GET ROUND THE TABLE!

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: sep/oct 2025 :: RMTnews 4 TUC delegates meeting in Brighton unanimously backed RMT calls on London Mayor Sadiq Khan to attend a summit to find resolutions to the tube strikes and other escalating disputes in the capital. RMT members took highly successful rolling strike action across the network in early September, with different grades taking industrial action at differing times. The strikes came after management refused to engage seriously with union demands on pay, fatigue management, extreme shift patterns and a reduction in the working week, as well as failing to honour previous agreements made with staff. In the same week, members took strike action on Docklands Lights Railway (DLR) operated by a private contract let by Transport for London (TfL), together with another strike by DLR sub-contracted cleaners. RMT has also declared a dispute with outsourcing giant ABM after the company failed to improve its derisory offer to tube cleaners working on its contract. Despite repeated calls for a fair pay settlement, ABM management has refused to budge and have made no offer whatsoever on sick pay, leaving cleaners with no protection when they fall ill. Across TfL subsidiary companies and contracts there is a breakdown in industrial relations on public transport fuelled by TfL’s failure to meaningfully address workers concerns in an increasingly pressurised workplace. RMT members across the London network are coping with a massive increase in passengers with high levels of assaults, stress and fatigue. The Greater London Authority Transport Committee has even called for TfL to reconsider its approach to staffing stations to improve staff safety. TUC Congress delegates were also dismayed that on some contracts presided over by TFL there is no company sick pay, poverty wages and the use of zero-hour contracts. Delegates were also appalled to learn that Elizabeth Line Concession Operator had announced that it planned to close all its ticket offices by August 2027. The proposal comes just months after a mass outcry forced the previous government to abandon similar ticket office closure plans across the rail network. The information only came to light when the union was given sight of unredacted documents signalling that the ticket offices would be earmarked for closure. Elizabeth line services are operated by GTS Rail Operations under a TFL concession. Speaking at TUC Congress, RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey told delegates that he had a message for the mayor. “Stop going on social media, invite us to a meeting to have a discussion, because I want to know what is going on in London,” he said. He warned of more strike action if there was no resolution but pointed out that members did not want to be in this position. “We take no pleasure in causing disruption, but we make no apology for fighting for our members. So, if the mayor has any sense, he will reach out to us,” he said. GET ROUND THE TABLE! RMT and TUC demand summit with London mayor following strike action Eddie Dempsey at TUC Congress calls for summit with London mayor Picture: Betty Dempsey