TRANSPENNINE MEMBERS WIN IMPROVED PAY DEAL

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: october 2011 :: RMTnews 4 R MT members at First TransPennine Express have won an improved pay offer of five per cent after member took joint strike action with ASLEF over pay. In two separate ballots, RMT drivers and all other grades across the company voted overwhelmingly for strike action after the company refused to budge from a 2.2 per cent pay offer that would have amounted to a substantial pay cut. Over 400 members took strike action in August forcing management back around the table for further talks. Both unions suspended strike action and after protracted talks all grades won increases worth five per cent. RMT general secretary Bob Crow congratulated the workforce for standing together. “The company can hardly be surprised that staff took action when profits are up 13 per cent, with a whopping dividend of £42 million paid to shareholders, and the boss – already on well over £450,000 – was handed a 5.8 per cent pay rise,” he said. R MT is balloting workers employed by Nexus and DB Regio on Tyne and Wear Metro for strike action in defence of pension rights. The workers are covered by the Local Government Pension Scheme and would be hit by the assault on contributions and retirement provisions. The ballot will cover the full range of staff on the north east's Metro system. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that the union believed that where there is scope to organise and co- ordinate strategies with other trade unions that it would do just that. “Tyne and Wear Metro workers are directly affected by the attack on the Local Government Pension Scheme and we have no hesitation in balloting for action. "It is a scandal that workers who have made pension provisions and planned for the long-term are taking the hit for a financial crisis created by the reckless and greedy actions of the spivs and speculators from the banks and business sector. "Wherever RMT members are threatened by the ConDem’s austerity cuts we will fight back and wherever there is an opportunity to co- ordinate our campaigns and actions with fellow trade unionists to maximise our impact we will seize it,” he said. M anagement grade members at Freightliner Intermodal are being balloted for strike action and action short of a strike in a fight for a fair increase in rates of pay and improvements to conditions of service. The offer made by the maritime container haulage company was less than that offered to all other grades within the company and does not represent a fair reward for the duties and responsibilities of this particular group of members. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that the company’s failure to meet members’ aspirations and commit to dealing with excess unpaid overtime had left the union with no option but to ballot for action. “The company’s current offer would mean a further deterioration in pay differentials in relation to non-management grades and that is wholly unacceptable,” he said. TRANSPENNINE MEMBERS WIN IMPROVED PAY DEAL PENSIONS BALLOT AT TYNE AND WEAR FREIGHTLINER BALLOT OVER PAY