- Please download and distribute the attached newsletter at your station, and share this article online.

After five days of “negotiation”, London Underground has rejected all the demands in RMT’s pay claim. LU has made an “offer”, which is for a one-year deal on pay only, proposing an RPI percentage increase (currently 2.5%), and which is contingent on the union dropping all demands in our claim, including the demand for a flat-rate pay increase and a 32-hour working week.

This pay increase would not keep pace with rising costs of living, and does not address any aspect of the RMT pay claim, including our demand for a reduced working week. As such it is an abuse of language to call it an “offer” at all. LU has wasted tens of thousands of pounds, and a week of time, to do something they could’ve accomplished via an email. Their claims to have no money to meet our demands should be taken with a significant pinch of salt in light of this extreme wastefulness. The company’s annual operating surplus is currently £360 million; it has been able to afford pay rises of up to 74% for some senior managers; and waste £16 million on failed projects like the “Rostering and Coverage Tool” on stations.

The negotiating team, which was comprised of representatives from all functions, voted unanimously to recommend to the RMT National Executive Committee that the NEC rejects this insulting non-offer.

Our next steps will be to continue building a campaign in workplacesto build pressure to win the demands in our pay claim.

The central demands of RMT’s pay claim are:
- A 32-hour working week
- A substantial pay award, including a minimum flat-rate increase
- Equalisation of staff travel benefits, including the extension of the “Priv” ticket to all members of staff
- Levelling up of the CSA grade on stations, promotion of all CSA2s to current CSA1 level as part of consolidating the grade.

Speak to your local and Level Two/Tier Two reps for more info, and get active in your branch to have your say on how we should campaign to win our demands.