National Express East Anglia strike rock solid as RMT renews calls for company to be stripped of franchises

Submitted by Admin on 30 July, 2009 - 16:00

RAIL UNION RMT confirmed that today’s strike action on National Express East Anglia has been solidly supported across the franchise with the vast majority of services at a complete standstill and with managers running only a few token, ghost trains as a publicity stunt.

RMT members have shown their all-out determination to secure a fair deal on pay and working conditions from a company which has sucked in billions in public subsidies in the past ten years.

Dismissal From Service - Kevin Dobinson, Train Operator, Bakerloo Line

Submitted by Admin on 23 July, 2009 - 23:00

Circular No. IR/222/09

RMT is to ballot all Bakerloo Line Drivers for both strike action and industrial action short of a strike in support of a dismissed colleague, Kevin Dobinson. Ballot papers will dispatched direct to members’ homes on 30th July 2009 with the closing date for returns being Wednesday 12th August 2009.

It seem that our Train Operator members on the Bakerloo are furious at Kevin’s dismissal and over 160 of them have signed a petition telling management exactly that. Kevin was sacked for a SPAD that he owned up to. It was an aggravated SPAD largely caused by Kevin being preoccupied with personal problems. Furthermore it was the sort of incident that had occurred before on the Underground yet other people hadn’t been sacked.

Regional Council meeting - all members invited

Venue: Somers Town Community Centre, Ossulston Street, London NW1

For details of the agenda and resolutions for the Regional Council meeting, please click here.

As usual, all members are welcome to attend the Regional Council meeting. This time, we will have an extended discussion about the current LUL/TfL dispute, so urge members to make a particular effort to come along.

Click '1 attachment' / file name to download a leaflet advertising the meeting.

Vestas Occupation - Rally Tonight

Submitted by Admin on 23 July, 2009 - 20:41

Offshore energy union RMT will this evening fly a plane with messages of support for the Vestas occupation over the factory as Bob Crow and other supporters of the fight for jobs and green energy mass outside the gates for a rally in solidarity with the Vestas workforce at 6pm.

RMT and other trade unionists today managed to get some supplies of food and drink into the occupation. RMT have been working on contingency plans to drop food in by helicopter if necessary to ensure that the Vestas workers are not starved into submission and have called upon the wider trade union movement to ensure that supplies are maintained.

A Manager Should Not Deal With a Grievance against Him/Herself

Submitted by Admin on 23 July, 2009 - 19:00

London Underground seems to think that it is OK for a manager to deal with staff grievances against him/herself! Not only is this self-evidently unfair, it also breaches ACAS rules. If your manager tries this, please use the following quotes to insist that the grievance is dealt with by a different manager.

The ACAS guide to discipline and grievances at work (which you can download in full here), states on page 44 that: