London Underground Ltd

RMT General Grades Committee decision:

We note the correspondence from London Underground Ltd, which fails to give the assurances that this union asked for, that current staffing establishment levels are protected and maintained over at least the period of the current pay deal. Instead, LUL has offered only vague phrase-mongering about “continuity of employment”, and made even this conditional on “common sense flexibility and cooperation to adapt to reasonable changes”. Experience tells us that this indicates LUL’s intention to cut staffing levels and attack working conditions.

RMT General Grades Committee decision:

We note that talks at ACAS aimed at resolving the dispute over Olympics recognition and reward for all London Underground staff broke down yesterday, with LUL attempting to use the pretext of the Olympics to attack working conditions and undermine public safety. The company’s ‘offer’ demands changes to Framework Agreements and does not apply to all grades.

RMT General Grades Committee decision:

We note that a well-attended meeting of our London Underground representatives unanimously recommended rejection of London Underground’s Olympics offer, taking the firm view that any offer should be for all grades and that there should not be any changes to the rules governing working conditions set out in the Framework Agreements. We therefore reject London Underground’s offer.

The RMT Executive through the General Grades Committee has issued the following statement and poster for notice boards to reiterate and clarify the RMT's position on members entitlements for the Olympic period.

“We reiterate our stance that all grades of transport employees are entitled to a decent financial reward for their efforts transporting huge numbers of passengers during the Olympics and are entitled to take leave during the summer, and that working conditions and important agreements should not and need not be attacked in order to facilitate Olympic running.”

Attached to this post, you will find London Underground's letter to RMT setting out the company's offer to staff for Olympic working, consisting of:

• a letter from LU
• a document giving its 'flexibility' demands
• and an appendix for each of the four functions affected
  • Asset Performance Directorate
  • Stations and Revenue Control
  • Service Control including Duty Reliability Managers
  • Operational Managers in COO and APD, including Network Operational Learning Trainers

RMT General Grades Committee decision:

We note the offer from London Underground, of an additional £350 lump sum payment to all operational staff in each of the following functions, dependant on the trade unions agreeing to changes in working practices detailed in the correspondence:

• Asset Performance Directorate
• Stations and Revenue Control
• Service Control including Duty Reliability Managers
• Operational Managers in COO and APD, including Network Operational Learning Trainers

RMT General Grades Committee decision:

We note the report from our lead officer, that Tube Lines cancelled the Company Council meeting due to take place today, apparently on the request of London Underground Ltd. We suggest to LUL that if it wishes to run Tube Lines, then it acquire Tube Lines and fully integrate it.