DOCKLANDS LIGHT RAILWAY STAFF TO STRIKE

RMT helpline 0800 3763706 :: june 2010 :: RMTnews 4 S trike action at Docklands Light Railway was suspended at the 11th hour after the company made a new offer to for the increased workload and responsibility following the introduction of a third carriage to DLR trains. RMT members had voted by almost nine to one in favour over the failure of the company to make adequate payments. Management at Serco Docklands had previously refused all RMT’s proposals for settling the dispute and as a consequence that union had no option to ballot Passenger Service Agent (PSA) members and Panel Control Team Leaders for strike action and action short of a strike. RMT members were due to strike on Wednesday June 23 and Saturday June 26, nor to work overtime on Monday June 28. However the company made a last minute offer of a one-off payment of £400 which will now be put out to a referendum. RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said that members on the Docklands Light Railway had shown that they would not be bullied by management in to taking on more work and more responsibility without being properly compensated. “Well done to all those members that have stood firm and they will be voting on this offer of compensation in due course,” he said. RMT has condemned “lethal and unworkable” plans leaked to the BBC from within the GLA Tory Group to axe all train drivers and operators on London Underground and move to driverless operation. The leaked report recommends sacking all of the 3,525 train drivers and operators estimating that it could result in savings of £141 million per annum. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that he was tempted to dismiss the report as a joke, cooked up by anti-union fantasists, but in the current climate of cuts and attacks on public services the union was taking it very seriously. “The people behind this Tory Party report not only want to get rid of the drivers but they want no staff on the tube trains at all. “That just proves that they have no understanding of the tube system and a complete and utter disregard for passenger safety. “It may well be that some junior politician is simply flying a kite but RMT will not sit back and allow this lethal and unworkable idea to gain any traction whatsoever,” he said. R MT members employed by Tube Lines have voted by a massive majority for strike action over the continuing threat to jobs and safe working conditions and in support of a decent pay increase this year. The union has warned that the threat to tube maintenance jobs will have serious safety consequences with the union already compiling evidence that repairs and renewals schedules are being hacked to pieces in the dash to slash budgets. Members will not book on for any shift starting between 19:00 Wednesday June 23 and 18:59 on Friday June 25 and between 19:00 on Wednesday July 14 and 18:59 on Friday July16. RMT has warned that the strike would have severe consequences across the whole tube network as the Emergency Response Unit, dealing with urgent repairs that keep the whole system running, is run by Tube Lines. Transport for London, chaired by London Mayor Boris Johnson, will shortly take over the Tube Lines operation as a subsidiary company following a £310 million buyout with Londoner’s money after a catalogue of failures and profit- taking by the PPP outfit. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that RMT members had shown their determination to defend jobs, pay and working conditions. “We have made it clear to TfL that we do not expect our members to take the hit for the final collapse of the disastrous tube privatisation experiment. “We have sought concrete assurances that staff will not be expected to pay off the Tube Line’s exit costs in job losses, attacks on safe working conditions and pay,” he said. The union issued a renewed call for London Mayor Boris Johnson to “get out of the bunker and start talking” as the clock ticks down towards two 48-hour strikes. With the transfer of Tube Lines, RMT expects TfL to take responsibility for maintaining the pay, jobs and conditions of the workforce that it will need in place if it is going to get the upgrade programme back on track in time for the Olympics. TUBE LINES MEMBERS VOTE BY MORE THAN 90% FOR STRIKE ACTION RMT SLAMS TORY PLAN TO AXE TUBE DRIVERS DOCKLANDS LIGHT RAILWAY MAKE NEW OFFER