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.
Rail Union RMT confirmed today that after constructive talks with London Overground the union and the company have agreed an industry-leading 3.85% pay deal for LOROL staff in 2013 as part of a 4 year pay award. Years 2,3 and 4 are inflation (RPI) plus 0.5% - protecting and enhancing staff living standards into the future at a time when there is an unprecedented national attack on wages and conditions.
RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said: “This is the same old mixture of cuts and austerity from this Government of the rich, for the rich and will do nothing to tackle the evils of poverty and unemployment that are devastating the lives of millions of people away from the cosy world of the political class and the Westminster bubble.
Tube union RMT has slammed plans to transfer some Tube Lines clerical and project staff back in-house to London Underground without pension or travel facilities and has threatened industrial action to defend the terms and conditions of its members.
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that while proposals to re-integrate some staff into LUL may sound positive after the long-running PPP Tube privatisation fiasco, the 700 or so staff involved would not be allowed to join the TfL pension fund.
On International Women’s Day (8th March), transport union RMT launches a new model domestic violence policy framework for the UK transport industry at the union’s annual women’s conference in Nottingham.
The policy document sets out clear principles for employers to recognise domestic violence as a workplace issue and maps out procedures for reporting, delivering a safe and supportive environment and promoting the policy amongst staff.
RAIL UNION RMT today challenged London Mayor Boris Johnson to come out and publicly support a union-led campaign for the Crossrail fleet to be built in Britain or risk the kind of delays that have dogged plans to build the Thameslink trains in Germany, a scandal which has dragged back the national fleet replacement programme by three years.
Last week, TFL and the DFT confirmed that the Crossrail fleet will be wholly procured by the cheaper and more efficient route of public financing, an open recognition that the public/private finance model is unable to deliver on time and on price.
TUBE UNION RMT confirmed today that tube drivers on the Jubilee Line, working out of the Stratford and Greenwich depots, are to be balloted for industrial action in a dispute over bullying of staff through the misuse of procedures and an appalling decline in the standard of working conditions.
In a letter to London Underground setting out the reasons for the dispute, RMT has highlighted:
London Underground, Tubelines and Schweerbau GMBH have been fined £300,000 having plead guilty in court to endangering safety following the 2010 runaway train incident.
The incident occurred when a defective maintenance train was being towed. The trains became separated and the defective wagon rolled through seven stations of speeds of up to 30 miles per hour, coming within 600m of a passenger train. The quick response of control room staff prevented what judge Richard Hone told the court: “was the potential of terrible tragedy.”
TRANSPORT UNION RMT confirmed today that security and safety staff employed by STM Security Group on London Overground services will be taking strike action next week in a dispute over bullying and harassment and an attempt to impose workplace changes without agreement.
With less than a week to go in the Eastleigh by-election, promoted by the resignation of ConDem criminal Chris Huhne, transport union RMT today blasted a deliberate media blackout of working class candidate Darren Procter, a member of the union’s executive and the candidate of the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition (TUSC).