When negotiations fail, RMT members take action
from RMT General Secretary Bob Crow
I write to advise you that following the magnificent 80% vote in favour of action, the General Grades Committee has decided to call the below action short of a strike in the above dispute.
RMT General Grades Committee decision:
That we note the result of our ballot of our London Underground train driver members is as follows:-
RMT General Grades Committee decision:
We note the report from our Regional Organiser and representatives, that London Underground management is commencing training for Victoria Line drivers on automatic door opening. This is despite ongoing problems with door technology on the line, serious concerns about passenger safety, and our continuing, unresolved dispute about safety and training issues related to the Victoria Line upgrade.
RMT General Grades Committee decision:
We note the correspondence from London Underground, asking this union to reconsider our industrial action on this issue [the Operational Effectiveness Programme]. We reaffirm that as London Underground has not withdrawn its plan to impose unsafe working practices for train drivers, our industrial action ballot continues, alongside the publicity campaign outlined in our previous decision.
We instruct the General Secretary to reply to LU, inviting the company to reconsider its imposition of unsafe working practices.
RMT General Grades Committee decision re Northfirelds depot case:
We note the report from our LU Fleet branch secretary that the ballot for industrial action is no longer necessary as the disciplinary action against our member has been dropped with ‘no case to answer’.
RMT General Grades Committee decision:
We note the report from our Regional Organiser. We also note the expressed view of our trains health and safety representatives that three particular aspects of London Underground’s ‘Operational Effectiveness Programme’ and are unacceptable and potentially dangerous. These are the proposed new procedures for: reversing a train; platform re-categorisation; and carrying passengers over a shunt signal. London Underground is now imposing Operational Standards Notice (OSN) 101 against the objections of our representatives.
RMT General Grades Committee decision:
We note the report from the General Secretary.
We instruct the General Secretary to write immediately to all London Underground branches and representatives outlining how the review is to progress, and asking them to submit any issues which they think should be raised.
A joint trade union meeting is being held in London to press the demand for a public sector general strike in the autumn. The meeting is being organized by the National Shop Stewards Network and will be attended by the RMT, Fire Brigades Union, Communication Workers Union and the Public and Commercial Sectors Union.
All our welcome.
The meeting will be held on Monday 18th July, 6.00pm at Indian YMCA, 41 Fitzroy Square, W1T 6AQ. (Map).
RMT and London Underground agreed in May to an independent review of industrial disputes on the company. This review will be carried out by a professor of industrial relations. If reps or branches have information or views you would like to feed into this review, please email me j.booth@rmt.org.uk. RMT's General Grades Committee discussed the terms of reference of the review, and adopted the following report:
Referring to Decision Gww 14 June 2011, we have considered the draft terms of reference of the agreed review of industrial disputes between London Underground and RMT.
THE AGM of rail union RMT, meeting in Fort William this week, has endorsed plans for a massive national campaign, including a cross-industry strike ballot if necessary, to resist any attempts by the Government to roll out its McNulty Rail Review assault on Britain’s railways.