RMT press releases

TUBE UNION RMT today demanded an immediate halt to staffing and maintenance cuts as an investigation report revealed that crumbling infra-structure and staffing cuts led to a potentially-lethal tube derailment last year.

The derailment happened between Earl's Court and Gloucester Road on the Piccadilly line at 5.30am on 12 May 2010. The train consisted of two locos, two wagons and a track machine.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow says the Hutton Review will be "the spark that lights the blue touch paper of co-ordinated strike action". Bob Crow said:

"We have seen this week that gold-plated bonuses and pensions for the bankers and speculators who caused this crisis are still the order of the day while those slogging their guts out making this country tick are lined up for a kicking by Lord Hutton and the ConDems."

From RMT General Secretary Bob Crow:

I am delighted to be able to report that this morning in the Court of Appeal RMT has secured a massive landmark victory on the UK strike laws over our dispute on Serco Docklands.

The full details are contained in the press statement below but be under no illusions – this morning RMT has given a huge boost to 7 million trade unionists in the country fighting for jobs, pensions and standards of livings.

TUBE UNION RMT warned of more tube chaos for passengers as it emerged that as part of the TfL cuts programme the frequency of safety-critical inspections is being slashed from twice a week to once a week.

In a safety licensing concession requested by LU the twice weekly inspection of track and infrastructure in sidings and depots will be cutback to just once a week. These inspections are in the areas of highest traffic anywhere on the network with fleet constantly being shunted in and out.

TRANSPORT UNION RMT warned today that the ConDem-led demand for spending cuts is compromising security on the transport system at a time when soaring copper prices have driven cable thefts to record levels - leaving passengers facing huge potential for service disruption and travel chaos.

The British Transport Police have said that they have logged record levels of thefts in the early weeks of this year as copper prices have risen by over 40%. The estimated cost to the taxpayer of thefts from UK infrastructure is £700 million with transport in the front line.

TUBE UNION RMT confirmed today that strike action on the Bakerloo and Northern Line’s, scheduled to run from Sunday to Monday evening over the victimisation and sacking of two drivers, has been called off to allow for ACAS talks and to pave the way for a ballot for action of all London Underground drivers.

RMT had also received a threat from the employers to dash to the Court’s under the cloak of the anti-trade union laws.

Commenting on news reports that the Egyptian military might attempt to ban strikes or trade union meetings that might lead to them, RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

“Any attempt to ban strikes and trade union activities in Egypt would be a huge step backwards and RMT fully supports the international trade union condemnation of any such moves.

TUBE UNION RMT today repeated the demand for an end to the London Underground cuts programme as the system grinds towards the end of a week of chaos that has seen repeated failures on the Jubilee, Metropolitan, Central and Victoria Line’s as a combination of cuts, infrastructure failures and mismanagement from the top conspire to drag the network into a spiral of failure.

This morning the Jubilee Line went down due to fleet and signal failures and there was further disruption on the Metropolitan Line after it totally closed in yesterday evenings rush hour through the City.

TUBE UNION RMT today demanded an end to London Undergound’s campaign of bullying and harassment of union activists as the organisation won a second “interim relief” hearing at the Employment Tribunal in Croydon yesterday in the case of sacked Northern Line train operator Arwyn Thomas.

TUBE UNION RMT today called for a full ORR investigation into breaches of safety on London Underground after the union’s safety reps revealed that stations along the Central Line were left unstaffed last night due to cuts-led staff shortages.

The news, coming just a week after a brutal assault at unstaffed West Finchey station, nails the lie, repeated by Mayor Boris Johnson and his senior officials on a regular basis that “no station will be left unstaffed at any time” as a result of their cuts.