Mystery pest bugs Tube staff April 15, 2012 NORTHERN LINE: be on the look out for mysterious bugs mounting “sustained attacks” on Tube drivers. The RMT has complained in its latest newsletter of “as yet unidentified insects” plaguing Northern Line drivers based mainly at Morden. Fumigation has done nothing to soothe the drivers’ itches, thunders the union, and a total of 12 incident [...]
Unite scored an own goal with the tanker strike – but so has Cameron March 28, 2012 LEN McCluskey, general secretary of the Unite trade union, positions himself as an arch-enemy of the government. Of the Bob Crow school of diplomacy, McCluskey remains convinced civil disobedience is necessary to halt the coalition’s deficit reduction programme. And he seems hell-bent on ruining the Olympic Games with mass industrial action. Now might seem a [...]
Boris pledges new deal for suburban rail March 22, 2012 BORIS Johnson has promised to secure specific improvements to London’s suburban rail services if he is re-elected, in the form of longer trains and enlarged stations. The Budget includes a pledge to consider further investment in the capital’s rail network, prompting Johnson (pictured) to assert that he is the best-placed candidate to win funds from [...]
Olympic Tube strike talks stall March 22, 2012 Talks to avoid a transport strike during the Olympics stalled yesterday, with union reps slamming London Underground for imposing “even more strings” on workers alongside an £850 bonus. Five days of negotiations broke down yesterday morning when the RMT union objected to what it said were unreasonable and “inherently unsafe” demands that staff work more [...]
Tube workers to reject Games offer March 18, 2012 TUBE workers are set to reject yet another Olympics bonus offer this week, leaving transport bosses scrambling to avoid strikes during the Games, which are now just over four months away. Almost 150 reps for the RMT will today call on the union to turn down the latest £850 overtime and bonus package. The reps [...]
Unite rejects Olympics Tube bonus March 14, 2012 Unite the union yesterday rejected London Underground’s offer of an £850 Olympics bonus for its maintenance and management workers. Unite said the offer, which is still being considered by transport union RMT, had “strings attached [that] are totally unacceptable” including a requirement to work flexibly. Unite has also announced a ballot of London bus drivers [...]
Tube staff net Olympics bonus offer of £850 March 8, 2012 LONDON Underground has come a step closer to preventing worker walk-outs during the Olympics by offering staff a bonus of £850 each. Transport for London has raised its offer for around 18,000 LU staff following a dispute with union RMT. Workers would receive a £350 flat-rate bonus, plus an extra £20 per shift and a [...]
It’s going to be a very tough fight March 5, 2012 WHEN Boris Johnson took the Mayoralty from Ken Livingstone in 2008, many observers thought a repeat victory in 2012 was a foregone conclusion. If recent polls are anything to go by, that most certainly isn’t the case: with just two months to go, the race is too close to call. “The polls are very close [...]
Unite boss raises Olympic strike February 29, 2012 The leader of Britain’s biggest union has said workers should consider strike action to disrupt the Olympic Games as a protest against the government’s public spending cuts. Len McCluskey, general-secretary of the Unite union, told the Guardian that the austerity measures were so unfair that they justified action during the event. “If the Olympics provide [...]
DLR workers in line for £2,500 Olympic bonus January 26, 2012 WORKERS on the Docklands Light Railway will get a bonus plus overtime payments of up to £2,500 for turning up to work during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Transport union RMT said the deal “raises the bar” for others in the transport sector working over the Olympics.