Blog: Raise Minimum Wage For Young People Under 21

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on 20 May, 2012 - 02:10

In its recent budget, the government raised the minimum wage for over 21 year olds in line with inflation, but froze the minimum wage for under 21 year olds. The minimum wage is currently at £6.19 an hour for people aged over 21, compared to £4.98 for under 21 year olds.

There is no evidence to support the government’s argument that this will help to get young people into work. Instead, this unjust measure will only serve to widen the increasing intergenerational inequality that we are seeing in Britain, and force hundreds of thousands of young people further into poverty.

Olympic Games – TfL And Unions In Dispute

Submitted by Admin on 19 May, 2012 - 17:25

After TfL rejected the Trades Unions (TUs) request for urgent talks at ACAS, another Special Company Council (SCC) was held on Tuesday 15th May, with TfL and the TUs to discuss the Olympics.

All TUs agree the following:

  • They want the Olympics to be a success, and for its transport workers to play a full and rewarding role in delivering a world class spectacle for London.
  • That staff in TfL should be paid the same for doing the same job as their colleagues in LU (for current offer, please see separate table). We believe this is only fair.
  • That TfL should not – under any circumstances – bully or intimidate staff to “volunteer”. If you feel you are being pressured to do so, please contact your local TU rep immediately.
  • That TfL should recognise (as they have done in LU) the huge contribution that “core” staff, who they have banned from volunteering as they are vital to running TfL during the Games will make. Without ALL our hard work, the Games will not be a success.

RMT/ASLEF Inter-Union Relations Line of Promotion to Driver

Submitted by Peter on 19 May, 2012 - 17:13

from General Secretary Bob Crow

With reference to the above, I am aware that ASLEF representatives and officials around the country have apparently been asserting that they can organise and represent grades other than Drivers in Train Operating Companies and have been recruiting such staff, including existing RMT members.

Canteen Workers Newsletter

Submitted by rmtlondon on 19 May, 2012 - 14:50

You can view the newsletter here. If you want to help out, then please download it using the link below the article, print it and hand it out to Sodexo canteen staff at your workplace.

The RMT is the only union campaigning for Sodexo canteen workers

RMT believes in direct employment of all catering staff. The appallingly low wages paid to sub-contracted caterers has already been described.

Service Control Ballot To Continue Following Correspondence From London Underground

Submitted by Admin on 18 May, 2012 - 00:04

We note the correspondence from London Underground regarding service control issues. Our representatives are not reassured by this correspondence, and we instruct the General Secretary to invite our Functional Council representatives to submit detailed comments, which are to be placed on file.

We further note that our ballot for industrial action is now in progress, and instruct the General Secretary to offer all appropriate resources to our representatives and to our Regional Council’s Service Control Grades Committee to organise for a good turnout in this ballot.

London Underground Machinery Of Negotiation And Consultation

Submitted by Admin on 17 May, 2012 - 23:00

We note the correspondence from London Underground proposing a review of the machinery of
negotiation and consultation.

We further note the comments from our Regional Organiser, that there are outstanding issues to be addressed under the current machinery, concerning RMT’s entitlement to local representatives in areas where the company does not currently recognise them.

We instruct the General Secretary to ensure that these issues are addressed before the proposed review begins.

London Transport Regional Council and branches to be advised.

RMT Young Members have a Blast in Brussels

Submitted by jayeshjpatel on 17 May, 2012 - 18:04

At the end of March RMT young members travelled to Brussels to take part in a rally for nationalisation and against privatisation on the first anniversary of the European Commission's Transport White Paper, which orders states to surrender transport networks to corporate interests

We brought along our handmade banner which we worked really hard creating from scratch. It took a lot of hard work especially as we had underestimated how long it would take. Young members met up at Martine House in Clapham Common the day before to design and create the banner. It was great laugh, we each did small shifts and were powered by liquid nourishment and fish & chips.

It was shorts and t-shirt weather in Brussels and after the rally we enjoyed the many things that Brussels had to offer.

The casualisation of vindictive discriminatory practices

Submitted by jayeshjpatel on 17 May, 2012 - 17:01

‘The Past We Inherit The Future we Build.’

I am writing to you about an issue which may not seem on the face of it directly a young members issue but if we let these things happen to our fellow workers what will the future be like for us? We cannot let them get away with it, we cannot allow such blatant discrimination, bullying and harassment to become the norm. Such actions pave the way management will behave in the future, we have a lot more years in this company and we cannot allow the casualisation of vindictive discriminatory practices.

Tube Lines To Issue Free Travel Passes To All Staff Following 72 Hour RMT Strike

Submitted by Admin on 17 May, 2012 - 01:59

We note the report from our Regional Organiser that at a meeting yesterday, Tube Lines offered the following:

  • Tube Lines would start immediately to issue staff Oyster cards to all staff and also
    issue staff nominee passes in line with those issued to LUL staff.
  • A joint working party would be set up to look at the rates of pay, terms and conditions,
    pensions and 75% reduction on mainline railways between Tube Lines and APD.

London Underground To Recruit 900 Customer Service Advisors Since Cutting 800 Last year

Submitted by Admin on 16 May, 2012 - 14:39

TUBE UNION RMT revealed today that senior reps have been informed that LUL are to recruit a further 600 Customer Service Advisors (CSA’s), coming on top of the 300 employed earlier this year and following the deletion of 800 station staff posts by the company last year.

RMT says that the recruitment of the latest wave of additional staff is an outright admission that they got their station staffing cuts programme wrong and that if they had listened to the union in the first place they could have saved themselves a huge amount of disruption and embarrassment.