RMT Executive decisions

AMENDED INDUSTRIAL ACTION

Further to my previous correspondence, I would again like to congratulate you for supporting your union’s call for strike action and action short of a strike in defence of your pension. Your Executive has carefully considered the strong wish of you and your colleagues to carry out industrial action in order to oppose these plans and those expressed by your representatives to fight TfL’s plans. I can now advise you that your General Grades Committee has decided to amend some of the industrial action.

The RMT General Grades Committee has agreed to accept pay offers from Serco Docklands AND Carlisle. As a result all strikes are called off.

We congratulate all members for their resolve in their campaign for a decent pay settlement on Serco, for the London Living Wage on Carlisle and the commitments forced from the company on the other matters involved in this dispute.

Following consultation with reps and activists in order to maximise unity and the effect of our strike action the GGC agrees to adjust the strike action in our industrial campaign to defend jobs on London Underground.

We instruct all grades not to book on for duties starting from 21:00 hours on Tuesday 4th of February 2014 until 20:59 on Thursday 6th of February. Further not to book on for duties starting from 21:00 hours on Tuesday 11th of February 2014 until 20:59 on Thursday 13th of February.

We note the correspondence from London Underground Ltd. We further note the report from our Regional Organiser and the view of our representatives that this is the basis of a settlement of our dispute.

We therefore will not take strike action under the current mandate. We remain vigilant on all the issues that formed part of this dispute, and note that a follow-up meeting will be held.

We note the report from our Regional Organiser, and accordingly, we instruct the General Secretary to hold a referendum of our members with a recommendation to reject the offer, making clear that a vote to reject will lead to a ballot for industrial action should the employer not improve its inadequate offer.

London Transport Regional Council and branches to be advised. LU Fleet branch and our representative on this contract to be advised by personal letter.

We note the legal advice, that LUL's attempts to solicit applications for Voluntary Severance during the period of consultation on 'Fit For the Future - Stations' is potentially unlawful. A consultation is not genuine if the employer is already implementing the policy that it is supposed to be consulting on! We instruct the General Secretary to write to LUL immediately, insisting that it withdraw all documentation inviting staff to apply for Voluntary Severance until after the consultation is complete.

This report was adopted by the RMT Council of Executives at its December Statutory meeting:

I attended this conference as a member of the ETF Women's Committee, and was the only UK trade unionist present as a delegate. This was the final conference of the 'Bargaining For Equality' project, which we had not, to my knowledge, been aware of until now. The Project sought to address inequality in men's and women's wages, and to identify collective bargaining strategies that would tackle these inequalities.

We note the report from our Regional Organiser and the progress made in talks, and that London Underground Ltd has agreed to extend the period of our ballot mandate by 28 days. We note that the R.O. and the majority of representatives believe that sufficient progress has been made to suspend the industrial action and we therefore instruct the General Secretary to immediately advise the company and our members that the strike action due to begin at 12:00 on Wednesday 4 December 2013 is suspended.

We note the circular from LUL management seeking volunteers to work as ‘TfL Ambassadors’, previously known as ICSAs. We continue to have serious concerns about how TfL and LUL attempt to deploy these staff, in ways which breach the settlement of our 2008 Casualisation dispute and undermine safe operating practices and the jobs of station staff.

We therefore instruct the General Secretary to remind London Underground members of our ongoing industrial action short of strikes on this matter, contained in our decision Gww 19 July 2012 and amended by our decision Gww 15 August 2012.

We believe that rather than cut staff, London Underground and its parent company Transport for London should:

1. challenge the government's funding cut to TfL, and demand the guaranteed, decent level of public funding that such a crucial transport system requires
2. maintain or increase the level of station staffing and ticket office opening times; promote its own ticket-selling services rather than those of external outlets
3. undertake a major programme of making London Underground more accessible to disabled people and to communities that it does not currently serve