NO TO LONDON TRANSPORT CUTS

5 RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: february 2021 :: RMTnews R MT is demanding immediate action by Transport for London (TfL) amid the surge in London’s cases of Covid infection and the rise of new variant Covid and the deaths of at least three TfL workers in recent days. The union has written to both the Mayor of London and London Underground calling for an urgent upscaling of safety measures to protect staff. In the letter the union demands: 1. Our representatives are given sight of any data or reports addressing the risk of airborne transmission of Covid 19 in TfL workplaces and especially in sub- surface stations and on- board trains. 2. We require an assurance that no member of staff who is Clinically Vulnerable or Clinically Extremely Vulnerable will be required to attend the workplace if that member of staff feels it is unsafe for them to do so. 3. We require an assurance that no member of staff will be required to use TfL, or other public transport services, to travel to or from work where 2m social distancing cannot be maintained. Key workers should be exempted from the Congestion and ULEZ charges. 4. We demand the provision of an FFP2/N95 type mask for any member of staff who wishes to have one when working in public areas. 5. We demand that only essential work is carried out at this time. Non-essential engineering and upgrade work should be suspended. Only staff needed to run an essential service should be required to travel to and from work and attend the workplace. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that urgent action to protect essential transport workers who have been keeping London moving since the Covid pandemic began some nine months ago. With three death in recent days of TfL workers amidst the rise of the new Covid variant immediate steps need to be taken now. “The union will be backing staff who are vulnerable and if they need to withdraw to the safety of their home then we will support them. The only way we can get through the pandemic to the other side of a vaccinated and safe London is if transport staff are adequately protected.   “While we do not wish to enter into a dispute situation in this matter, we rule nothing out if our demands are not met, as we believe the employer and those responsible for TfL should take the necessary steps to protect the health and safety of its workers and the wider community,” he said. RMT has written to London Mayor Sadiq Khan demanding that he come clean on what plans Transport for London (TfL) are putting to the government in order to secure more funding in March 2021.  As part of the deal made at the end of last year, Sadiq Khan agreed to submit to the Department of Transport proposals for returning the body to ‘financial sustainability’ following the devastation of its finances by the Covid-19 pandemic. This plan was submitted to the DfT last month but unions have, to date, not yet even seen them. In its own submissions to TfL’s review, the union has already blasted the failed financial models of the past which sold the myth that public transport can be funded by passenger fares and called for a new settlement that puts in place long-term public funding and invests in staffing levels to encourage passengers to return once it’s safe to do so.  The union also slammed TfL’s own ’Independent Review’ for ignoring the case for proper public funding, failing to rule out future service cuts and targeting workers’ pensions and the union called on the Mayor to distance himself from these views. The government’s own review, conducted by consultancy KPMG, has never been disclosed in an unredacted form and remains largely secret. In the letter RMT says: “You will understand that this is an issue of the utmost concern for our members. Throughout the pandemic ,TfL’s workforce has gone over and above, putting their lives on the line and in far too many cases making the ultimate sacrifice in the course of going to work to keep London moving. “You and others have described them as heroes and they along with our NHS workers have been clapped a supportive public. Now they face the anxiety of uncertainty about their futures as you and the government begin to negotiate over a new funding package for TfL in the knowledge that some people, scandalously, are gunning for their jobs, pay and pensions in retirement”. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that it was imperative that unions had access to this information as it has colossal implications for members and the services they provide to the travelling public. “Negotiations are about to begin on the long-term future of public funding but Londoners and TfL’s workforce remain entirely in the dark. There’s been no public debate, no transparency and no democratic process. “Instead, the future of our transport system and workers’ jobs, livelihoods and pensions are being determined in secret negotiations with positions likely to be fought out in press leaks. “This is totally unfair to the tens of thousands of TfL workers who continue to put their lives on the line to provide their critical service and it’s no way to operate in a democratic society. Sadiq Khan said that he didn’t come into politics to ‘administer government austerity’ and he was rightly outraged at the government negotiating with him on the basis of secret reports. “We’re calling on him to show that he’s different and that he’s backing our transport workers. He needs to show us the proposals he’s putting to the government and he needs to do this now,” he said. R M t NO TO LONDON TRANSPORT CUTS RMT DEMANDS URGENT ACTION AS NEW COVID VARIANT RUNS RAMPANT RMT demands full disclosure of Transport for London Financial Sustainability Plan