Unions plan national walkout August 2, 2010 BRITAIN is facing another winter of discontent, after unions were urged to coordinate strike action and plan a series of national walkouts. The Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union has called on public sector workers to down tools at the same time, in protest against swingeing cuts planned by the coalition government. The union, run [...]
CITY VIEWS: ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT THE PROSPECT OF MORE STRIKES? August 2, 2010 GORDON CHARLTON | WHITE & CASE “It doesn’t concern me. I understand that the TUC is planning a big protest but I don’t think it will cause any problems. The unions currently lack public support.” TINA HOLDSWORTH | CATALYST 1066 “It is a frightening time at the moment. With all the cuts, it could be [...]
Tube staff vote on strike July 19, 2010 LONDON UNDERGROUND (LU) staff will start voting today on whether to launch a strike which would hit millions of commuters. The dispute between trade union RMT and LU is over job security for ticketing workers who currently face up to 800 job cuts and the closure of 240 ticket offices, according to the union. “LU [...]
DLR strike dates decided July 14, 2010 COMMUTERS travelling into the City on the Dockland Light Railway (DLR) next week could face severe disruptions as trade union RMT yesterday announced strike dates for workers on the line. From 4am next Friday morning, DLR workers will walk off the job for three 24-hour periods, including 27 July and 6 August. RMT said the [...]
Tube strike off after pay offer July 12, 2010 Tomorrow’s strike by Tube Lines has been suspended while staff vote on whether to accept a new offer of a 4.2 per cent pay rise and increased job security. Rail union RMT confirmed yesterday that its members would vote on the revised package. Management will recommend that members accept the offer. Tube Lines workers, who [...]
TUC in bid to ban Cameron July 8, 2010 The transport workers’ union has called on the Trade Unions Congress to withdraw an invitation to David Cameron, who is due to address the organisation’s annual conference in September. In a sign of escalating tensions between the government and public sector workers, the RMT said the Prime Minister was launching the “biggest attack on the [...]
Back to 1926: Unions plan general strike July 5, 2010 THE prospect of the first general strike since 1926 reared its ugly head yesterday, after trade union leaders clubbed together to fight the toughest public spending cuts in a generation. Three unions – which represent train and bus drivers, prison officers, and civil servants – said they would support a general strike if the government [...]
London commuters face huge rise in tube fares, warns RMT July 5, 2010 TRANSPORT FOR LONDON (TfL) could hike passenger tube fares to “eye-watering” levels making the “travelling public pay through the nose”, RMT has warned. The trade union has said that TfL has not given it enough information over Olympic transport plans. London commuters will have to shoulder fare increases as TfL tries to “plug a £5bn [...]
Coalition says 40 per cent cuts unlikely July 4, 2010 THE government yesterday tried to soothe fears over the biggest spending cuts in a generation, after the chancellor asked departments to draw up plans to slash their budgets by a staggering 40 per cent. George Osborne has asked the cabinet to prepare a package of cuts that would be implemented if their departmental budget were [...]
Minister discusses strikes clampdown July 4, 2010 TRANSPORT Secretary Philip Hammond was reported last night to have held discussions with Mayor of London Boris Johnson about ways the coalition government may be able to avert a winter of discontent. The two men are said to have examined proposals drawn up by the employers’ organisation the CBI to declare a strike illegal unless [...]