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Striking for the future of the tube 🚇
“Every Tube worker contributes to the generation of vast wealth every day – just by turning up to work. Going on strike allows us to think about our work in a broader context, not merely as something we do to pay the bills, but as a social process.”
I’m a Customer Service Assistant, a frontline station worker, on London Underground, and a rep for the RMT union. The RMT’s entire London Underground membership struck on 1 and 3 March, followed by a station staff strike on 6 June, as part of a campaign to defend staffing levels and terms and conditions, including pension arrangements. All Tube workers in RMT will strike again on 21 June, alongside RMT comrades working for Network Rail and 13 mainline Train Operating Companies, who have their own dispute over pay, jobs, and conditions, who are also striking on 23 and 25 June. Unite members on TfL will also be joining us on strike on 21 June.
It’s the first national rail strike since 1994 (although that only involved signallers, whereas this strike will see workers in all functions and grades take action), and the first time Tube workers and rail workers have struck together since 1989. Around 60% of the RMT’s national membership will be on strike on 21 June. There’s a palpable sense of excitement amongst many workmates, obviously including union activists but also beyond them, at the prospect of being part of a historic strike which, as I write, continues to dominate public discourse.
As transport workers, the impact of us withdrawing our labour is extremely clear. When we stop working, London’s Tube system stops running. It’s a spectacular reminder that workers’ labour makes society move, in our case in a very direct and literal sense. In March, the Evening Standard reported that our strikes “cost” the London economy £50m per day. In other words, every Tube worker contributes to the generation of vast wealth every day – just by turning up to work. Going on strike allows us to think about our work in a broader context, not merely as something we do to pay the bills, but as a social process.
The background to our dispute is a funding crisis at Transport for London (TfL). From 2015, the Tories incrementally ran down the government grant previously paid to TfL, abolishing it entirely in 2018. That left TfL heavily reliant on fare revenue, which represented 75% of its income, as opposed to around 38% for the New York subway. When the pandemic hit, and fare revenue collapsed, so did TfL’s finances. The government has funded it with a series of short-term bailouts, which were all conditional on making “savings” – i.e., cuts – and returning to being “self-financing” by 2023. TfL is looking to make those “savings” by measures such as cutting 600 frontline positions from stations, and potentially reforming our pension scheme to reduce employer overheads.
The company assures us cuts will be achieved by deleting vacancies and displacing staff rather than making existing workers redundant. But any worker who’s worked in an under-staffed workplace with unfilled positions knows it means everyone else’s workload goes up, with all that brings in terms of increased fatigue and stress. Deleting vacant positions makes that situation permanent. Potential displacements could also wreck work/life balance. From a passengers’ point of view, a Tube with 600 fewer frontline station staff on it will simply be a less accessible, less safe place to travel.
The constant barrage of anti-strike demagogy shrieked from the front pages of the Evening Standard and the Metro, distributed for free in our own workplaces, can grate, but it comes with the territory. Passengers who take the time to inform themselves about the real reasons for the dispute, and look past right-wing media spin about “Tube drivers’ pay” (our dispute isn’t about pay, and our 6 June strike involved only station staff, not drivers!) are invariably supportive.
As a union rep, I have all sorts of exchanges and discussions with workmates in the run up to a strike. New starters want to know if their probation will be affected if they join the strike; I assure them they have the same legal rights as everyone else, and let them know that I went on strike in my first week of training (yes, really!), and I’m still on the job, nearly 10 years later. Inevitably some people worry about the financial impact of prolonged action, and we discuss ways to mitigate that, for example using the RMT’s Credit Union, or accessing branch hardship funds if necessary.
Some workmates say things like, “of course I’ll be striking.. but will it achieve anything?” The old adage that if we fight, we might not win, but if we don’t fight, we’ll definitely lose is always a useful response. But I can also point to relatively recent experiences of winning concessions from the company, such as our 2017 strike on stations which forced LU to reinstate 325 jobs they’d cut under a previous restructure.
The announcement of a strike alongside national rail also raises the stakes in a positive way. As well as an amplified industrial impact, the coordinated strike poses political questions about how public transport is organised and funded. Anti-union laws prevent us from striking directly to demand the reinstatement of adequate, no-strings-attached funding to TfL, but our union has rightly been clear that, ultimately, any meaningful settlement on TfL requires a resolution the funding question.
TfL’s latest funding bailout from the government expires on 24 June, meaning TfL Commissioner Andy Byford and Mayor Sadiq Khan will be re-entering negotiations with Grant Shapps and the Department for Transport. If Byford and Khan reaffirm their commitment to cuts, they will not only be selling out Tube workers, but the passengers who use the service. Our strike on 21 June will make it clear to all parties around that table that we, the workers whose labour makes the system run, won’t accept our jobs and conditions, and therefore the quality of service we provide to London, being cut as a condition of further funding.
The government needs to adequately fund the Tube, or face further strikes.
