RMT to ballot for tube strike action over station safety, job losses etc.

TUBE UNION RMT confirmed today that they are preparing for a ballot of members for strike action and action short of a strike after London Underground failed to withdraw the threat of axing 800 staff, closing ticket offices and undermining public and staff safety and following confirmation from Tube Lines that they are pressing ahead with job cuts.

RMT has also revealed today that as vacancies are left unfilled, and staff shortages hit home, the prime terrorist target of Heathrow Terminal Five on the Piccadilly Line was left unstaffed on the Friday 12^th of March with the one member of crew due to be on duty pulled away to a briefing session with LU managers.

RMT is hosting a public meeting on the tube cuts tomorrow night – Weds 31^st March – at 6pm at Friends Meeting House on Euston Road with Bob Crow and John McDonnell MP.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

"We have already warned that the cuts that are being planned by TfL will turn tube stations into a muggers paradise and we now have concrete evidence that the company are speeding up the process and are already leaving stations unstaffed, or babysat with just one member of staff, without any consultation.

"That is a scandalous dereliction of duty and it is only a matter of time now before TfL and Boris Johnson have a tragedy on their hands as a result of their cavalier disregard for public safety. The Mayor gave assurances to the public on ticket offices and tube staffing in the run up to his election and it's down to him to pull London Underground back from the brink.

"The Tube Lines cuts are bound up with the £1.7 billion funding row with the Mayor and TfL and our members jobs, and the essential works on Piccadilly, Northern and Jubilee Lines, must not be written off as collateral damage in a political war over the failed tube privatisation experiment.

"RMT has made it clear right from the outset that we will not sit idly by while the Mayor, his transport officials and Tube Line's drive down tube staffing levels to dangerously low levels. We gave LU and Tube Lines an opportunity to pull back from these cuts but they have decided to plough on leaving us with no option but to organise ballots."

Payrise Update

AMEY PAY NEGOTIATIONS 2010 

We have now had two meetings with the Company to consider the RMT pay claim for 2010.

Key elements of RMT claim:

Ø      Substantial rise in Basic Pay, including allowances. Special attention to the lowest paid.

Ø      All members to have access to a 'Final Salary Pension Scheme'

Ø      Progress on Family Friendly agreements, Travel Facilities, Shorter working week,  London and south East allowances.

First Meeting, February 18:

RMT Presented our Claim. The company informed us of the work situation across AMEY and that they were only in a position to offer 0% on pay but they asked us that we come back with suggested ways of saving money for the company.

Second meeting, March 25:

RMT responded that 0% would not be acceptable to our members and that the RMT claim was for a cost of living increase "without strings". However once we have reached a satisfactory outcome to pay discussions we would then be prepared to enter into meaningful 'Restructuring negotiations' with AMEY with the intention of achieving a mutually acceptable package which we could put to our members.

After much discussion we persuaded the company to make a no strings offer.  The offer is for 0.5% on basic rates of pay but not allowances. AMEY have said they have "no money" to pay any more and that this is their final offer on Pay. They have offered a further meeting on Wednesday 31 March to respond on other aspects of the claim.

RMT Reps made absolutely clear to the company our view that this offer was very poor considering that AMEY had a 'record year in 2009' with their financial results, that the staff had been hard working, flexible and committed and this is why AMEY has been very successful (In fact Award winning !) in winning Rail contracts. A very significant point of principle to the reps was that senior managers have reportedly received attractive performance bonuses but were now declining staff a decent cost of living increase.

RMT will be consulting with our Reps and members about the final position and a report will be sent to the RMT executive following the meeting on 31 March.

RMT Commitment:                                                   

RMT is absolutely dedicated to achieving a fair result for our AMEY members this year.

RMT is willing to be involved in Restructuring Negotiations once we have achieved a fair outcome with pay. We acknowledge that the company have aspirations as do our members. Any outcome of negotiations would go to the RMT Executive and our members will always have the final say in a referendum ballot before any changes.

RMT announces national rail strike dates involving maintenance and signals staff

RAIL UNION RMT announced today that following the failure of Network Rail to offer anything conclusive aimed at resolving disputes involving signalling and maintenance staff, after hours of talks, members will be taking industrial action:-

Signalling staff:

Strike action between 06.00 and 10.00 hours and between 18.00 and 22.00 hours on the 6^th, 7^th and 8^th and 9^th of April.

Maintenance (infrastructure) staff:

Strike action from 06.00 hours on Tuesday 6^th April to 23.59 hours on Friday 9^th of April.

