Workers' Liberty

Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT rail union, has said: "RMT welcomes today's [1 July] announcement by the Government on the renationalisation of the East Coast route but this shouldn't be a short term, crisis measure.

The two days of strike action on the London Underground over pay, job cuts and management bullying, 9-11 June, were a big success, with management unable to get services running until well into the morning, and then only token shuttles for PR reasons.

The new issue of Tubeworker welcomes the effectiveness of the recent strike, and discusses the way forward.

50-odd people turned out for a meeting on the People's Charter (PC) with John McDonnell MP and RMT general secretary Bob Crow at Lambeth Town Hall on 16 June, although it's fair to say almost everyone anywhere near 30 years old was an organised lefty. The Socialist Party outnumbered the SWP considerably. To my knowledge only one person there was a member of the CPB (originators of the People's Charter). A couple of Greens were also present.

London Underground workers struck for 48 hours from Tuesday 9 June-Thursday 11 June over pay, jobs and management bullying.

• 1000 jobs are at risk on London Underground and up to 3000 in Transport for London as part of a £2.4 billion cuts package. LUL have refused to rule out compulsory redundancies, despite signing up to a “no compulsory redundancies” agreement in 2001.

This article can be found here http://www.workersliberty.org/blogs/tubeworker/2009/06/11

I recently got into an argument on Facebook about the Tube workers' strike. Here is one of my messages. It's fairly self-explanatory even without the arguments I was replying to.

Wednesday 3rd June

Click the attachment / file name to download the special issue of Tubeworker for the strike starting this evening.

The film "The Navigators", about rail privatisation, directed by Ken Loach and written by the late Rob Dawber, an AWL member, will be screened on Film Four TV at 23:20 on Tuesday 9 June.

The new issue of Tubeworker calls for the most effective action possible in the current dispute, and discussing how to keep the momentum going beyond the first walkout.

Roundup of Union news in brief: Linamar, Tube, UCL, PCS

28 May, the day after Solidarity went to press, was the last day of the RMT's ballot for strike action among 10,000 workers on London Underground and at Transport for London over pay, jobs and management bullying.

The new issue of Tubeworker reports that LUL management has upheld the outrageously unjust sacking of Carl Campbell, which means that Wednesday/Thursday's Victoria line drivers' strike goes ahe

The RMT is re-balloting nearly 10,000 of its members across London Underground and Transport for London for strike action around disputes centred on jobs, pay and breaches of disciplinary and attendance agreements. This ballot (which starts on 14 May) follows an earlier positive vote for strike action in a ballot which was subsequently ruled invalid by a court order from a legal action brought by Underground bosses. Management ‘s lawyers picked up on trivial errors in the balloting process.

Glasgow school closures; Unison health conference; Trinity Mirror journalists' dispute; London Overground workers win 22% pay rise.

London Underground staff voted by a huge majority to fight back over job cuts, pay and management bullying. For strikes, there were 3,165 Yes votes and just 619 No. For action short of strikes, 3,495 voted Yes and only 266 No.
That was nearly 84% for strikes, and a whopping 93% for action short.

As RMT members prepare to vote against for industrial action for against job cuts, a rubbish pay offer and management bullying, Tubeworker urges London Underground workers to be aware of their

The RMT rail union has announced: Workers on London Overground are to receive a 20% average increase in wages after the successful conclusion of negotiations with the RMT.

The RMT rail union has announced: RMT train operators working out of the Seven Sisters depot, covering the Victoria Line, will be on strike from 21.00 hours Tuesday 21 April to 20.59 hours Wednesday 22 April in a dispute over the failure to install Correct Door Side Enabling Equipment and the continuing bullying, harassment and victimization of RMT members.

As we go to press workers on London Underground are balloting over strike action to defend job cuts and pay.

London Underground is cutting more than a thousand jobs in administration grades. Transport for London is due to cut around three and a half thousand jobs over the next eighteen months.

The new issue of Tubeworker reports on the massive vote by RMT members for industrial action over jobs, pay and bullying, but also the fact that the union is re-balloting because of legal threa

The expanded platform published on the website of the No2EU campaign for the 4 June Euro-elections denounces "the so-called ‘free movement’ of labour" in the EU and "the social dumping of exploited foreign workers in Britain".

Railworkers; TUC women's conference; Walthamstow Academy.

Everyday now we hear news about thousands of job losses across industry.

The new issue of Tubeworker urges all RMT members on London Underground and TfL to vote Yes in the current industrial action ballot, and discusses some of the issues that workers are talking ab

UNIONS AND CLIMATE CHANGE: Workers’ Climate Action were invited to speak at the RMT young members’ conference on 1 March.

“Trade Unionists Against the EU Constitution” is planning to run lists in the 4 June election for the European Parliament, and on 4 March won the support of the Executive of the rail union RMT for that.

A circular letter dated 24 February (see below) announced the convening of a "delegate meeting" on Tuesday 3 March to discuss a challenge in the 4 June Euro-elections. Rank-and-file trade unionists who turned up to the meeting, however, were excluded on the basis that it was open only to those delegated to a previous (unpublicised) meeting.