ATTENDANCE
- Bakerloo branch – Sean Geoghegan
- Camden No.3 branch – John Reid, Tony Gandolfi, Becky Crocker, Joanna Prestwich
- Central Line West branch – Vaughan Thomas (meeting chair)
- DLR – Darren Arnold
- East Ham – Claire Reilly, Gary Lazell, Unjum Mirza, Andy Izard
- Finsbury Park branch – Dean O’Hanlon, Dave Rayfield, Frank Curtis, John Kelly, G Doyle
- Hammersmith & City branch – Mac McKenna
- Jubilee South & East London Line branch –
- London Taxis branch –
- LU Engineering branch – Paul O'Brien, Lewis Peacock, Paul Jackson
- LU Fleet branch –
- Morden & Oval branch – Paul Geer
- Neasden branch –
- Piccadilly & District West branch –
- Retired Members branch –
- Stratford No.1 branch – Adrian Finney, Janine Booth (meeting secretary)
- TfL No.1 branch – Carol Foster, Roy Carey
- Thames Riverboats branch –
- In attendance – Steve Hedley (Regional Organiser), Olly New (Council of Executives member)
1. COUNCIL OF EXECUTIVES and REGIONAL ORGANISER'S REPORTS
Olly New reported on:
- Tube Lines dispute:
- injunction not granted, but hearing to take place
- excellent support by Tube Lines workers for strike
- LU managers lying re safety
- letter from Tube Lines - all offers withdrawn, advising us to talk to Gerry Duffy
- DLR dispute
- strike suspended to put new offer to members in referendum
- London Underground job cuts dispute
- initial balloting period was too short -> will now be extended
- we need a big Yes vote
- we also need a continuing political campaign
- the Budget and public services cuts reduce members' social wage
- White City dispute re sacking
- upcoming demonstrations on 29 September and 30 October
Steve Hedley reported on:
- legal threats from London Underground re 'inducement to unofficial action' during Tube Lines dispute
- LU ballot: has been a long time coming
- cleaners: London Living Wage victory
- National Shop Stewards Network Conference
Initial points made in discussion:
- as Boris Johnson has finally kept one promise (London Living Wage), we should demand he keeps his others (eg. no cuts to frontline staffing!)
- current political situation
- extending ballot period = right decision in the circumstances; need time to catch up because delay in starting ballot has cost momentum
2. DOCKLANDS LIGHT RAILWAY DISPUTE
Darren Arnold (DLR branch secretary) reported:
- strike dates co-ordinated with Tube Lines - sorry couldn't go ahead
- suspending the strike was the right thing to do in the circumstances
- new branch secretary, chair and reps elected this year
- was told that 3-car was the weakest issue RMT had ever balloted on
- thanks to Brian Whitehead for advice and for negotiating at ACAS
- offer to be taken to hte members in a referendum; closes 12 July, expect members to reject
Points made in discussion:
- DLR branch meeting was well-attended and lively
- 3-car is not a weak issue but a strong one
- members may well reject offer that Executive has recommended
- what happened to proposal for an all-grades ballot? reply: was advised that there were lots of obstacles to it
- clarification: is there a £600 offer or not? reply: yes, but with strings, not on the issue we went into dispute about
- report from RO and branch secretary to the CofE was: £600 on offer; suspend the strike; keep the ballot mandate; employer has agreed 28-day extension to mandate; should recommend acceptance in referendum
- DLR members have been led up the garden path
2. TUBE LINES DISPUTE
Paul O'Brien (Tube Lines rep) reported:
- all solid, including ERU
- effect on service
- how management 'covered' ERU
- police called to picket lines five times
- use of agency staff to 'cover' signals
- 535+ jobs under threat
- threat to withdraw pay offer - but we'd rejected it anyway!
- want to escalate with action short as well as strikes
- thanks to LU members for support
Points made in discussion:
- Tube Lines claim 100+ reports of picket line intimidation!
- refusal to work by Arnos Grove drivers - elsewhere too, but patchy
- head office failure to carry out AGM mandate and produce 'know your rights' guide on refusal to work on safety ground (disagreement as to significance of this)
- need to build confidence and spread news of non-disciplining of Arnos Grove drivers
- great strike; excellent level of organisation
4. LONDON UNDERGROUND JOB CUTS DISPUTE
Janine Booth (Regional Council Secretary / stations rep) reported:
- new leaflets produced - please distribute
- stations functional council organising station visits along with local reps - other grades/functions, please do so too
- advised by head office that title of ballot is 'London Underground job cuts', so not just about station staff
- view on strategy:
- could be lengthy dispute: need serious strategy not token protests
- when union names first strike date, should name second strike date too
- should seriously consider providing strike hardship payments
- should use 'action short' creatively
Points made in discussion:
- Is TSSA balloting? reply: yes, but a little behind us
- should picket stations and try to close them
- should try to close down network
- issue is not just about stations job cuts; but station grades must be solid in order to bring in support of other grades
- there are signs of weakness; there has not been a campaign in the workplace over the last few months; SOS campaign is not good enough, is more like a student union campaign
- Steve Hedley responded to above point, disagreeing: SOS campaign has been excellent, lots of rank-and-file reps have worked hard on it; has boosted feeling in workplace; does not deserve this criticism here
Reply (Janine): proposed that existing campaign committee becomes strike committee and has 3 members each from engineering and fleet and one from trains added to it to give better cross-grades balance. Discussion followed. Confirmed that all meetings of the committee are open, and the purpose of the list of members is to encourage those branches/grades to ensure that they are represented. Agreed.
5. OTHER DISPUTES
- Vaughan Thomas (Regional Council President / White City rep) reported on White City ballot re sacking.
- Gary Lazell (East Ham group rep) reported on request for ballot re rostered staff being forced to work on other stations.
6. ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Lewis Peacock - joint health & safety machinery
- Andy Izard - East Ham recruitment & organising day, Thursday
- Janine Booth - please discuss at your next branch meeting what members think the next pay claim should be.
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