TUBE UNION RMT said today that in a ballot of staff working on London Underground’s “Trainpeople” agency contract members have voted unanimously for strike action over the termination of a deal which will dump dozens of staff on the dole and which makes a mockery of regulations which were supposed to protect the employment rights of agency staff.
From Tuesday 15th of January 2013 until further notice, RMT and ASLEF train drivers are taking action for safety.
Drivers in both Aslef and RMT unions are taking action, not over pay or hours, but because serious safety concerns have been ignored by London Underground management.
Since the introduction of a new procedure last year to clear trains of passengers before going out of service there have been thousands of incidents in which passengers have been ‘over-carried’ into sidings.
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FIGHT AGAINST JOB CUTS
Members should already be in receipt of the broadsheet, "We Can Stop Job Cuts". This outlines how we lost over 800 jobs between March 2011 & March 2012, while passenger numbers have soared to record levels. The Broadsheet details all the arguments of our Union to maintain a fully staffed, publicly owned and integrated transport system.
Unfortunately those who run Government, in London and nationally, and their highly paid bosses at London Underground are not moved by rational arguments. A fully staffed underground system would offer the World Class service that Londoners expect.
John Reid the London Transport Region Secretary writes this review on the pamphlet Unity is Strength - 100 Years Of The National Union Of Railwaymen by Alex Gordon. RMT members can pick up a copy for free from Unity House - for all others it is priced at £3 and available here.
Click on the attachment to download the Bakerloo Trains news. Main story follows:
As we move into week three of our safety dispute over LU’s unsafe detrainment process we are happy to inform drivers that our action remains solid. Drivers are to be congratulated for standing strong in the face of LU’s ambivalence to the problem.
RAIL UNION RMT warned today that a looming shortage of skilled staff, driven by a failure to invest in training and apprenticeships and the dash to sub out key work to agencies and contractors, will threaten the timetables for future rail projects including the High Speed proposals unveiled this week.
The RMT warning is backed by research by the National Skills Academy for Railway Engineering for the Office of Rail Regulation that was published just a few days ago.
Rail union RMT today challenged the Government to come clean over the real reasons for a three year delay in crucial rail fleet replacement programmes, delays that are both unnecessary and which continue to threaten the future of the UK train building industry.