DLR staff vote for strikes - but will they get them?
Below is RMT's press release following the close of the DLR strike ballot today. It's good to see a strong Yes vote. But Tubeworker is bothered by the tone of the press release, which appears to be looking for a reason not to go ahead with strikes.
We hope that this is not a foretaste of the union accepting some small crumb - or a talking shop - instead of the withdrawal of the employer's scandalous cuts in jobs and pay.
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SERCO should get back to the talks table if it wants to avoid industrial action over its plans to slash safety-critical platform staff on the Docklands Light Railway, Britain’s biggest rail union warned today, after members voted for action to defend jobs and pay.
In the ballot that closed today, RMT's 250 Serco/DLR members voted for strike action and for action short of strike against plans that include cutting safety-critical platform staff, cutting station assistants' pay by up to £5,000 and doing away with more than half the current station supervisors.
"We told the company that its plans were unacceptable, and now our members have delivered a decisive mandate for industrial action to defend these safety-critical jobs," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.
"However it is dressed up, this re-organisation means a cut in safety-critical staff and fewer people on duty on a railway where most stations are already unstaffed, and it means the downgrading of the skills of those station staff that remain.
"RMT members across the company have rallied to defend their colleagues' jobs and to prevent watering down of safety standards, and they are to be congratulated for their stand.
"We remain ready to talk about the serious issues involved, but our members have voted for action and Serco should understand that their choice is to talk seriously or face the prospect of industrial action," Bob Crow said.
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Answer: Yes, it looks like it
RMT press release: strike date named
RMT's 250 members on the Docklands Light Railway are to strike for 24 hours from 03:59 on July 3 after franchisee Serco refused to drop "dangerous and penny-pinching" plans to displace experienced safety-critical platform staff and slash pay by up to £5,000.
"However Serco re-packages this plan it still mean fewer safety-critical station staff and the downgrading of the skills and pay of those that remain," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.
"That is not just bad news for our members, but bad news for everybody who uses the DLR.
"It is scandalous that a rail franchisee should even try to reduce properly trained staff in an industry that needs more and better safety and security - and it is shocking that they are doing it simply to save money because they over-trimmed their bid to retain the franchise.
"Serco are misleading the travelling public when they say they will have more people on duty, because they know they will have fewer people with the skills and experience to deal with an emergency.
"The company's supposed compromise would put current station staff on trains for 70 per cent of their time - even when they are supposed to be supervising new, inexperienced and less-well-trained people on stations.
"That is dangerous nonsense and our members have made it clear that it is unacceptable.
"Serco's penny-pinching is so bad that they have even withdrawn their sweetener of early retirement and redundancy, and for some of our members these plans mean a £5,000 pay cut and a pay freeze until 2010.
"Our members have delivered a decisive mandate for action to defend these safety-critical jobs and to prevent watering down of safety standards," Bob Crow said.
RMT press release: strike off - 30th June
A STRIKE over jobs, pay and conditions by RMT's 250 members on the Docklands Light Railway scheduled for July 3 and 4 has been suspended after fresh talks produced a new offer which is to be recommended to members in a referendum.
The dispute centres on re-organisation plans which the union believed would impact on jobs, earnings and safety.
"The company has agreed that there will be no compulsory redundancies and no reduction in salaries for current station staff, and that priority for new station jobs will be given to current station staff," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.
"The company has also agreed that experienced station staff transferring under the re-organisation will spend less time on train duties than originally proposed, and that the union will play a full role in safety validation of all news posts.
"The offer also includes built-in earnings protection for staff nearing retirement age.
"The RMT executive has agreed that the revised offer is the best available under the circumstances and will therefore recommend that our members accept it," Bob Crow said.