An overtime ban, ban on rest day working and a ban on on-call duties to be in force throughout this period for both groups of staff running through to 06.00 hours on Saturday 10^th April.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

"RMT negotiators have worked flat out to try and reach an agreement that protects rail safety, job security and working agreements in the disputes involving signalling and maintenance staff on Britain's railways. Despite long hours of talks we have received nothing concrete from Network Rail that addresses the key issues.

"It remains the case that Network Rail, in a drive to slash 21% from their budget, want to axe 1500 maintenance posts, lump maintenance functions onto over-worked signallers, rip up agreements and impose changes that will quite clearly undermine safety across our railways and make another Hatfield, Potters Bar or Grayrigg disaster an inevitability.

"RMT members could not sit back and wait for Network Rail to drag our industry back to the dark days of Rail Track with their cash-driven cuts plans. We have decided to stand up and fight and the ball is now in Network Rail's court to come back with meaningful proposals aimed at resolving these disputes."

 

A request is made to staff from other companies to respect picket lines and not cross them.

RMT pledges all out fight over TfL and Tube Lines cuts

TUBE UNION RMT today pledged an all out fight over the threat to safety, jobs and working conditions from cuts plans announced by Transport for London and expected attacks being worked up by contractor Tube Lines as they look to slash £1.3 billion from the tube upgrade budget.

RMT's executive passed a motion last night condemning the cynical attempt by TfL to smuggle out their threat to axe 800 jobs in ticket offices and on platforms, a move that RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said will turn London's tube stations into a "muggers paradise".

RMT had twice leaked details of the TfL secret threat to close ticket offices and slash staffing levels at tube stations - on both occasions TfL accused the union of "scaremongering" but shamefaced tube bosses have now been forced to admit that RMT was right all along and that the Mayor's pre-election pledges not to close ticket offices and reduce staff are now in tatters.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

"It is a disgrace that the Mayor and his top managers have tried to smuggle out this jobs-bombshell via the backdoor rather than using agreed procedures. They are right to be ashamed of plans to turn our tube stations into a muggers paradise and they should be under no illusions that RMT will mobilise a public and political campaign, including a ballot for industrial action if need be, to stop these lethal attacks on jobs and tube safety.

"We have also written to Tube Lines giving them until next Thursday to give us concrete assurances that they will pull back from attacks on jobs, safety and working conditions as a result of the £1.3 billion row with the Mayor. Essential tube works, and the jobs and conditions our members, should not end up as the collateral damage in the war over the failed tube privatisation experiment."

RMT Network Rail maintenance vote overwhelmingly for action over 1500 job cuts.

RAIL UNION RMT confirmed today that members on Network Rail maintenance have voted by 77% for strike action and by 89% for action short of a strike over plans by the company to axe up to 1500 safety-critical jobs and to rip up national agreements on working practices.

The RMT executive will now discuss the next steps in the dispute at a meeting next Friday – 19^th March - in light of the massive mandate for action that has been delivered by the members and to consider the ballot result in sister rail union TSSA. RMT has issued a further call to Network Rail Chairman Rick Haythornthwaite today to re-open talks on the maintenance cuts plans.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

"RMT members were faced with a stark choice in this ballot. They could either sit back and wait for these cash-led maintenance cuts to lead to another major disaster on Britain's railways or they could vote to take action to stop the attack on rail safety. They have overwhelmingly voted to take action.

"Nobody should be under any illusions about just how determined RMT members are to win this dispute and to stop this reckless gamble with rail safety. Nearly 150 MP's have signed the Early Day Motion opposing Network Rail's cuts plans and have urged the Government to intervene to call a halt to this jobs carnage on the tracks. We are reissuing that call today.

"RMT is in no doubt that the cuts programme drawn up by Network Rail would drag us back to the dark days of Railtrack and would make another Hatfield, Potters Bar of Grayrigg disaster an inevitability. That is what this dispute is all about and even the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has had to concede that the botched attempt to bulldoze through these cuts has raised serious safety concerns."

"RMT remains available for talks with Network Rail and we would hope that in light of the overwhelming mandate for action delivered by our members today that the Chairman will respond to our request for meaningful discussions aimed at ensuring that the staffing levels required to deliver a safe rail system are maintained."

RMT demands legal action against Network Rail.

