Industrial action

By a majority of 3 to 1 on a high turnout, RMT drivers on the Victoria line have voted for strike action and action short of a strike against local management’s attempt to impose 5-rounder duties on the line. The unions had an agreement with the company that there would be no more than four rounders in any duty because of the hot and noisy conditions on the line and the detrimental effect on morale that these turns

RMT CLEANERS working on the Eurostar contract for the Carlisle Group at St Pancras International are rock solid this morning in their support for a 48 hour strike which started at 21.59 hours last night.

The cleaners - who are fighting a pay freeze, a threat of redundancies, the introduction of Orwellian finger-printing machines and the victimisation of a union rep – have mounted a noisy mass picket at St Pancras International this morning.

The picket will be between St Pancras and Kings Cross, about 100 yards down from Euston Rd. The strike is for shifts that book on between21:59 hours on Thursday 17th September 2009 and 21:59 on Saturday 19th September 2009.

The main book-on times are 08.00 and 14.00, so a good time to be there is Friday 7.30 am and 13.30 and the same on Saturday. Shift start times are 2200; 0600; 0800; 1400; 1530 so there should be pickets in place before those times, if not all day.

Carlisle gives Cleaners 14.3% more! (But only to scabs!)

RMT is to ballot our members on the Woolwich Ferry for action short of strikes in a dispute about redundancies and attacks on terms and conditions.

Ferry operator SERCO wants to get rid of 31 jobs out of 120 who work on board the ferries. RMT fears that shoreside workers will face redundancies when the company have dealt with the onboard staff.

Circular No. IR/253/09: IMPOSITION OF ROSTERS – CONTROL ROOM – SERCO DOCKLANDS

The above dispute remains ongoing and I am in the process of re-balloting these members for strike action and industrial action short of a strike.

To re-cap, the dispute originated last year from an attempt by management to force Control Room staff from a popular 12 hour roster to an 8 hour one. A successful ballot for industrial action forced them to pull back from implementation, but negotiations broke down and Serco again attempted to unilaterally implement the 12 hour roster.

Please note that this document is London Underground's policy not RMT's! We publish it here for information, not because we endorse it!

A key part of this document is in Section 2: 2. Staff Who Take Industrial Action Shifts lost through official industrial action will NOT count under the Attendance at Work procedure. Staff covered by the industrial action who do not attend for work and who are not sick or on leave should be recorded on SAP, as appropriate, under the code for Industrial Action Official.

by Vaughan Thomas, Regional Council President

It’s an emotive word and one which used in the workplace has even led to disciplinary action. Nevertheless, it is an important part of the lexicon of picketers and very effective when used properly!

So what are “scabs” and what motivates them?

Circular No. IR/170/09, 29th May 2009

NOTICE OF FURTHER STRIKE ACTION

I can confirm that the General Grades Committee has brought forward and extended the next period of strike action in support of the above dispute. The one day stoppage previously called for over 17th and 18th June is now called off and full details of the revised stoppage are given below.