Industrial news in brief

Submitted by AWL on 27 March, 2019 - 6:57 Author: Ollie Moore

The next Workers’ Liberty London forum will feature John Moloney, a candidate for Assistant General Secretary of the civil service union PCS.

PCS leaders claim that theirs is “the fighting union”. John will argue that rank-and-file democracy, officials on a worker’s wage, and a fight to level up to national pay rates, are needed to move from “fighting” talk to effective reality.

Friday 12 April, 7 p.m.. Room 828, Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL

Outsourced rail workers to strike

Two groups of outsourced workers on London Overground will strike on 2 April and 4-6 April. Travel Safe Officers employed by the STM agency will strike on 2 April, demanding decent pay in the face of a pay freeze imposed by the contractor. Cleaners employed by Vinci will strike on 4-6 April, demanding improvements to pay and conditions.

The workers’ union, RMT, plans demonstrations outside the headquarters of Arriva Rail London, which runs the London Overground franchise, at 10 a.m. on 2 April and 5 April.

On London Underground, fleet maintenance workers are voting in a strike ballot, due to close on 2 April, in response to LU’s plans to extend train preparation schedules. Currently, trains are “prepped” (i.e., have all safety checks performed) on a 24-hourly basis. Under new proposals, schedules would vary across lines, and could see trains prepped every 96 hours, every three months, or after running a certain mileage. The rank-and-file bulletin Tubeworker said: “The union must urgently look to spread the dispute if fleetonly action proves insufficient to force management to back down.”

Tube unions have also entered negotiations with LU over pay, terms, and conditions, with the current deal due to expire in April 2019. A key focus for RMT is the demand for a 32-hour week for all full-time staff.

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