LONDON BRIDGE THREE STRIKE ACTION

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: june 2017 :: RMTnews 6 RMT has ramped up pressure on the minority Tory government to reverse over £3 billion of cuts across Transport for London. The union made the call as officials and Tube managers met to discuss safety and security measures in light of the horrific terrorist attacks in Manchester and London Bridge. Union concerns after the North Greenwich bomb incident last year were also on the agenda of London Underground’s Health and Safety Forum. Last October an explosives- obsessed teen almost blew up North Greenwich station when he planted a homemade bomb on the Tube. Had the device worked, it would have exploded just as people were being ordered off the Jubilee line platform at North Greenwich, With the government losing its majority in the election earlier this month, RMT has said that it had no mandate whatsoever for savage cuts to the TfL budget which the union said would continue to threaten jobs, security and safety at this time of heightened alert. London Underground’s Health and Safety Forum heard a special debrief from both the Head of Security and British Transport Police on the appalling London Bridge incident. At the request of RMT there was also a discussion post the North Greenwich bomb incident over union concerns that the “HOT” procedures for suspicious items were being loosened up at a time when the union is calling for them to be retained and enhanced. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that the massive shift in votes in London away from the Tories was no doubt linked in part to serious public concerns over transport services, security and safety. “This minority government has no mandate at all to press ahead with over £3 billion of cuts at TFL that would have a serious impact right across the board between now and 2021. “Those cuts should be reversed and RMT will be stepping up campaigning around that demand in the months ahead. “There must be no watering down of policies and procedures and the resources and staffing must be made available to ensure that safety and security arrangements are both protected and enhanced,” he said. RMT is balloting workshop staff in the Piccadilly Line workshops at Northfields and Cockfosters Depots for industrial action over an attempt by Tube Lines to create a two-tier workforce and recruiting 35 new staff on fixed term contracts. The company claim that additional work is necessary to enable 24-hour lifting of the trains to replace damaged wheels due to problems with rail head contamination from leaf fall and wheel flats on the line. RMT has raised safety implications repeatedly and is appalled that Tube Lines is now planning to address it by ripping up current agreements, threatening job security and opening the door to wholesale casualisation. RMT has said that all new posts should be recruited on a permanent basis and the union is now balloting for both strike action and action short of a strike in support of that principle. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that RMT would not sit back and watch while Tube Lines rip up agreements and open the door to wholesale casualisation of the workforce. “RMT members raised the problems with the brakes and wheel sets on the Piccadilly Line in the first place and it is appalling that the company have seized on these serious issues to try and threaten long-term job security,” he said. REVERSE £3 BILLION TUBE CUTS ATTACK: Members of the public read tributes to the victims of terror attack in London Bridge earlier this month PICCADILLY LINE BALLOT OVER TWO-TIER WORKFORCE