STRIKE AT TUBE LINES

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: may/june 2012 :: RMTnews 5 L ondon Underground Tube Lines staff, including the Emergency Response Unit, took 72 hours of strike action last month following a four to one vote in support of a dispute over pensions and benefits justice. RMT has been demanding that all Tube Lines staff, including ex-Alstom staff at Stratford Market depot, be allowed to join the Transport for London Pension Scheme and receive the same travel concessions as those who work for LUL, including former Metronet staff. The union call for justice has been on the agenda ever since LUL took over Tube Lines as part of the rescue operation after the failure of the tube privatisation project Parity would bring Tube Lines staff free travel within London and 75 per cent of the cost of travel on the mainline railway – the concession that all Tube staff, including ex- Metronet people, already get. Tube Lines staff are responsible for both maintenance and upgrade work on the Jubilee line, Northern line and Piccadilly line. They also provide a number of services across the network including the Emergency Response Unit (ERU), Distribution Services and Trans Plant. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that members had delivered a massive mandate for action following a straightforward demand for parity with other Tube staff. “This dispute is about justice and about ensuring that all groups of staff under the umbrella of London Underground receive the same rights and benefits and our members have no choice but to strike to secure those basic rights,” he said. RMT has warned that the failure of tube bosses to agree a simple harmonisation of the most basic employment conditions could be linked to a secret plan to reprivatise the maintenance work unleashing the nightmare of a PPP2. "We understand there are already vulture companies hovering in the wings for another shot at robbing London blind through PPP2 and reducing the network to chaos. "Instead of playing games with our members’ pensions and benefits tube bosses should be getting round the table and resolving this straightforward dispute,” he said. London Underground is to be prosecuted by the rail regulator over a runaway engineering train which occurred on the Northern Line at the start of the morning rush hour in August 2010. Maintenance firm Tube Lines is also to be prosecuted by the Office of Rail Regulation. A grinder came perilously close to colliding with a passenger train and RMT warned at the time that it was a serious mistake on the part of London Underground to downplay the potential consequences. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that the very least LU should rule out any suggestion that Tube Lines should be re- privatised, to take all contracted work fully in- house with staff integrated on LU terms and conditions. “We want an assurance that the cuts programme, and the associated pressure on staff to cut corners, should be brought to an immediate halt,” he said. STRIKE AT TUBE LINES LUL FACE PROSECUTION OVER RUNAWAY