PRESS RELEASE – STRICT EMBARGO 00.001 WEDNESDAY 11th MARCH
Poll Proves People want Change and New Priorities
An exclusive poll commissioned for the launch of the People’s Charter for Change at the House of Commons on Wednesday 11th at 10.30 has shown that people across the country are demanding a new set of priorities to deal with the present economic crisis.
ENDING DAMAGING staff cuts, bringing all of London’s Tube back into the public sector and getting the network’s upgrade back on track are more important than the name on the managing director’s door, London Underground’s biggest union said today.
Responding to news that LUL chief Tim O’Toole was stepping down, RMT said that the damaging policies being imposed on the network needed to be reversed.
RMT press release, issued today
NEARLY 300 members of Britain’s biggest rail union working for London Overground are to be balloted for strike action over a breakdown of industrial relations.
The dispute involves a complex of issues, including failure to negotiate seriously on restructuring proposals, failure to improve facilities and progress other welfare issues, and failure to confirm verbal assurances that new trains would be staffed by guards with full operational safety role and control of doors.
RMT press release, issued today
TALKS ON London Underground’s plan to axe 1,000 jobs failed to clear the first hurdle today after the company refused to agree consultation arrangements.
The company effectively walked away from the table after refusing to discuss the procedure for the consultation, trying instead to steamroller through its own terms of reference – even down to the number of reps from each union.
RMT press release, issued today
RMT to lobby LUL headquarters at Broadway from 08:00
LONDON UNDERGROUND’S biggest union will tomorrow (Wednesday) demonstrate its opposition to at least 1,000 redundancies planned by Tube bosses with a mass Lobby at the network’s 55 Broadway headquarters.
The noisy and colourful protest will commence at 08:00 on Wednesday, February 11
The union has already indicated that it will resist job losses, and that any attempt to impose compulsory redundancies among its members would be met with a ballot for industrial action.
RMT press release, issued today
THE EXTREME weather that has played havoc with Britain’s transport system has underlined the failings of a fragmented rail network and the folly of the long-term reduction in the number of front-line staff, the country’s biggest rail union said today.
As staff struggled to maintain services in worsening weather conditions, RMT contrasted the commitment of front-line workers with train-operating companies that have chipped away at staffing levels since privatisation to boost profits.
RMT press release, issued today
POWER WORKERS responsible for finding and fixing faults on the London Tube’s power supply will begin the first of six new overnight strikes at 19:59 on Sunday (February 1) after employer EDF Energy Powerlink again failed to deliver pay parity with non-shift colleagues.
The two dozen ‘shift testers’, who have already stopped work three times, will also strike for 12 hours starting at 19:59 on February 4, 11, 15 and 22 and March 1.
RMT press release, issued today
A STRIKE by members of Britain’s biggest rail union working in the control room of the Docklands Light Railway has been suspended after the company agreed to leave existing roster and leave arrangements in place pending the outcome of further talks.
Some 30 RMT members had been scheduled to begin a 24-hour stoppage at 13:05 on Monday in a dispute over changes to weekend working hours.
RMT press release, issued today
ANY THREAT of forced redundancies of RMT members at TfL and London Underground will be resisted, the capital’s biggest tube and rail union said today.
In response to news that at least 1,000 jobs would be cut and fears that thousands more were under threat, RMT said that any move attempt to impose compulsory redundancies would be met with a ballot for industrial action.
RMT press release, issued today
HAYES AND Harlington MP John McDonnell made a stand for democracy with his demonstration in the House of Commons today, Britain’s specialist transport union said.
Condemning the MP’s suspension from the house after he seized the Mace in the Commons chamber, RMT said that Mr McDonnell had been right to label as a disgrace the denial of a vote by MPs on the controversial decision to build a third Heathrow runway.