RMT press releases

LONDON UNDERGROUND’S biggest union has demanded an explanation from Tube bosses after a signal failure at Farringdon last night left passengers stranded without advice or help to finish their journeys.

RMT has learned that passengers on Metropolitan and Circle and Hammersmith and City trains spent up to 45 minutes between Kings Cross and Farringdon stations, missing last onward connections with other lines, and were given no help to finish their journeys.

RAIL UNION RMT have today welcomed confirmation that the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) have directly intervened with the Government over the safety issues raised by the union over the threat by Network Rail to axe 1500 maintenance jobs.

In a letter to Transport Secretary Lord Adonis, in response to a dossier on the safety implications of the cuts compiled by RMT, Anna Walker, Chair of the ORR says:

“I can assure you that we have been scrutinising Network Rail’s restructuring proposals for some time and we will continue to do so.

TUBE UNION RMT announced today that London Underground (Metronet) members covered by the Signals Framework Agreement have voted by a massive majority of over 90% for strike action and action short of a strike in a dispute over the imposition of new rosters, breaches of agreements and the handing over of work to external contractors.

RAIL UNION RMT today slammed the government for “presiding over a culture of private waste” on the railways after new figures obtained by RMT parliamentary convenor John McDonnell revealed that the cost of designing and tendering rail franchises since 2003 is a staggering £75 million.

TUBE UNION RMT confirmed today that it is balloting all London Underground (Metronet) members covered by the Signals Framework Agreement for strike action and action short of a strike in a dispute over the imposition of new rosters, breaches of agreements and the handing over of work to external contractors.

The ballot for action, which closes on 19th January, will involve 750 staff on the former Metronet sections of the tube network – all lines except for the Piccadilly, Northern and Jubilee.

TRAIN DRIVER Alex Gordon has been elected to serve as the President of RMT, Britain’s biggest specialist transport union, for the coming three years.

In the postal ballot that closed today Bristol-based Alex, who will take up office in January, beat four other candidates and replaces John Leach, a London Underground worker whose term of office ends at the close of the year.

TUBE AND TfL union RMT today released new information which exposes the full extent of the first wave of cuts under Boris Johnson’s £5 billion tube savings programme with 144 station ticket offices and 1200 jobs under threat of the axe.

Photo by James Cridlan

TUBE UNION RMT today accused TfL and Tube Lines of slashing safety standards to dangerous levels as it emerged that twice weekly inspection of escalators will be cut to just once a week and the 12 week frequency of signal maintenance on the Jubilee Line will be cut to a 16 week cycle.

The latest safety and maintenance cuts on the Tube Lines section of the Underground have come just two weeks after RMT exposed moves to hack back the frequency of track inspections on the Jubilee Line extension.

RMT reps will be raising the issues at a meeting of the Health and Safety forum today – Thursday 3rd December – with a demand that the cuts be reversed as a matter of urgency.

RAIL UNION RMT today demanded an end to the “chaos, instability and waste” of rail privatisation following the government’s announcement this morning that National Express will have their East Anglia franchise terminated in 2011.

RMT are calling on the government to strip National Express of their remaining C2C contract and to make it clear that the company are being kicked off the UK rail tracks for good following the shambolic collapse of their East Coast Main Line operation.

Bob Crow, RMT General Secretary, said: