Defending activists

The Bakerloo Branch agreed the following resolution for the attention of the RMT's General Grades Committee.

“This branch notes the appalling treatment of our young member and activist Brother Jayesh Patel at the hands of LU. Bro Patel was acting in the interests of safety when he requested ‘assisted despatch’ at two overcrowded stations on 1st of February 2013. This branch is amazed that as a result of carrying out these actions he was told to detrain and run out of service. Worse still he was instructed to attend a location away from his home depot to participate in a fact finding. Unfortunately the fact finding interview turned into a Gestapo interrogation where our member was denied the right to ask questions, denied the right to have physical break and denied to go home after his booking off time. Worse, this branch notes that since this time LU have added insult to injury and have stood down him down from that date.

We note the report from our Regional Organiser, and further verbal reports indicating possible progress towards resolving the complaint against our representative. We instruct the General Secretary to place a report in front of us as to progress within seven days.

We further instruct the General Secretary to ensure as a matter of urgency that our instructions in our previous decision on this matter on 17 July are carried out.

We welcome the success of our representative Petrit Mihaj in winning the return of his deducted sick pay at Employment Tribunal. This vindicates our decision to pursue this case. We further note that Brother Mihaj and his representative are making constructive efforts to arrange his return to work.

However, following more than six months of suspension, Sodexho has now charged Petrit with misconduct, despite there having been no complaint made against him.

RMT's ballot mandate to hold strikes expires after 20 June, so the law forces us to take action before then. But we are also striking the following week, rather than waiting for the decision of Arwyn's Tribunal. Why?

Although the Tribunal hearings have concluded, we do not know how long we will have to wait for it to publish its decision. The earliest is 27 June; it could be as late as September. Neither Arwyn, nor his union workmates, should have to wait this long for justice.

Click on the attachment to see the lastest edition of RMT up front, the newsletter for LU train operators. It gives a full report on the recent tribunal ruling on Eamonn Lynch's unlawful sacking.

Main story follows:

Eamonn Lynch secures crushing victory at employment tribunal

An employment tribunal has unequivocally found that Eamonn Lynch, RMT Health and Safety Representative for the Bakerloo Line, was dismissed because he was a member of a health and safety committee and because of his trade union activities.
Three times now the legal system - usually biased towards employers - has
ruled on the side of Tube workers, giving a massive boost to the union's
campaign for reinstatement of both Eamonn and Northern Line driver Arwyn
Thomas.

Click '1 attachment' / file name to read the full decision by the Employment Tribunal, which upheld Eamonn's complaint of unfair dismissal on the grounds of trade union activities.

As outlined by our solicitors, the key aspects of the judgment are:

(1) The Tribunal unanimously found that Eamonn had been unfairly dismissed and more importantly, automatically unfairly dismissed on grounds of his health and safety and trade union duties and activities.

“I am appalled that London Underground are refusing to reinstate Arwyn Thomas and Eamonn Lynch, when the Employment Tribunal has already ruled that their dismissal was discriminatory because of their trade union activities. It is vital that we stand up for our local trade union reps who are in the frontline of protecting workers interests and I fully support the RMT’s political and industrial campaign for justice for Arwyn and Eamonn.”
Jeremy Corbyn MP, Islington North

From Bob Crow, General Secretary

I write to all reps on London Underground concerning the case of Arwyn Thomas Train Operator at Morden and a long standing RMT activist who is being disciplined and we believe victimised by LUL.

IN TWO separate disputes over the victimisation of RMT London Underground activists the union announced today ballots for action in support of train operators Eamon Lynch and Arwyn Thomas.