PAY VICTORY AT METRONET

www.rmt.org.uk :: june 2006 :: RMTnews 7 RMT members at infrastructure company Metronet have overwhelmingly backed a three- year pay deal in a referendum. The deal, with unacceptable strings removed, comprises a four per cent pay increase, followed by a second year of February 2007 RPI plus one per cent subject to a minimum increase of 3.5 per cent, and a third year of RPI plus one per cent or 3.5 per cent. Over 1,800 Tube maintenance workers had voted for strike action after Metronet refused to move on the original pay offer or to lift strings including the introduction of fingerprint identification. A controversial productivity package was also dropped after hard bargaining by RMT negotiators. RMT regional organiser Bobby Law said that Metronet members’ pay was lagging behind that of Tubelines colleagues, and in that respect alone the original offer was unacceptable. “Metronet is making £1 million a week out of its PPP contract and our members expect their pay and conditions to keep up and not be subject to attack,” he said. He said that full credit should go to the negotiating team for the greatly improved offer. “Only RMT was present at the final meeting when the company made the concessions which made the offer acceptable,” he said. Under the deal, travel allowances increase from £750 to £1000, with effect from April 3 2006, to £1,100 from April 2007, and further increase to £1,200 from April 2008. Paternity leave goes up to three weeks paid from the current two weeks and maternity pay will increase from 26 weeks to 30 weeks this year and to 34 weeks next year. A Working Party will be set up to discuss the disparity arising from the 35-hour week changes for the operational managers. The negotiating team will continue to deal with outstanding issues in the agreement to the members’ satisfaction. The company has also apologised for alleging that RMT negotiators left an ACAS meeting prematurely and this unfounded slur has now been fully retracted. R MT has warned that it will be in dispute with both London Underground and Metronet if safety-critical ‘lampmen’, unilaterally removed by Metronet from track-inspection work, are not re- introduced. Lampmen, who provide lighting for inspection of particularly vulnerable stretches of track, were introduced following the Camden Town and Hammersmith derailments in 2004, but were removed by Metronet without consultation or agreement last month. RMT general secretary Bob Crow walked the track with Tim O'Toole after the Hammersmith derailment and it was agreed then that lampmen were necessary because there was simply not enough lighting to undertake adequate inspection without them. RMT regional organiser Bobby Law said that absolutely nothing had changed since then, yet Metronet had seen fit to withdraw them despite protests from our senior health and safety reps. "That is simply unacceptable and RMT has told Metronet and LUL that unless they are re-introduced we will be in dispute with both companies," he said. PAY VICTORY AT METRONET RMT wins much-improved pay deal at infrastructure company Metronet which will give staff parity to Tubelines colleagues within three years RMT TELLS LUL AND METRONET REINSTATE ‘LAMPMEN’