Opposing victimisation

Click on the 'attachment' to see the February edition of 'RMT Up Front', the newsletter from the RMT train grades on London Underground. Full story follows:

It’s time to stand up and fight for Eamonn and Arwyn
If we tolerate these sackings, you might be next

Drivers on the Bakerloo and Northern Lines have already taken strike action to overturn the sackings of their workmates. The RMT is now looking to escalate the action across every depot in the combine. Below are the reasons why:

RMT General Grades Committee decision, 10 February:

That we welcome the reinstatement on appeal of Brother Hartshorn. We congratulate Peter, his representative, his workmates, his branch, and all others who supported him in his successful fight for reinstatement.

RMT's General Grades Committee has taken the following decisions to call further strikes:

Dismissal of Eamonn Lynch

In line with the request of our Bakerloo Line branch, all members at Queen’s Park and Elephant & Castle traincrew depots are instructed not to book on for any duty that commences between 21:00 hours on Sunday 20 February and 20:59 hours on Monday 21 February.

This date to remain confidential until notice is served.

That we seek talks with the employer under the auspices of ACAS with the aim of resolving this dispute.

Circular LUL/4/5 from RMT General Secretary Bob Crow

It is apparent that London Underground management has been deliberately victimising our representatives and activists for doing their job namely representing you and fighting to protect jobs and ensuring a staff presence in stations.

Peter Hartshorn, RMT rep on Green Park group, has been reinstated on appeal, with his dismissal suspended for 52 weeks. Well done to Peter and his RMT representative, and thanks to everyone from Peter's branch and the region who supported him through this difficult time.

RMT General Grades Committee decision ...

That we welcome the decision of the Employment Tribunal to award Interim Relief to Brother Thomas, which reaffirms this union’s belief that London Underground dismissed him because of his trade union activities. Given LU’s dismissals of Eamonn Lynch – who also won his Interim Relief application – and Peter Hartshorn, we can see a concerted anti-union campaign by the employer that must be met by a concerted campaign in defence of our union and its representatives and activists.

RMT General Grades Committee decision:

That we are disgusted by London Underground’s refusal to reinstate Eamonn Lynch despite the obvious injustice of his dismissal and the success of his Interim Relief application. We seek the views of the Bakerloo branch and refer this matter to our Southern Sub-Committee for examination and report.

There is a further relevant decision here.

TUBE UNION RMT today demanded an end to London Undergound’s campaign of bullying and harassment of union activists as the organisation won a second “interim relief” hearing at the Employment Tribunal in Croydon yesterday in the case of sacked Northern Line train operator Arwyn Thomas.

Extract from the RMT General Grades Committee's decision on Wednesday 19 January, the day that London Underground sacked our Green Park group rep, Peter Hartshorn ...

We are disgusted to hear that London Underground has summarily dismissed our representative Peter Hartshorn on trumped up charges of swearing at a manager despite witnesses stating otherwise. The alleged incident took place while Peter was carrying out trade union duties and it is clear that the company has victimised him for his activities as a representative of this union.