RMT: London Underground workers are defending jobs and a public service, photo Paul Mattsson (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)
John Reid, President RMT London Transport regional council
RMT members working on London Underground (LU) will strike on 28-30 April and 5-8 May. This is because talks at Acas with LU have failed to make any progress.
In fact LU have reneged on their undertakings made when our strike in February was suspended to allow talks to take place.
During this time LU has also tendered for driverless trains – another threat to safety on the tube.
After eight weeks of negotiations LU are still saying that every ticket office will close by the end of 2015.
When we suspended our strike they undertook to review every station and that some ticket offices could stay open. But only five stations have been reviewed.
They plan to cut nearly 1,800 front-line staff and create 900 new managers. This clearly shows that these cuts are nothing to do with ‘modernisation’ but everything to do with cutting station staff and threatening safety on the tube.
Our work is being downgraded and we face job cuts and pay cuts unless we fight for every job.
As well as the series of strikes in April and May we will be campaigning to get our message across to tube travellers – this will include demonstrations and protests.
The RMT has called a national mobilisation for the London May Day demo (details below). We will be celebrating the life of our general secretary Bob Crow with a rally in Trafalgar Square.
And the building of an effective struggle to defend our members’ jobs on the tube and a decent public service for all is an important part of that commemoration.
Tube travellers know that their safety depends on proper staffing levels in the stations and elsewhere. They supported our strike in February and we will be campaigning for their support again.
The strike runs from 9pm on 28 April to 9pm on 30 April and from 9pm on 5 May until 9pm on 8 May. (Fleet grades will start and finish their strikes at 6.30pm) There will be an overtime ban among station staff from 29 April until further notice.
Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
As part of the campaign to defend jobs and services on London Underground, 35 RMT members are standing as candidates in the local authoriy elections under the banner of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC).
May Day March for Bob
Assemble at Clerkenwell Green (closest station is Farringdon) from 11am.
The march moves off at 1pm. The rally will be in Trafalgar Square at around 2.30pm.
