RMT press releases

TUBE UNION RMT tonight condemned “lethal and unworkable” plans leaked to the BBC from within the GLA Tory Group to axe all train drivers and operators on London Underground and to move the entire tube system to a driverless operation.

The leaked report, confirmed as being under discussion by the GLA Tories and which London Tory Mayor Boris Johnson is aware of, recommends sacking all of the 3,525 train drivers and operators estimating that it could result in savings of £141 million per annum.

TUBE UNION RMT today issued a renewed call for London Mayor Boris Johnson to “get out of the bunker and start talking” as the clock ticks down towards two 48 hour strikes called by the union in defence of jobs, pay and working conditions on Tube Lines starting next Wednesday.

RMT have warned that the threat to tube maintenance jobs will have serious safety consequences with the union already compiling evidence that repairs and renewals schedules are being hacked to pieces in the dash to slash budgets.

Tube union RMT today exposed the safety dangers of cutting station staff serving one of London's largest regular crowd venues – Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.

RMT have revealed that London Underground plan to almost halve staffing numbers at stations that come under enormous pressure when matches and events are being held at the Emirates. The stations affected are Arsenal, Finsbury Park, Caledonian Road and Holloway Road - all on the Piccadilly line.

TUBE UNION RMT today announced strike dates on Tube Lines over the failure of TfL and the company to give concrete assurances on jobs, pay and working conditions.

Members will not book on for any shift commencing between 19.00 hours on Wednesday 23rd June 2010 and 18.59 on Friday 25th June 2010 and between 19.00 hours on Wednesday 14th July and 18.59 hours on Friday 16th July.

Announcements this week confirmed that the profits and subsidies of the private train operating companies are being ring-fenced while key modernisation, maintenance and upgrade works are being ditched in an all-out dash for cuts.

Network Rail boss Iain Coucher says publicly that Crossrail works have “not gone so far that they could not be stopped”

Tube Union RMT today called on London Mayor Boris Johnson to make an urgent statement on the impact of the ConDem government cuts on the tube upgrade programme as rumours gathered ground that the works on the Northern Line will not be completed in time for the 2012 Olympics.

TRANSPORT UNION RMT announced today that it is launching an unprecedented challenge to the UK’s anti-trade union laws in the European Court of Human Rights.

Papers on behalf of RMT will be lodged with the European Court today by the union and its solicitors. RMT will argue on behalf of its members that its ability to organise industrial action to protect its members is restricted by UK law.

With the new ConDem government kicking off its cuts programme today, transport union RMT warned this morning that key transport projects, including Crossrail, High Speed rail, electrification and the Tube upgrades, are all at risk of being scrapped, scaled back or kicked into the long grass with the union forecasting that the national transport budget could be hacked back by up to 27%.

RMT blasts Mayor’s “transport strategy” as a smokescreen for job cuts, ticket office closures and attacks on safety standards

TUBE UNION RMT today blasted London Tory Mayor Boris Johnson for throwing up a smokescreen under the guise of a “Transport Strategy”, designed to deflect attention away from his multi-billion transport cuts package that threatens thousands of jobs, ticket office closures across the Capital and a systematic undermining of current safety standards.

Figures obtained by RMT show that from October 2009 through to March 2010 surface level stations on the District, Central, Metropolitan, Circle & Hammersmith and Northern Lines were left unstaffed for entire shifts on a total of 439 occasions. One station, Mill Hill East, was left unstaffed for 95 entire shifts.

Current cuts plans being implemented by London Underground would see up to 800 ticket office, station and platform staff jobs axed creating a wave of ticket office closures and ushering in a culture of unstaffed tube stations, particularly late at night.