for workers' power from below
A member of Finsbury Park RMT looks at the London Underground (LUL) dispute and the role of the unions on the Tube
Once again it is nearly a year since we should have had a pay rise. It has been settled after a protracted campaign led industrially by the RMT while the other unions maintained a deafening silence (apart from a certain union leader who encouraged his members to scab in the summer). Continue reading “tube pay deal: the wages of disunity?”
by Vaughan Thomas, RMT London region chair (LUL)
It’s early November and the view from the 23rd floor offices of Euston Tower must be one of the best in London. Low clouds obscure the top of the adjacent Post Office Tower but the “belly of the beast” – the City of London – is clearly visible in the distance; a constant reminder of the reason we are here at ACAS, deadlocked over pay.
The global financial crisis has had enormous repercussions for working people in all walks of life, in both the private and public sectors.
Even the Underground, which in recent years has tended to be insulated from the worst problems due to massive government investment, is feeling the pinch. And it’s the workers at the bottom who are being pinched hardest. This time, more than any other, it’s important that the transport unions stick together to fight management. Continue reading “london underground: deadlock over pay”
On the morning of January 8th a series of actions were held in defence of two RMT activists victimised by their employer ISS for standing up for cleaners on the London Underground. Feminist Fightback and CAIC activists and RMT members were prominently involved. Clara Osagiede – RMT cleaners’ grade secretary – faced a disciplinary hearing on charges of “gross misconduct” for allegedly failing to return to work after a meeting, while recently elected local rep Mary Boakye, who has an eye condition caused by an injury picked up at work, was appealing against her dismissal for allegedly sleeping during working hours. In both cases the employers’ clear motivation was to break up the organising centre of the cleaners, who last year staged a strike for a ‘living wage’ of £7.45 an hour.
Photos and comments on the day’s protests below. Continue reading “photo-report of action to defend rmt cleaners’ reps”
Metronet management is currently pursuing a vicious disciplinary process against RMT Health & Safety/Union Rep Andy Littlechild. Continue reading “stitch-up of rmt rep on metronet”
the commune 