Campaigning for better pay
Here is a list of what LUL and TfL pay their managers. That is the same LUL that offers its staff just 1% this year and RPI+0.5% for the next 4 years, and the same TfL that has not yet even tabled an offer.
Hypocrites? Judge for yourself ...
Management would have us believe that all other workers are accepting pay freezes or 'moderate' (tiny) rises. Well, have a look at this list (one-year deals unless otherwise stated):
ABOUT WAGE CONCERN
On Friday 15th May, the Employment Opportunities Bill will be debated in Parliament. The Bill has been put forward by Conservative backbenchers and it would enable employers to ‘opt-out’ of the Minimum Wage brought in by the Labour government ten years ago.
If passed, the system would be wide open to abuse by unscrupulous employers. For instance an employment agency could write a Minimum Wage Opt-Out into any contract potential staff would have to sign.
Unbelievably, they tried to claim it was against people’s ‘Human Right to work’ to have a Minimum Wage.
This resolution, submitted by Neasden branch and seconded by LU Engineering branch, was passed unanimously at the Regional Council meeting on 30 April 2009.
The Regional Council notes that LUL have now increased their 5-year pay offer to include increases of RPI plus 0.5% in years 2-5.
This offer remains entirely unacceptable in terms of both pay and the continued TfL redundancy process and withdrawal from no redundancy agreements that previously applied to all members.
The RMT delegation of Olly New, Janine Booth and myself (Steve Hedley) met with London Underground management yesterday to discuss pay. Management marginally improved their offer .The new offer is one percent this year and rpi plus 0.5 percent for the next four years.
Not only is management's offer a pay cut in real terms this year with inflation as outlined by C.P.I. at 3.2 percent (February) but the proposed deal would of course take us over the period of the Olympics where Australian rail workers secured a very good pay deal when the games were held in Sydney.
The inflation figures for March can be found here.
Management will undoubtedly point out the fact that RPI is now -0.4% and suggest that this means that prices are falling. However, CPI - which much more accurately reflects our real cost of living - is at +2.9%. So demands on our income are still rising significantly, but LUL still offers us just 1%, and that is tied to a five-year deal with RPI only for the next four years. The latest statistics do not justify LUL's offer: they simply confirm that it is a year-on-year real-terms pay cut.
RMT press release, issued today ...
Workers on London Overground are to receive a 20% average increase in wages after the successful conclusion of negotiations with the RMT.
RMT members had given their negotiators a massive 10-1 mandate for strike action in the run up to the talks which was a clear reflection of their anger over feeling unrewarded and undervalued for many years.
RMT member Neil Hood writes ...
I wrongly thought there was only one 'rate of inflation'; the RPI, and I also wrongly thought that as long as I'm getting a pay rise equal to or greater than that rate I'd be better off.
Then I discovered this link on the BBC News website.
Yesterday (2 April), RMT and other unions' representatives met with London Underground to discuss your pay. Your representatives at the meeting were Oliver New (Council of Executives), Steve Hedley (Regional Organiser) and Janine Booth (Stations & Revenue Council / Regional Council Secretary).
A full report will follow. In summary:
According to the latest official Retail Price Index, on average prices are now falling. But a closer look at the figures shows that the working-class cost of living is still rising.
Food prices went up 12.5% between February 2008 and February 2009. Eggs went up 11.2%, vegetables 18.6%, fruit 13%.
Fares and other travel costs went up 10.2% (January-January), gas 33.1%, electricity 18%.
The fall in the overall index comes from cheaper prices on clothing, car purchases, and “consumer durables” of all sorts, and from lower mortgage payments.