London Underground Job Cuts Dispute 2010-11

I am writing to congratulate members on the magnificent solidarity you have shown in the recent strike. Despite the lies and misleading propaganda put out by management, politicians and the media, you know that the network hardly ran any services at all.

As has been stated in previous letters, RMT members do not want these cuts and nor do the travelling public.

Bob Crow General Secretary

Click 'Read More' to see the letter in full.

Dear Mr Cameron

We are writing to ask you to intervene to ensure direct talks take place between the trade unions and the Mayor of London.

We are taking this unprecedented step because the Mayor is more interested in using the dispute to shore up his standing amongst the Tory faithful than addressing the genuine fears of passengers and tube staff.

RMT has received massive support and solidarity messages for the campaign against cuts on London Underground:

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber has thrown the weight of entire Labour movement behind our action, he has said: “Workers on the tube are understandably concerned that the cuts proposed for the underground will compromise safety for both the public and staff. We fully support the action staff are taking and call on the Mayor to engage in serious negotiations to resolve this dispute."

To start the strike off there will be a picket at Elephant & Castle from 18:00 hours on Sunday 3rd of October. The BBC and ITV are due to be there.

Meet outside the Bakerloo exit on London Road.

Join us to get the strike started!!!

The coalition (Conservative/Liberal Democrat) government is attacking the basic rights and working conditions of workers, we must act now to prevent the loss of thousands more jobs. Whilst billions of pounds of public money has been spent to save the banks, the coalition government is reaping the cost of the economic crisis from ordinary working members of the public and the most economically disadvantaged including pensioners and Young people.

AS WORKERS across London Underground prepare for a further 24 hour strike over safe staffing levels starting this Sunday evening, RMT have today released pictures of worn-away brake blocks on trains that with finance-driven maintenance changes would be forced into service, a move that the union says demonstrate that financial cuts are ripping to shreds safety and maintenance schedules with lethal consequences for passengers and staff alike.

Click on the attachment to see the latest 'RMT up front', newsletter of the RMT train grades committee.

Articles follow:
Bend it like Beckham!
Becks can bend a ball, but not half as much as LU can bend standards and procedures
Remember the disgraced tycoon Robert Maxwell? He used to ask his legal advisors for their legal opinion; if he didn’t like their answer, he’d sack them, and get a new legal advisor. He’d repeat the process until he got the opinion he wanted. LU is no better. They have standards to ensure health and safety is maintained, if they don’t have enough staff to ensure standards and procedures are carried out correctly, they just bend the rules to suit them.

After the successful strike on 7th September and with an overtime ban causing stations to close and engineering works to be cancelled, London Underground management is coming under strong pressure to return to the negotiating table. We can win this fight for a safe and properly staffed railway, but only if we crank up the pressure. Finsbury Park's latest leaflet explains how our overtime ban is hurting the company and calls on all members to make the next strike on October 3rd/4th even stronger than the first.

Download a copy by clicking on the attachment.

This is a letter to all RMT members at London Underground (excluding ex-Metronet), from General Secretary Bob Crow.

I am writing to advise you that despite the best efforts of your negotiators at the recent ACAS talks management refuse to take seriously our concerns that their proposed job cuts will have a devastating effect on safety. The General Grades Committee has amended the times of the next strikes as follows:

• 18.29 hours on Sunday 3rd October 2010 and 18.28 hours on Monday 4th October 2010

• LU busting safety rules by running uninspected trains, says RMT
• Union has evidence that trains that have not been inspected for 14 days have not been taken out of service, as operating rules require.

ALL MAJOR engineering work on London Underground scheduled for this weekend has been cancelled as an overtime by the network’s two biggest unions begins to bite.

Works hit by the ban include major re-railing between White City and Marble Arch, as well as all work on signalling systems.