LONDON OVERGROUND CLEANERS WIN RECOGNITION

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: september 2011 :: RMTnews 15 A n industrial tribunal has ruled that 1,200 sacked Jarvis workers should have received 90 days’ notice of redundancy, but RMT said that it came nowhere near compensating for the millions still owed in back pay when Jarvis went bust more than a year ago. The award – which will cost the taxpayer £3 million – covers only statutory redundancy notice, and is capped at around £400 a week. The union will press on with its campaign to win back jobs for Jarvis staff who should have been transferred to Network Rail or other contractors under transfer of undertakings rules (TUPE), as well as back-pay and pensions contributions. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that the ruling was the tip of the iceberg, because millions more are owed in back pay and pensions contributions. “The reality is that these skilled workers should never have been made redundant in the first place. “It is a disgrace that taxpayers will have to pay the £3 million awarded by the tribunal, when Jarvis bosses walked away scot free and Network Rail still has £19 million it owed to Jarvis for work done. “It is less than fair that those Jarvis workers who were unable to find work will have the benefits they received deducted from their award, when the managers who walked straight into jobs will have nothing deducted – it means that those who need it most will get least. “The work our members were doing still needs to be done, and real justice will come when they are offered the jobs they should have been transferred into when Jarvis collapsed,” Bob said. R MT CLEANERS have forced contractor John Laing Integrated Services to recognise the union on London Overground following an organising campaign that has seen the vast majority of the workforce join the union since the end of March. A ballot carried out under Central Arbitration Committee rules after the anti-union firm refused to negotiate returned a six-to-one vote to give RMT bargaining rights. Jubilant reps Josephine Eksoh and Mohammed Orisakeye (above) launched their lightning campaign after talking to RMT members on London Overground. They have already won back- pay owed from the introduction of the London Living Wage in 2007, and are now turning to other key issues including weekend working, lockers, changing facilities and uniforms. Josephine and Mohammed paid tribute to the help they received from Southeast regional office manager and Watford branch secretary Stewart Cameron, London organiser Steve Hedley and the organising unit’s Dave Marshall. “During the ballot we talked to people and made sure that everyone understood that they couldn’t rely on everyone else to vote and not do it themselves,” said Josephine. “The help and feedback we have had from RMT has been great – it’s been a real team effort,” added Mohammed. Steve Hedley described how the company brought in an operations manager whose main job seemed to be to persuade people not to join the union and “sounded like an insurance salesman – but Josephine and Mohammed have been great and we have a solid organisation in place.” “This has been a textbook campaign and Josephine and Mohammed and the whole team should be congratulated for showing what can be done,” said general secretary Bob Crow when the reps dropped in to Unity House. LONDON OVERGROUND CLEANERS WIN RECOGNITION FIGHT FOR JUSTICE FOR JARVIS WORKERS GOES ON