Rail unions

Rail, Maritime and Tranposrt Union (RMT); Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF); Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA)

Strategy needed to convince

By a rail worker A ballot of 7,000 Network Rail workers by the RMT union has gone in favour of industrial action. The result was 58% in favour (2,947) and 42% against (2,246). However, the RMT was forced to admit that only a very narrow majority of the signalling workers - they key section involved - voted for action. After the ballot result, Network Rail and the press immediately went on the offensive about the prospect of "massive disruption", etc. Having been adamant, and rightly so, that the result was a mandate for the action, the union has started talks with the employers and it must be...

Win for reserve staff

Solidarity supporters who produce the rank and file bulletin Tubeworker have been running a campaign for reserve/cover staff. The campaign was given a boost on 19 May. At a meeting of the Stations Functional Committee, the management agreed that 28 days notice of duties must be given and changes can not be made to those duties without consulting the staff concerned first. Management agreed to send out a joint management-union briefing explaining the rights of cover staff. They also agreed that the practice of telling staff that their duties had changed, rather than asking them if they would...

Strike ballot on the Tube

By a tubeworker The rail and tubeworkers' union RMT is in the process of balloting its members for strike action following the collapse of talks on pay and conditions within London Underground and Metronet. All three unions - RMT, ASLEF and (white collar staff) TSSA - have walked out of discussions. Only RMT is balloting its members. Despite the claims by London Underground that they wanted to reach a three or four year deal to bring a period of industrial peace to the Underground, they are proposing a series of strings in return for talks on the main points of the union's pay claim. The union...

Pay Strike: Derailed Again

As RMT activists meet to discuss the Executive's decision to cancel Thursday's strike, this special issue of Tubeworker condemns the leadership and sets out a strategy for reviving the action and putting the rank-and-file in charge of future action. You can read and download it here , and/or read the text below. After calling a strike on 10 June, RMT's leadership has now called it off. They have done so without the support - in fact, against the wishes - of the union's branches, reps and the majority of members. LUL should not think that because our leadership does not have the stomach for a...

10 June Tube strike called off

On 20 April a mass meeting of RMT reps on the London Underground discussed plans for action on this year's claim on pay and hours. The one point most insisted on by the reps was that any planned strike action should not be called off without a definite offer. Now the RMT leadership has done just that: called off the planned action with no better than a promise by the Tube bosses to negotiate further. The official RMT statement reads: JUNE4: STRIKE ACTION by RMT members at London Underground scheduled for June 10 has today been suspended by the RMT executive. "Since last night's emergency talks...

RMT pay strike ballot: Vote YES!

As RMT ballots its Tube members for strike action over pay, Tubeworker calls for the biggest possible Yes vote. We warn against management's threatened attacks on jobs and conditions, whilst arguing that this should not distract us from the fight for a decent pay rise. We also celebrate the first big step forward in our campaign for the rights of reserve staff. Workplace reports include the latest derailment, the need to unionise cleaners, and the fight for justice for the Metronet Six and for Chris Barrett. You can read and download it here .

London underground

Chris Barrett Derailment Pay action Chris Barrett Last year tube driver Chris Barrett hit the headlines when he was sacked from London Underground after they filmed him visiting a squash court while he was off work with an ankle injury. His doctor backed him up, saying the exercise for appropriate treatment for his recovery. London Underground went ahead and dismissed him. The background to the sacking is the employer's policy of tailing and videoing one in three workers on long-term sick leave! Chris was vilified in the press. His personnel records were leaked to the press. Ken Livingstone...

Victory for Underground reserve staff

The Tubeworker campaign for reserve / cover staff, was given a boost on the 19th of May. At a meeting of the Stations Functional Committee, the management agreed that 28 days notice of duties must be given and changes can not be made to those duties without consulting the staff concerned first. Management agreed to send out a joint Management-Union briefing explaining the rights of cover staff. They also agreed that the practice of telling staff that their duties had changed, rather than asking them if they would mind changing, must stop immediately. This is a major move forward for our...

Trade union resolution: Fighting the Fascists

This resolution has been adopted by Finsbury Park branch RMT. This branch believes that the fascist British National Party is fundamentally an anti-working-class party: it is also racist, anti-semitic, sexist and homophobic. Everything that the BNP stands for is against the interests of the labour and trade union movement. This branch notes that the BNP already has 17 councillors and is poised to make further electoral breakthroughs in the coming elections. We believe that two of the main factors that have enabled the BNP to grow are: 1. The Labour Government's betrayal of working-class people...

Chris Barrett unfairly dismissed, tribunal rules

RMT press release, 7 May RMT TUBE driver Chris Barrett was unfairly dismissed by London Underground, the employment tribunal has ruled. "Chris Barrett and his union have been vindicated," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today. "I would like to pay tribute to all those colleagues who stood solidly by Chris, despite an ugly campaign of vilification by sections of the media. "We maintained from the start that Chris did not receive a fair hearing and that LUL was failing to observe its own procedures. "The case also raises some serious civil liberties issues, including the leaking of...

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