Union renews call to stop jobs cull as Inspector casts doubt on all routes

BRITAIN'S BIGGEST rail union today demanded urgent action against Network Rail to halt the slide of safety standards as an improvement notice served on the company highlighted "systemic" failings in its track-work safety regime which could affect all routes.

RMT – which is balloting 12,000 track staff over safety and job cuts – renewed its call for an immediate halt in a planned cull of 1,500 safety-critical rail-maintenance jobs and urged the Railways Inspectorate to take action against NR management at the highest level.

The improvement notice, issued by Railways Inspector Liesel von Metz on February 23, concerns lines between Cardiff Central and the Valleys and fleshes out a prohibition notice served earlier in the month, but it raises the prospect that "similar failings may be present in other Maintenance Delivery Units across all routes".

The notices pinpoint a shortage of lookouts to ensure safe track working which the inspector says amount to breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act and railway safety regulations.

"Network Rail bosses are presiding over a cost-driven dismantling of railway safety culture and it is time that they were stopped," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"It is scandalous that senior executives are being paid telephone-number bonuses for overseeing cuts that are leaving safety systems in tatters and putting our members and the public in danger.

"We know that maintenance teams are already overstretched and under-resourced, that the inspection regime was slated by the inquiry into the Grayrigg crash, and yet they want to sack 1,500 track workers and water down safety systems.

"When the Inspectorate is finding such fundamental faults it is time to call Network Rail's management to account, and if there are breaches of the law they should be in court facing charges.

"We have evidence of cuts in essential inspections and maintenance works the length and breadth of the country that mirror the situation in South Wales.

"When something goes wrong it is our members who are in the danger zone and we cannot wait for another tragedy like Tebay, in which four of our members were killed, before something is done," Bob Crow said.

ends – contacts and notes follow

For further information please contact Derek Kotz on 020 7529 8803 or 07939 595 092

Notes to editors: The improvement notice, number 1/302466657, issued on February 23, says that NR, on lines between Cardiff Central and Rhymney, Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfill, as an employer has contravened (and is likely to continue contravening) the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 Regulation 5(1); the Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (safety) Regulations 2006 Regulation 19(1)(b) and Regulation 19 (5), and the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Specifically, the notice says to NR:

"You have not given effect to your health and safety arrangements for planning control and monitoring of your preventive and protective measures, in that you have not properly implemented the control measures arising out of your risk assessment for Red-Zone foot-patrolling on the railway because you have not ensured that the number of Lookouts specified in your risk assessment as a control measure is always provided and used."

An accompanying letter from the Railways Inspector concludes:

"Finally, I highlight that this action is a result of findings of a proactive inspection programme. It should be noted that the failings identified are systemic in nature and are reflected in other formal Enforcement action taken by ORR during this and previous work-years in regard to Red-Zone working. As such, I draw your attention to the possibility that similar failings may be present in other Maintenance Delivery Units across all Routes, and I strongly recommend that you endeavour to use lessons from this action to improve your safety management systems on a wider scale."

Network Rail had already been served with a prohibition notice, which said:

"I am of the opinion that there is an immediate risk of harm to the trackworkers undertaking foot patrols on the railway line between Cardiff Central and Aberdare, Rhymney, Treherbert and Merthyr Tydfil. I have therefore served Prohibition Notice P/LVM/20100205/01 on Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd, requiring that the activity of crossing structures with no place of safety under RZ(Red Zone) conditions be ceased."

See RMT media release:

http://www.rmt.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=132495&int1stParentNodeID=89732

Some 142 MPs have signed Early Day Motion 80, tabled by Linda Riordan, which says:

That this House notes the decision of Network Rail to announce the loss of thousands of frontline maintenance jobs by spring 2010; believes that this will mean that in a matter of months there will be a drop ofup to20 per cent. in the number of rail workers carrying out essential inspection and maintenance work; further believes that these deep and rapid cuts raise genuine and urgent concerns as to whether Network Rail will be able to ensure the safe and efficient running of the railway, including the adequate inspection and repair of track, signals, overhead lines and other infrastructure; is deeply concerned that Network Rail is failing to consult the trade unions on the safety implications of the proposals; further notes that the cuts are in part due to the fact that the economic rail regulator, the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR), has asked Network Rail to make efficiency savings of 21 per cent. over the next five years; isfurther concerned that because the ORR is both the safety and economic regulator it will be difficult for an objective view to be taken as to whether the safety of passengers and workers will be put at risk; believes the cuts cannot be justified; and calls on the Government to use its power as the primary funder of Network Rail to intervene to ensure that Network Rail directors put safety first.