confirmed a ballot for strike action of Train Operators and Instructor Operators on the Piccadilly Line in response to London Underground riding roughshod over agreements and abusing a range of agreed policies and procedures.

London Underground has also unilaterally decided to split Acton Town Piccadilly Depot into two, ripping up rosters and booking times, refusing perfectly reasonable requests for decent staff facilities and bulldozing through their plans outside of the agreed negotiating machinery.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

TUBE UNION RMT said today that staff sacked from London Underground’s “Trainpeople” agency contract will be stepping up their fight for jobs and justice following the termination of the deal which has dumped 33 staff on the dole, making a mockery of regulations which were supposed to protect the employment rights of agency staff.

The staff will be taking their fight to Transport for London with a protest in support of “Justice for the 33”at the HQ building Windsor House, Victoria Street on Monday 15th April 2013 between 0800 hours and 1000 hours.

Transport union RMT announced today that it is backing a “Bury Thatcherism – Join a Union” initiative which will officially launch next Wednesday, the day of the former Prime Ministers funeral.

The initiative is designed to use the frenzy and polarisation that has developed since Margaret Thatcher’s death to encourage the angry and disaffected to do something positive on Wednesday, that is join a trade union and if you are already a union member encourage others to join and get involved.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

The Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) and the UK-based National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers (RMT) announced today that both unions have agreed to a "Trans-Atlantic Alliance," to cooperate on safety issues; launch joint campaigns targeting employers in-common; and advance a global strategy promoting the right of workers to organise unions and bargain to improve their working lives.

The alliance will send shivers down the spine of union-hostile operators like First Group and Stagecoach who have major operations in both the UK and north America.

RAIL UNION RMT warned this morning that the Government has given the green light to a new wave of rail privatisation and profiteering with the announcement that the great rail sell off is back with a vengeance.

In an announcement this morning the Government has set out a timetable for the re-privatisation of the East Coast, currently run in the public sector after two catastrophic private failures, and a new schedule for extending, on favourable terms to the private sector, the raft of franchises suspended due to the shambles on the West Coast mainline.

This Wednesday, 27th March 2013, marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of the infamous Beeching report which led to the decimation of much of the UK’s railways. Unions and campaigners, under the Action for Rail banner, will be out at railway stations up and down the country ramping up the campaign to defend rail services and to renationalise the entire network.