The figures for the most recent completed financial year (2007/08) revealed that ...

• Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy was paid more than £540,000: a salary of £334,720 plus a bonus of £115,200 and other benefits.
• Tim O'Toole, Managing Director of London Underground, received £283,254 and a bonus of £73,115.
• David Brown, Managing Director of Surface Transport, was paid £261,500 plus a bonus of £42,625.
• Two other senior Transport for London bosses were paid between £300,000 and £460,000.
• As well as the top earners, 123 TfL bosses received more than £100,000.
[Evening Standard website]

Hendy's predecessor, Bob Kiley, coined it in big time in his final stretch in office, 1 April 2005 - 31 January 2006, as follows: Salary £265,090; Bonus for 2004/05 £270,000; Bonus 2005/06 £237,500; Compensation for loss of office £745,000; Termination bonuses £181,250. And that's not including a house in Belgravia worth over ₤100,000 a year in rent, private health insurance and professional tax advice. [TfL website]

Nice work if you can get it, huh? By the way, these are the people who tell us how tight the company is for money and that we must expect to ‘tighten our belts’ whilst working harder than ever!

PAY INSULT
At the Company Council meeting of 27th February, LUL showed just how much it values its staff by making an offer of a 5-year pay deal as follows:

Year 1: RPI + 1%
Years 2, 3, 4 and 5: RPI only

This is nothing short of an insult and would result in a real-terms pay cut for all staff for the next 5 years. Is that what you’re worth? Is a guaranteed pay cut every year for the next 5 years a fair reward for the hard work and increased flexibility we have given to the company during the last few years? We think not: RMT will not stand by and allow the company to ignore our aspirations whilst rewarding our hard work with a derisory pay award which will see our members become poorer as a result of the real cost of living in London and the south-east.

FIGHT BACK
We need to get ready to fight to preserve our hard-won terms and conditions: the alternative is to stand idly by and allow it all to slowly ebb away. The challenge we face isn’t just about pay. It’s about the current wide-ranging attack upon all aspects of our working lives by a rampant management. These attacks will continue until management achieves its aim – a docile, fearful workforce – unless we unite and stop them. RMT – never on our knees!