London Underground Ltd

London Underground today told the unions its pay offer. It is a five-year offer, of a 4% pay rise this year and a rise of RPI+0.25% in the four following years.

London Underground pay settlements are based on the February RPI figure. In February, RPI was 5.5%.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow has described the offer as "disappointing", and confirmed that the union's executive will be discussing it soon. I represent you on RMT's executive, so please let me know your views by emailing j.booth@rmt.org.uk.

FROM RMT PRESS OFFICE

On the day that Boris Johnson announced that he is going to sort the tube out for the Olympics the Mayor has been hit by a massive embarrassment as the entire service on the busy District Line stretch from Earls Court down to Wimbledon is closed this afternoon in advance of rush hour.

TFL are blaming emergency engineering works. An earlier stalled train at Putney Bridge took 80 minutes to de-train due to a shortage of staff.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

RMT General Grades Committee decision:

That we note the report from our Regional Organiser. We oppose TfL’s attempt to streamline its OCP policy in order to make it easier to make redundancies due to funding cuts.

We note that all unions have agreed to reject management’s proposal to deal with this at a joint meeting at Company Council level, and instruct the General Secretary to write to TfL/LUL accordingly; the reply to be placed in front of us.

RMT General Grades Committee decision:

That we note the correspondence from London Underground announcing that it is withdrawing uniform cleaning vouchers. We strongly object to the fact that once again, this employer has declared a change in policy without adequate advance consultation with us. We agree with our Regional Organiser’s view that LUL should table this issue for discussion at the Company Council, as it affects staff in all uniformed grades. We instruct the General Secretary to write to London Underground accordingly, requesting that uniform cleaning vouchers continue to be issued to staff until adequate consultation has taken place. Should LU not agree to discuss the matter at Company Council, we agree to refer this matter to ACAS.

We instruct the General Secretary to obtain a detailed report on the impact of this change on our members, assessing whether the £100 tax allowance really does adequately compensate our members for the withdrawal of the vouchers as the company claims or whether it in practice leaves our members worse off financially. This report to be completed and placed back in front of us within 14 days.

That we note the unjust conviction of our London Transport Regional Organiser. This conviction is a clear miscarriage of justice and an attack on our union; by London Underground's own admission, it resulted from an incident that took place while Brother Hedley was carrying out his union activities.

We further note that London Underground has seized on this situation to ban our Regional Organiser from its premises and even to demand that this union allocate duties to our Regional Organiser which prevent him having any contact with any LU employees, which includes thousands of our members.

RMT General Grades Committee decision about London Underground Machinery of Negotiation and Consutlation:

“We note that following the job- cutting OSP, which reduced the number of Station groups from 42 to 37, London Underground management has unilaterally declared a reduction in the number of RMT representatives. Their action in doing so is completely outside the agreed processes.

The Machinery of Negotiation and Consultation states that:

Click on the attachment below to download the March edition of Monthly News.

In this edition:

Support our Victimised Reps - How Arwyn Thomas and Eammon Lynch were stitched up by the company and why we need to be prepared to strike to ensure their reinstatement;

Safety Breakdown on Victoria Line - Monthly News explains the consequences of the failure of Victoria Line management to consult with the unions on safety issues, and why drivers should vote 'YES' for action short of a strike in the forthcoming ballot;

RMT General Grades Committee decision:

That we note the correspondence from London Underground notifying us of changes to the ‘Guidelines for the use of LUL electronic facilities’.

We object to the fact that LU has made changes to these guidelines without consultation with this union, and instruct the General Secretary to write to the company accordingly.

We refer this matter to our Southern Sub-Committee for examination and report.

RMT's General Grades Committee took this decision today:

That we note and accept the report from our Regional Organiser, and accordingly agree that this matter is now closed.

Click '1 attachment' / file name to download RMT's pay claim submitted to London Underground. The first section, the text of which is below, is also being submitted by TSSA and Unite. We hope that this united approach from three of LU's unions will improve our prospects of securing an acceptable offer.

1. A substantial pay award in a one-year deal