Blogs

Latest edition of rmtlondoncalling, please download, print, display & distribute around your workplace.
Read about;

• The campaign for Alex McGuigans reinstatement

• Ongoing every job matters dispute – rosters cause rage on stations – reps and activists called for a meeting to discuss industrial action

• March for homes on January 31 2015

• London Underground fingered in tax evasion scandal

• 95% of DLR members vote yes for industrial action

• Vicky Hayward reinstated – stand firm for other sacked members

LONDON UNDERGROUND FINGERED IN TAX EVASION SCAM

AGS people and LUL are complicit in a tax evasion scam whereby they use the self-employed status of workers to avoid paying employers National Insurance liabilities to HMRC, SSP and holiday pay to the workers and destroy pretty much every right a worker in the UK enjoys.
Workers, even agency workers, have certain rights and protections. A self-employed cleaner has none. I would be interested to see the actual contract between the self-employed and LUL or its sub-contractor, if one even exists.

Dear All,

At the General Grades Committe it was agreed to put on a ballot of all Train Ops as soon as possible in Defence of the reinstatement of Bro McGuigan and to escalate this to other Grades if and when neccessary.

We will be discussing our response to the draconian new rosters being put forward by management on the Stations. I will be contacting functional reps and Branches to discuss our response. RMT will not accept rosters that leave our stations without adequate staff to the job nor will we accept ridiculous working patterns that leave our members with no work/life balance.

Interserve, the latest outsourced contract cleaning company LUL have tasked with humiliating and treating our cleaners as an underclass of London’s workers.

Previous incumbents of the multi million pound contracts on offer from TfL/LUL/Mayor’s office have failed to pay minimum wage, London Living wage, sick pay, travel allowance to our cleaners.

Interserve are perhaps the worst of the worst.
Non-payment of wages, late payment of wages, no pay slips, statutory sick pay withheld are the headlines in this appalling companies treatment of our comrades and colleagues.

The fit for the future(sic) plan LUL have for us all mean we all have to trot off to Ashfield House for an indoctrination process – training exercise ( *delete as appropriate)
Fine. They pay us. We go. We listen. We believe.
In their time. In the hours they expect us to roll up for work as per our contract.

The latest, sensitive approach from LUL is to dictate to part time workers they must attend full time courses, irrespective of commitments outside the world of LUL, be it childcare, elderly relatives or voluntary community work.

The rosters that LUL want to force through in readiness for FFFS in 2016 have been leaked. Inadvertently by a kind hearted and concerned GSM? Maybe. The full impact of the madness of this new model is now available for all to see. The RMT have from day 1 said the idea you can cut 1000 staff, shut ticket offices, control rooms, take away customer focus and assistance and offer a better service is not only flawed but frankly dangerous.

Please download and distribute the new editionn of SFC News on your group

The disgraceful treatment of employees continues unabated.

Our cleaners all over the combine are having to contend with bullying and intimidating managers who routinely abuse agreed policies and procedures including;

• Grievances unheard
• pay illegally deducted
• pay slips not provided
• victimisation
• race discrimination
• targeting of RMT trade union reps for their trade union activities.

I am aware that many questions are being thrown up as LU proceeds to implement Fit for the Future without our agreement.

Ticket Offcie Closures
LU says that it has made its mind up to close every ticket ofcie regardless of all the points raised by RMT.
A list of dates for the closure of every ticket ofice (ex-Silverklink dates TBC but LU is confident they will be shut by the end of 2015) has now been put on the LU Fit for the future site and can be downloaded below.
We will continue to campaign against the closures and will work with the public to stop the company's plans.

An ETF Women’s Committee meeting consists of the elected Committee members, representatives of each sector (railways, civil aviation, etc), guests from affiliated trade unions, local women trade unionists (this time, from Antwerp port), and ETF staff. At the next meeting, we will be joined by the newly-elected young women’s representative. I have proposed that RMT arranges for our National Women’s Advisory Committee Chair, Becky Crocker, to attend the next meeting, in March 2015.

Women’s Health and Safety at Work