Following Holland Park Incident, RMT Tells Tube Bosses Guarantee To Retain Staff Or We Are In Dispute

Submitted by rmtlondon on 24 September, 2013 - 14:32

We note the correspondence from London Underground Ltd regarding inner inter-car barriers. We also note the appalling incident at Holland Park station during the Notting Hill Carnival, during which distressed passengers escaped from the train by breaking through these barriers.

This incident - together with others, including the escape of a boy from a train in Queens Park depot on the Bakerloo line - completely discredit LUL's claim that these barriers prevent passengers escaping from trains when the doors are closed.

RMT Awaits Meaningful Talks To Avert Vic Line Strike

Submitted by rmtlondon on 24 September, 2013 - 14:24

We note that London Underground Ltd has signed an agreement to extend the validity of our ballot mandate. We therefore suspend the strike action due to start at 2100 today (24 September 2013) and conclude at 0300 tomorrow (25 September 2013).

We affirm that our strike action due to commence on 8 October 2013 is not suspended, and remains in place. We instruct the General Secretary to provide all necessary support and advice to members taking part in this industrial action.

RMT Awaits Meaningful Talks To Avert Vic Line Strike

Submitted by rmtlondon on 24 September, 2013 - 14:24

We note that London Underground Ltd has signed an agreement to extend the validity of our ballot mandate. We therefore suspend the strike action due to start at 2100 today (24 September 2013) and conclude at 0300 tomorrow (25 September 2013).

We affirm that our strike action due to commence on 8 October 2013 is not suspended, and remains in place. We instruct the General Secretary to provide all necessary support and advice to members taking part in this industrial action.

Women (and men) workers in Finland's transport industry

Submitted by Janine on 23 September, 2013 - 11:24

On the first day of the ETF Women's Committee meeting, several Finnish transport trade unionists attended as guests, including women from the logistics, shipping, rail and salaried sectors. We also had a presentation from Tapio Bergholm, who has written a history of Finnish transport workers. The Finnish member of the ETF Women's Committee is Satu, from the Finnish Seamen's Union, who was elected one of the two Vice-Chairs of the Committee.

RMT London Calling Newsletter September 2013

Submitted by Admin on 21 September, 2013 - 04:34

In this months newsletter:

  • We Will Unite & Fight to Stop Job Cuts
  • Why Can’t LU Keep Ticket Offices Open?
  • RMT Taxi Branch Resists Attempts to Loosen Rules on “Plying for Hire”
  • RMT will Demand Payment for all Staff Working on Boxing Day
  • Tube Lines Pension Dispute
  • Bombardier Pay And Conditions Talks Continue
  • RMT Push For Increased Representation at TfL
  • RMT will Demand Payment for all Staff Working on Boxing Day
  • Back Dated Pay Rises For Cleaners & Security Workers Still Short Of London Living Wage
  • STOP PRESS: CLEANERS VOTE OVERWHELMINGLY to refuse to use fingerprint scanners to book on for Duty

This article and the attached newsletter was updated on the 22nd of September to remove an outdated story about a member facing disciplinary

LU Still Refuses to Discuss Ticket Office Closures

Submitted by Jared on 20 September, 2013 - 13:38

Following the publication, in the Evening Standard, of a plan to close every ticket office on the tube we wrote to the COO demanding an urgent meeting of the stations & revenue functional council.
Having refused to discuss ticket office closure plans at previous meetings we were a little surprised when an ad-hoc meeting was arranged for 5th Sept.
We needn’t have been. Management came to the meeting and told us, again, that they have no plans at this stage and therefore cannot discuss the matter!

Resolution to September Regional Council meeting: Eastern European migrant workers

Submitted by Admin on 20 September, 2013 - 09:17

Proposed by the Regional Council Executive Committee

We note that from 1 January 2014, restrictions will be lifted on Bulgarian and Romanian citizens coming to the UK to live and work. Those people who do so are likely to find themselves in the lowest-paid, most insecure jobs. Many of these jobs will be in London Transport, for example in contracted-out cleaning, catering and engineering functions.

Driverless trains: a warning from Helsinki

Submitted by Janine on 19 September, 2013 - 15:17

The underground railway (Metro) in Finland's capital city Helsinki is due to go 'driverless' in 2016. I discussed this with Finnish trade unionists Jussi and Satu, and heard a story that has important lessons for London Underground workers and passengers trying to prevent the same calamity happening in London.

The proposal to introduce driverless operation on the Helsinki Metro was first raised in 2007. The trade unions opposed it (note that as city council employees, the Metro workers are members of the public sector trade union rather than a transport union).