RMT WINS OUTSOURCING OF METRONET MEMBERS

Tube infrastructure consortium Metronet attempted to transfer all fleet staff to Bombardier, one of the other companies that make up the consortium. RMT immediately made clear that such a move would have been the thin end of the wedge, with p-way and signal workers next on the list to go to Balfour Beatty, another of their consortium pals, and the rest of Metronet operational staff eventually split up and packed off to other consortium members. That would have left Metronet as nothing more than a contract-management agency, just there to pick up the profits, leaving former Metronet staff to face a future of constant attacks on jobs, pay, conditions and pensions. RMT general secretary Bob Crow paid tribute to Metronet members who stood firm and voted by a huge margin to take strike action. “Sub-contracting would have had a major impact on the safety of the travelling public as well as their own future jobs and conditions. ”It was the determination and solidarity shown by RMT members, with a massive vote for strike action that stopped Metronet in its tracks and proved once more that unity is strength,” he said. What RMT has won for Metronet staff: • No outsourcing of current work to any company within the Metronet consortium • No outsourcing of future work to any other company without a negotiated agreement with RMT • All lifts and escalators work to stay in-house • No compulsory redundancies of RMT members • Full implementation of the 35-hour week with additional RMT-negotiated back-pay of 14 weeks of 2.5 hours paid at overtime rate • Review of Metronet’s decision to close the final-salary pension scheme to new starters, with full RMT involvement • Metronet pledge to consult and negotiate on any future reorganisation RMT London regional organiser Bobby Law welcomed the agreement which means that there will be no outsourcing of current work to subcontractors and there will be no compulsory redundancies. ”It was an important victory that could not have been achieved without the unity and determination of RMT members at Metronet. “This shows why infrastructure workers should join a united union that looks after their interests. “Over 80 per cent of Metronet staff are already RMT members and it is imperative to build on this victory by increasing that membership up to 100 per cent,” he said. www.rmt.org.uk :: january 2006 :: RMTnews 5 “The best deal in British industry” - that’s how industry insiders described the agreement won by RMT members’ at Metronet RMT STOPS OUTSOURCING OF METRONET MEMBERS VICTORY: Metronet RMT reps and officers celebrate the deal at Unity House