FIGHTING FOR PENSIONS

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: january 2012 :: RMTnews 8 R ock-solid strike action on Tyne and Wear Metro and the ferries led to a total shutdown of key transport services on the North East as part of a day of protest by millions of public sector workers on November 30 against government attacks on their pensions. RMT Royal Fleet Auxiliary members were also involved in the action and pickets are out at Portland, Falmouth and on a joint protest with PCS members in Portsmouth amongst other sites. Pickets were out in force at the Tyne and Wear Metro transport control centre, the ferry terminal and other key points as RMT members join with millions of others in the public sector day of strike action over the attack on pensions. Members and supporters later marched from Gateshead to Spillers Wharf in Newcastle to a rally addressed by a range of speakers from the different unions including RMT general secretary Bob Crow. “RMT transport workers in the North East and our members on the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, the service that supplies the Royal Navy fleet around the world in times of both war and peace, are standing shoulder to shoulder with millions of other public service workers involved in the action. “We are sending the clearest message to the government that we will defend our pensions to the hilt and the outrageous demand that our members should work longer, pay more and get less has been thrown back in the faces of this government of millionaire public schoolboys. “It’s the bankers and the bosses who have gambled with our country’s future and the men and women who make our services tick should not have to tolerate a worse pension, and be forced to work longer, to make up for their mistakes. “RMT members on Tyne and Wear Metro and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary have shown that they are not going to sit back and take this outrageous attempt to consign them to a life of poverty in their old age,” he said. RMT TAKES ROCK-SOLID ACTION IN PENSIONS STRIKE