RMT WINS 10 PER CENT PAY RISE AT STRATFORD MARKET DEPOT

RMT helpline 0800 3763706 :: february 2010 :: RMTnews 5 Planned strike action by RMT fleet maintenance workers on the Jubilee line Stratford Market Depot was suspended recently following a new improved pay offer from the company. Under the last minute deal all current Train Maintainers grade four got an increase from £29,158 to £32,000 and all train maintainer grade three got an increase £34,000 to 35,500. Members were due to stage a 24 hour walk-out over a pay discrepancy between maintenance workers employed by Alstom at Stratford and others depots on London Underground. An overtime ban had also been planned and a second strike with more to follow every week until a solution was reached. RMT member's anger over the unfairness of the pay discrepancy was reflected in the 100 per cent vote for strike action and action short of a strike. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that he hoped that management would now recognise that it could not go on treating fleet maintenance staff at Stratford as poor relations. Regional organiser Steve Hedley congratulated London Underground members from train drivers, station staff and engineers and others that showed their solidarity by ensuring that no short cuts would be taken with safety during the dispute. A Transport for London spokesman said that the dispute was a matter for Tube Lines, which has the PPP contract for running the Jubilee line, and its contractors Alstom. TUBE LINES FUNDING An independent adjudicator has dismissed Tube Lines’ claim for a further £327 million of public funds to cover costs it has incurred due to delays in upgrading the Jubilee and Northern lines. The ruling said that London Underground had not breached its contract and thus it bore no responsibility for any extra costs. The independent adjudicator added that Ferrovial and Bechtel, the two companies behind the Tube Lines, would have to bear the burden of full costs of the overruns. LU managing director Richard Parry said: "We are very pleased to have seen off this attempt to take lots of money from the public purse and drag our reputation through the mud. “Tube Lines needs to stop making further spurious claims for additional fare payers’ and taxpayers’ money –given the handsome returns already being earned by shareholders Bechtel and Ferrovial –and get on with the job at hand”. Tube Lines has a thirty-year agreement with the London Underground to maintain and upgrade track, trains and stations on the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly Lines. After taking strike action over the Christmas period and operating an overtime ban, members at EDF Powerlink on London Underground have won an improved pay offer for 2009/10. After rejecting a one per cent pay offer, the company has agreed an increase in basic salaries and allowances of 1.5 per cent with effect from April 6 2009 followed by a further increase with effect from April 5 2010 of RPI plus 0.5 per cent based on the published headline RPI figure for the year to February 2010. The minimum increase for April 2010 will be 0.5 per cent. The company also agreed to a huge increase in overtime as set out opposite. A working party has also been established to investigate options on staff travel costs. RMT regional organiser Steve Hedley congratulated all EDF members who had refused to be fobbed off with excuses about a recession caused by bankers and winning a fair pay rise. RMT WINS 10 PER CENT PAY RISE AT STRATFORD MARKET DEPOT Job Role and Current Rate per hour £ Phase 1 – 07.1.2010 Phase 2 – 5.4.10 Rate per hour £ Rate per hour £ Band 4 Fitter/Day Tester - £12.83 £14.21 £14.90 Band 4 Tester (Shift) Top - £12.83 £13.94 £14.50 TRI/Foreman 2 Top - £15.66 £17.33 £18.17 EDF MEMBERS WIN IMPROVED OFFER