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RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: july/august 2023 :: RMTnews
8
STRIKE: Striking Rail Gourmet Catering workers who provide catering services on
TransPennine trains on their picket line outside Glasgow Central
E
ngineers, clerical staff and
production operatives
working for Unipart Rail in
Crewe took strike action
recently in a row over pay.
RMT members were offered
a derisory 4.75 per cent which
they flatly rejected. However,
Unipart bosses failed to send
management representatives
to meet with the union,
demonstrating their contempt
for the collective bargaining
process.
It was the second day of
strike action Unipart rail
workers have taken following a
24-hour stoppage the previous
week. Unipart Group scored a
27.1 percent increase in profits
for 2022 financial year.
RMT general secretary Mick
Lynch said that Unipart Rail
was behaving so arrogantly by
not even attempting to
negotiate a way through this
dispute with the union.
"Unipart workers do a vital
job in Crewe and need a pay
rise that reflects the continuing
cost of living crisis.
"The current offer is an
insult particularly when you
consider the increased profits
within the Unipart Group.
"Our industrial campaign
will continue until our
members achieve a negotiated
settlement," he said.
W
orkers who are
employed by contractor
DHL providing catering stores
for Avanti trains have been
taking strike action against low
pay.
These workers have not
been offered a pay rise
despite the cost-of-living crisis
and rising inflation and DHL
has pleaded poverty claiming
that it cannot afford a rise
despite the fact its global
business was worth £81 billion
last year.
Avanti, who buy in the
service from DHL, can also
afford it. It paid its owners,
FirstGroup, £13.5 million in
dividends last year from profits
from the West Coast franchise.
Instead of trying to settle
the dispute, DHL management
has sent communications to
staff using an intimidatory
tone, instructing them not to
speak to the media about their
human right to take strike
action.
RMT general secretary Mick
Lynch said that DHL members
wanted pay justice from an
employer who can easily settle
this dispute with a decent
offer.
"It is the workers at DHL in
catering and elsewhere that
create the combined billions in
wealth that shareholders and
directors at the company
enjoy.
"Our members are
determined and resolute and
will not be swayed from taking
more action in the future by
threatening letters from a
greedy company,” he said.
UNIPART RAIL WORKERS TAKE ACTION
DHL CATERING WORKERS
TAKE STRIKE ACTION