rail

transport

Steven. — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 11:18:51 +0000

Tube worker warns of more conflict to come

Rob Ray — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:22:03 +0000

Andy, who is a health and safety rep at TFL-run Metronet, was ordered off the job at 3am in the morning – with no transport home - after a four hour grilling by management earlier this year, for his refusal to wear safety equipment when it wasn’t required because the company should have made the area he was working in safe enough.

Explaining his own verdict, Andy said: “They found me guilty on all counts, put me on a year’s warning, but that was suspended the next day and I was told it wouldn’t be put on my record. They realised there was a strength of feeling.”

“All the reps and activists in Metronet, TFL and that supported me. When I was suspended I was out round the branches and I got a lot of support. Lots of people were out talking about the issues and what happened to me and getting support. In terms of (the RMT) head office, I think they did a good job, came to all the meetings – though we did keep an eye on them. The union is small, and they didn’t have people allocated to saving my job so by and large I ran my own campaign.

“While I was suspended I didn’t sit around, I got around the offices and talked to people. But I’m glad, I think that’s a better way to do it if you know what you are doing. The left was very supportive of me and I was really pleased with that – though sometimes they didn’t check with me so some of what was written wasn’t helpful. Across the RMT there’s a lot of leftists, mainly trots, as people join to get involved in the industrial activity, and they did a lot of work and were very reliable.”

He is one of three reps who taken on by bosses after several major union successes, including three successful strike actions. In one case, a man was at a Metronet depot, picketing in support of striking cleaners when he was accused of threatening behaviour. In another case, a member was accused of intimidatory behaviour in meetings. Both cases were dropped after early intervention by the RMT.

Andy believes these recent cases are not isolated, and that recent changes to the rules could see more in future: “Since Metronet went into administration that can be seen as the turning point. They started parachuting Transport for London people in, particularly Paul Tullet and a couple of safety guys, and that’s when things started to get stiff.

“We have a good organising model and we have seen that in the last three disputes which we have won. At TFL there’s a lot more division but we want to expand our model across the business. I think there’s lots of reasons why they want to knobble us. They changed the rules now to try and catch people – if you go about your union duties you have to have written permission from your supervisor, explain what you are doing etc.

"But this means management talks can’t take place, as they don’t organise them in advance and tend to do it ad hoc. So if we can’t do these meetings without permission it opens us up to disciplinary proceedings. They want to normalise industrial relations, and to do that they want to discipline people. If they think they can get away with it, they’ll do it.”

The next big fight will be over pay for 2009 – which could potentially provide the flashpoint for London mayor Boris Johnson to try and fulfil his election pledge to break the tube unions.

“The next thing coming up is the pay talks for next year, and I think it’s going to be really interesting to see how that pans out.” Andy notes, “It coincides with that of London Underground and we think they’ll be wheeling out the mantra of accepting a pay cut as the only way forward. We don’t know which way things are going to go at TFL, it’s going to need reps and activists to organise.”

Rob Ray

Metronet climb down on activist victimisation

Jack — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 22:39:33 +0000

As previously reported here, Metronet have been victimising militant RMT rep Andy Littlechild. Andy had been suspended for 3 weeks for following Metronet agreed health and safety policy against the wishes of a manager.

London Underground union rep suspended for union activities

Alan — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 11:42:17 +0000

Andy Littlechild, a track worker at Metronet has been a rep for over 12 years. He is known for his complete dedication to the health, safety and welfare of all workers; Metronet employees and agency staff alike.

General strike over prices brings Belgium to a halt

Steven. — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 21:36:47 +0000

High-speed international rail services in and out of the country to France, the UK, Germany and the Netherlands were cancelled and picketing disrupted the port of Antwerp.

Workers were protesting in advance of the government's 2009 budget to demand action on inflation and the rising cost of living.

Derailed: how the trains are in deep crisis

Jason Cortez — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 20:43:44 +0000

Anybody who has tried to organise a strike knows just how draconian Britain's anti-union laws are. First there is the nonsense of the compulsory postal ballot, conducted to a strict set of procedures to avoid a legal challenge.

Tube strike called off after improved offer

Ed — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:34:58 +0000

Some 1,000 track, signal and train maintenance staff working for Tube Lines, the contractor responsible for running the Piccadilly, Northern and Jubilee lines, were due to walk out. The strike would have meant that any signalling problems - a daily occurance - or track faults would have closed down the lines.

Tube workers to strike over harrassment

Django — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:17:58 +0000

London Underground workers on the District and Northern lines will begin a 24 hour strike on August 22nd.

Eurostar cleaners vote for Bank Holiday strike

Ed — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 10:41:46 +0000

More than 120 members of the Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union will walk out on 25th August. The workers want a higher basic wage than the £6.37 per hour which the staff, who work for contractor OCS, receive.

Tube workers to strike over pay

Ed — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 10:34:54 +0000

RMT members at the company will down tools between noon on Wednesday August 20th and noon on Saturday August 23rd. The second 72-hour strike will begin at noon on Wednesday September 3rd and end at noon on Saturday September 6th.