A City Hall discussion on possible reforms to the Transport for London pensions scheme provoked an angry response from the Rail, Maritime, and Transport workers union (RMT), which organises workers on London Underground.
Some London Assembly Tories want the scheme reformed to bring it in line with the (worse) scheme available to local government workers. A London Assembly budget committee is also discussing possible cuts to the travel pass scheme which currently allows Tube workers to nominate a family member for a free travel pass.
The City Hall discussions follow another recent attack, in which Tube Lines workers reintegrated into Transport for London employment were barred from joining the TfL pension scheme, meaning that a two-tier pension system now exists amongst TfL employees.
The RMT has also declared a dispute with London Underground over the related issue of casualisation, and is demanding that all agency workers currently employed on the Tube are taken in house.
Grassroots union launches dispute
The “Pop-Up Union”, a grassroots union initiative involving workers at the University of Sussex, has declared an official trade dispute with the university.
The Pop-Up Union emerged from the militant struggle against the outsourcing of 235 jobs, against which Sussex students held a lengthy sit-in. The union’s demands include the immediate cessation of the ongoing bidding process for the 235 jobs.
It recently received a boost when it was officially certified by the Certification Office.
The campaign against outsourcing won a minor victory on 13 May when the university announced that outsourced staff’s pension arrangements would be given protection that is “in excess of the provision in law for Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE) transfers.”
A campaign at the University of Birmingham recently forced management to back down from a proposed job cuts plan.
Sussex campaigners say that the Birmingham win, and Sussex bosses’ concession on pensions, is “proof that pressure from all parties concerned has an effect.
