GROUND BREAKING OLYMPICS DLR PAY DEAL

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: february 2012 :: RMTnews 5 R MT has secured a ground breaking Olympics pay deal on Docklands Light Railway worth £2,500 for all staff throughout the Olympics and Paralympics period. The agreement includes £900 attendance bonus, paid at £100 per week over a nine-week period for all staff in every grade. Time +¾ for any hour worked on overtime throughout the nine-week period with a guaranteed minimum five hours per week, 45 hours over the nine-week period, for all staff in every grade. The DLR will serve four of the principal Olympic and Paralympic venues - the Olympic Park, ExCeL London, the Royal Artillery Barracks and the equestrian events at Greenwich. It is expected to transport 57 per cent more passengers and will run additional trains, an extended service and staff 25 instead of four stations. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that it was a truly groundbreaking deal raising the bar in the industry and putting £2,500 in members’ pockets as a reward for the extra workload and pressure they will carry throughout the Olympics. “The deal reflects the hard work of our negotiating team and shows yet again that the organising strategy of RMT delivers the best pay and conditions time and time again,” he said. Serco Docklands managing director David Stretch said he was pleased he had been able to agree a fair deal with the union. “It means we can finalise working arrangements for all our employees who will help deliver our enhanced services this summer and welcome an extra 2.28 million passengers on to the DLR network,” he said. As soon as the deal was announced, BBC London News ran an inaccurate report which claimed that the Fire Brigades Union had attacked the deal as ‘unfair’. FBU’s London region immediately wrote to the producer of the programme, demanding they broadcast a correction and said that it was also considering legal action against the BBC. “For the record, the FBU said no such thing, and we are extremely disappointed to have been misrepresented in this way. “The FBU and RMT enjoy a close working relationship, and we would never criticise the RMT for securing a decent deal for its members,” it said. RMT has also formally complained to the BBC over the broadcast demanding an apology, a right to reply and assurances that it won’t happen again. The DLR deal is the best struck so far, following agreements of Olympic payments of £500 for Network Rail staff and £600 for London Overground. The union has rejected an offer of a £100 bonus for Tube workers as "derisory". GROUND BREAKING OLYMPICS DLR PAY DEAL