Workers' Liberty

After hours of talks and of course our two days of strike action, management have improved their pay offer. We are now looking at a two year deal: 1.5% this year and RPI plus 0.5% for year two.

Funnily enough, talks seem to slow down to a snail's pace when industrial action is finished and no further action is yet called.

London Underground is to slash its spending on maintaining the ex-Metronet lines.

• £26+m from track and signals

• £19m from trains
• £18.5m from stations
  
  

Fresh from implying that we are 'greedy' for not wanting a pay cut, Boris Johnson has been embarrased by a deputy caught abusing the City Hall credit card for his own comforts.

As an ASLEF member I was disgusted to see that my union had written to its members advising them to cross RMT picket lines and go to work during the recent 48-hour strike.

LUL has summarily dismissed Earls Court signaller Tony Crump, for a mistake at work.

Author: Sapdog

As I stood on the picket line
A woman spoke to me
Saying 'I was not always the woman
The woman you now see'
Yes once I had a happy life
Yes once my life was fine
Until I made that fateful choice
And crossed the picket line

Predictably the daily newspapers, from London free sheets to “serious” national broadsheets, have portrayed the strike negatively and largely put across management's case (usually while trying to maintain a veneer of objectivity).

The strike has got off to a good start, with management unable to get services running until well into the morning peak, and then only little token shuttles which are mainly for PR reasons.

In several ways, this dispute has been run better than previous ones, but in other ways, there is still room for improvement.

What's better:

News this morning is that management have gone to ACAS.

At negotiations on Friday, management moved on pay. Feeling the pressure, they have now put a two year deal on the table.

Predictably enough, management made a little concession at yesterday's talks. Given that it was our preparation for a strike that got us this far, pressing ahead is the only way to win more.

Download it here.

Remember LUL's silly idea of inviting passengers to text in their comments?

RMT has backed the NO2EU Coalition for the European elections, in the first major union backing for a political initiative outside the Labour Party for years.

We’ve done it again! Another ‘yes’ vote. This time, with almost 86% in favour of strike action.

CBS Outdoor workers, who put posters up on the Tube, are being made to use a tool to smooth the posters out, which puts a lot of pressure on their hands and is causing them damage.

When an employer wants to defeat a workforce - to hold back pay, force through job cuts, impose a regime of bullying an fear - then they have to minimise resistance, and that means attacking union rep

Another driver has seen one mistake leave him out of work - this time, Bakerloo driver Kevin Dobinson.

Belatedly, a quick report on last week's Vic line strike, which was even more solid than the last one!

RMT members on London Underground have voted by an even bigger majority than last time for strike action to defend jobs, pay and rights at work - up from 83% to 85+%, or from 5:1 to 6:1.

Once again, thanks to management for being the best campaigners for our union.

Boris Johnson has announced that the London Living Wage is going up 15p to £7.60.

Management are obviously rather rattled by staff's support for RMT's industrial action ballot.

The new issue of the printed Tubeworker bulletin is out now. Download it here.

Join the picket lines: Wednesday evening 9pm Seven Sisters; Thursday morning from start of traffic at Seven Sisters, Walthamstow Central, Victoria, Brixton and Northumberland Park.

It seems that something is being lost in the Southfields station refurb - two ticket office windows, to be precise.

Avid readers of On The Move will have noticed that the latest trick up management's sleeve for pressuring ticket office staff is a range of attractive posters.