RMT press releases

RMT is appalled to hear that Uganda's proposed 'Kill the Gays' bill has been placed on the schedule of the country's Parliament and may be debated later today or sometime very soon.

We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Frank Mugisha, executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), and all people fighting the Ugandan Parliament to get rid of this draconian anti-gay legislation.

We join others in describing the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality bill as abhorrent and an offence to decency.

TUBE UNION RMT confirmed today that industrial action involving Tube Lines staff, due to begin tomorrow, has been suspended after LU management took the unprecedented step of cancelling scheduled weekend engineering works in response to the success of previous rounds of RMT Tube Lines strike action.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

Derby MP and RMT Parliamentary Group Member Chis Williamson has secured a Commons debate on the Thameslink and Crossrail fleet procurement contracts this afternoon as rumours persist that Government officials are now looking at an alternative on the Thameslink deal which is no closer to sign-off and is clearly riddled with serious contamination 18 months on.

A NEW wave of tube strike action on London Underground will kick off on Friday in a long-running dispute over equality and a fair deal on pensions and passes for Tube Lines staff.

Previous strike action and an overtime ban led to the cancellation of tens of millions of pounds worth of essential engineering works on the Northern Line and raised new safety fears as the Emergency Response Unit joined with fellow Tube Lines staff in support of the fight for pensions and benefits justice.

The latest strike action will take place as follows:

Transport union RMT, along with fellow trade unionists and MP’s, will be demonstrating outside Kings Cross station on Sunday 18th November at 11.00 to Mark the 25th anniversary of the Kings Cross fire and to highlight the continued need for a fully staffed and safe tube network.

Local MP Frank Dobson will table the following Early Day Motion in Parliament on Monday:

RAIL UNION RMT warned today that as fare’s continue to ratchet up above inflation, and hundreds of millions of pounds are bled out of the system in private profits, the Government have refused to rule out a return to third class travel.

Third class travel was abolished on Britain’s railways in June 1956.

The scandal was revealed in Lords questions late last week:

“Railways: Third Class Travel

Lord Myners asked the Government whether invitations to bid for new rail franchises permit the introduction of a third passenger class.

TRANSPORT UNION RMT confirmed today that security and safety staff employed by STM Security Group on London Overground services will be taking both strike action and action short of a strike this Saturday in a dispute over bullying and an attempt to impose new terms and conditions. Spurs, Crystal Palace and West Ham all have home games on that day.

Following a unanimous vote for action in a ballot this month, management have been informed that RMT members will be ;

TRANSPORT UNION RMT today demanded action against a trade union blacklisting website which is actively targeting activists at all levels – even including volunteer union learning reps whose “crime” is helping colleagues acquire skills, training and education.

The blacklisting site - http://www.hrblacklist.com/static/view/about/ - makes no bones about its intentions. HR Blacklist is run by Human Resources Consulting and purports to “tell the truth about employees” – in reality it is an on-line successor to the Consulting Association and its anti-union blacklisting activities.

As the London Cab Trade attempts to recover from the economic disaster of the Olympics caused by the scaremongering publicity from TfL - since admitted and regretted by the Mayor of London - and the decision by TfL to exclude us from the Games lane, we were again dismayed when TfL suspended the licences of over 300 new Taxi’s following a steering fault that could have endangered the lives of Driver and passenger alike.

The RMT therefore demand the following:

• The IMMEDIATE SUSPENSION OF THE 15 YEAR RULE to ensure that those owners can continue to work so that the effect of the TX4 ‘interruption to the supply chain’ is mitigated and that the Cab fleet can cope with demand coming up to the Peak period.

TUBE UNION RMT today praised the intervention of a Bakerloo Line tube driver which prevented a potential tragedy involving a 12 year old boy

The incident took place on Monday at 3.30 pm. The 12 year old boy was over-carried (on board the train after its final passenger stop) into the Queens Park sidings. Previously these trains used to be physically checked that they were empty prior to going into the sidings. RMT objected to the ending of detraining and said at the time that getting rid of detrainment staff was unsafe.