TUBE WORKERS BALLOTED OVER PAY

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: november/december 2023 :: RMTnews 7 RMT London Underground workers are currently being balloted for strike action over pay. RMT is unhappy at the latest pay offer from London Underground when Transport for London(TfL) has created a bonus pot of £13 million for senior managers and the commissioner took an 11 per cent pay rise in 2023. The union wants to see full staff travel facilities for all tube workers restored and has criticised bosses for freezing pay bands, saying it will create a two-tier workforce. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said that Tube workers brough vast amounts of value to the London economy were not going to put up with senior managers and commissioners raking it in, while they are given below inflation offers. "The refusal of TfL to restore staff travel facilities and create a two-tier workforce is also unacceptable,” he said. RMT has already secured a further six-month mandate for strike action on London Underground, following a successful re-ballot in a long- running dispute over jobs, conditions and pensions. RMT members voted overwhelmingly to continue the campaign. The union also called for an end to austerity on the Tube as crime soared on network. According to a Transport for London report crime has soared 56 per cent, fuelled by a massive increase in thefts and robberies of over 100 per cent. Mick Lynch said that these soaring crime rates came as no surprise to tube workers that were on the frontline every day in an increasingly hostile environment. “RMT has been warning for many years that instead of an agenda of austerity and constant cutbacks we need decent staffing levels and investment to ensure a safe and secure transport network for London,” he said. The latest data showed that there had been 10,836 offences reported between April and September this year, compared with 6,294 over the same period last year. This includes an 83 per cent increase in thefts, including pickpocketing, to 5,378 offences, and a 107 per cent increase in robberies, which rose from 164 to 340 offences. R MT members working for contractors Keolis Amey Docklands (KAD) on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) took 48-hour strike action in November against low pay. Members have already been carrying out an overtime and rest day working ban in pursuit of an improved pay offer. KADs contract with TfL, for operating the DLR, provides for RPI indexed increases in its funding yet KAD’s staff have been offered a pay rise that is less than half the rate of increase in the RPI. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch called on the company to stand by its commitments rather than holding back on the pay up lift that staff deserved. “RMT remains available for meaningful talks to reach a settlement,” he said. TUBE WORKERS BALLOTED OVER PAY DLR WORKERS TAKE ACTION