RMT has begun re-balloting directly-employed LUL members to renew the industrial action mandate in the "Jobs, Pensions, and Agreements" dispute.
The ballot closes on 25 April. It's absolutely vital we renew the mandate and retain the ability to take industrial action. Tubeworker urges all RMT-member readers to vote yes/yes. If you don't receive a ballot by 4 April, speak to a rep.
Some members might be forgiven for expressing some surprises that this dispute was still "live". We've had a live mandate since December 2021, but it's been over a year since we last took any action as part of this dispute (15 March 2023). Partially that's because other issues, such as the 2023-4 LUL pay settlement, took precedence, but there's also been a more general fading-into-the-background of the dispute.
That needs to change. Attacks on staffing levels and conditions are continuing, with proposals for job cuts in Fleet, and the "Trains Modernisation" scheme. And 2024 is a crunch year in terms of TfL pension reform: this is the year by which the company has committed to deliver a final consultation on reform, with a view to implementation in 2026. Unless we force a climb-down this year, we could find ourselves staring down the wrong end of massive cuts to our pensions.
Renewing the mandate is the first step. Then we must call action.