RMT press releases

30 November 2021

TRANSPORT UNION RMT said that it's advising all members to ensure that they protect their own personal safety and the safety of their colleagues as a priority as masks become compulsory on transport services in England.

The union has warned that the Government have made no arrangements to resource the enforcement of their policy switch leaving staff in the front line seriously exposed.

Following the announcement that face masks will become compulsory on public transport, General Secretary Mick Lynch said;

"We support the wearing of masks but there are major issues about enforcement and its our members left in the front line with angry passengers who refuse to comply. 

"The Government must make the resources available to properly police this reintroduction of compulsory face coverings on our transport services . 

RMT writes to Mayor about ‘incorrect and incendiary statements’ on Night Tube dispute.

TUBE UNION RMT has written to Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, today to express the union’s deep disappointment at ‘incorrect statements’ he made on Twitter this morning that are a total misrepresentation of the facts around the Night Tube dispute. ‎The union has warned that deliberately distorting the truth has an incendiary effect when the Mayor should be putting pressure on tube bosses to get back round the table with RMT officials for serious talks.

RMT calls on Mayor to scrap TfL’s ‘cash for cuts’ executive bonus scheme for attacking keyworkers jobs, pay and pensions

TUBE UNION RMT has written to London Mayor Sadiq Khan calling on him to scrap Transport for London’s £12 million executive bonus scheme which will see senior staff rewarded for their success in delivering the government’s attack on heroic keyworkers’ pay, jobs and pensions.

Denouncing the scheme as ‘disgusting’ and ‘nothing more than cash for cuts’, RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said:

RMT calls action over imposition of impossible and unreasonable demands on staff in advance of Night Tube reopening

TUBE UNION RMT has called action by members over what it describes as the imposition of unacceptable and intolerable demands on staff in advance of the Night Tube reopening which the union says will wreck work life balance by bulldozing through additional night and weekend working.

The union’s executive has agreed the following position today:

3 in 4 London Underground and TfL staff subjected to violence at work during Covid crisis, survey shows.

76% of staff in public facing roles on London’s Underground and TfL rail networks have been subjected to violence at work since the pandemic began, according to a new RMT survey, with half of these reporting that it has happened multiple times.

TRANSPORT AND OFFSHORE Union RMT today responded to the report and recommendations by cross-party MPs on green jobs and Net Zero

From the unions AGM in Leeds Mick Lynch, RMT General Secretary said:

“We welcome the Environmental Audit Committee’s report, which identifies the need for labour market regulation and investment in public transport to support the hundreds and thousands of good, green jobs which the Government is committed to but which we are not seeing in areas like decommissioning and the maritime supply chain.

RMT calls on London Mayor to lead fight against cuts to green jobs and services as he’s appointed chair of C40 climate change group.

Responding to the The London Mayors appointment as chair of C40 the network of the world’s megacities committed to addressing climate change RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said

RMT responds to plans for limited Night Tube reopening

General Secretary Mick Lynch said:

“No one has worked harder to ensure a safe environment for women on London Underground than the RMT. While Tube bosses have axed staff and left stations routinely unstaffed, with all of the obvious risks, we have campaigned relentlessly for the front line, physical ‎presence of visible staff on stations and platforms.

RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said:

“Any reopening of the Night Tube must put public and staff safety first.

“We know from previous experience that the Night Tube has been a magnet for anti-social and violent behaviour ‎and those risks require a fresh assessment with the unions centrally involved before any reopening.

“Staffing levels are crucial to that safe operation and corners must not be cut and crucial decisions rushed for the sake of political expediency.”