Daniel Randall, is a London Underground station worker and RMT rep (personal capacity)
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Pay up Mitie
We have worked on the frontline as porters, cleaners, switchboard and catering staff at Cumberland Infirmary during this pandemic. We have put ourselves at risk to serve patients meals, clean wards- keeping them safe from infection and do the jobs which allow nurses and doctors to deliver vital care.
We have worked on the frontline as porters, cleaners, switchboard and catering staff at Cumberland Infirmary during this pandemic. We have put ourselves at risk to serve patients meals, clean wards- keeping them safe from infection and do the jobs which allow nurses and doctors to deliver vital care.
We have frequently worked weekends and night shifts- spending time away from our families- as we often have to working in an NHS hospital. Our colleagues who are employed by the National Health Service receive enhancement payments for working these unsocial hours.
This extra money was agreed over a decade ago as part of the NHS Agenda for Change pay deal. It includes enhanced rates – such as time-and-a-half and double time – for working at the weekends or through the night.
We have discovered that our employer Mitie has failed to pay us enhancements for unsocial hours for over ten years. We are thousands of pounds out of pocket compared to our colleagues who do the same jobs within the NHS. We are ONE NHS- why should we be paid less than colleagues doing exactly the same jobs?
Our employer Mitie has repeatedly claimed that it has never received funding to pay us unsocial hours payments. But North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Trust (NCIC) claim that they handed over a “substantial sum” to Health Management Carlisle- the investment firm which owns the hospital- many years ago.
Worryingly, Health Management Carlisle has denied ever receiving any payments from the Trust relating to unsocial hours payments. We don’t know who has the money, but we do know that we have been short changed for over ten years.
This would be a bitter pill to swallow at any time but we are even more upset to learn of our underpayment as we are giving everything to keep people safe during this pandemic. Where is our money Mitie?By Anonymous Unison members
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Trouble on the buses
Drivers at Go North West’s Queen’s Road Bus Depot are on all-out strike from Sunday after Unite members there voted 83% in favour of strike action against the company’s decision to fire and rehire them on new contracts that would reduce sick pay and wages.
Go North West are set to bring in scab labour via coach contractors once the strike gets underway next week to break the strike. The wider movement must continue to provide support where possible to help striking workers win!
When the all-out strike action begins on Sunday 28 February Unite will be mounting strictly socially distanced, Covid secure picket lines at the company’s Queens Road depot (Cheetham Hill, Manchester M8 8UT).
By Colin Hayden
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#CWUandProud
This is a pivotal moment for CWU members employed as Repayment Project Engineers (RPE’s). The grade of the role they carry out is being attacked and moved in to a managerial structure where performance related pay and bonus incentives rule the day. For the vast majority it would also mean worse terms and conditions including hours of work, annual leave and sick pay arrangements. They fundamentally believe that this move compromises the integrity of the role and the service to the customer by driving inappropriate behaviours linked to revenue generation.
In reality this is in many ways a selfless dispute as at the core of the 170 members minds is the future for their many colleagues who may aspire to carry out this role in the years to come. Ensuring that the role remains as a team member grade and is not sullied by the potential conflicts of interest that would be driven by the change. They have driven the dispute from the start making clear to the leadership the direction and policy that should be pursued. They may be spread from one end of the country to the other but they are tight knit, determined and willing to fight. A statutory ballot result that delivered a 94% turnout with 86% voting yes for strike action must tell the story all on its own.
But they are battling a multinational company that `recognises the strength of feeling and passion but believes that our members are wrong’. They need your support in the days and weeks ahead as the 170 of them take part in the initial days of strike action. Every text message, tweet, Facebook share or any other personal or social media support you can give would be really welcomed by our members. They agreed at the very start that if they stuck together, fought together they could win together. With all your support that is an objective you can help them meet.
CWU Officer, Davie Bowman
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Not very good lord
Goodlord: Fire and rehire tactics at London based prop-tech company Goodlord
The referencing department of Goodlord has always been treated like an unwelcome necessity to the business. The company employs upwards of two hundred people, with almost half of these being in the referencing department.
When we were first employed we were told the department functioned as a loss leader. The product was cheaper than our competitors and was a gateway to other Goodlord products. We have now been told that this model is no longer feasible. Goodlord’s solution to the issue of profitability is by cutting the wages of its workers in the department by 30%. The rental sector has not seen the same effects that other industries have due to the pandemic, these pay cuts stem purely from Goodlord’s own mismanagement of their finances.These pay cuts were sold as a wonderful opportunity. The department were all on temporary or fixed term contracts and were being offered permanent ones. Except the hours had been cut, as had the sick leave, maternity cover, pension contributions and most importantly, the pay. We had been hired for a London based role, to now be told the new contracts were remote only and therefore did not need to meet the London Living Wage. As we would be changing contract type we were expected to apply for our own jobs. We were informed, just like any other job, if the terms of the new contract didn’t suit us, then we shouldn’t apply. But of course we are in a pandemic and the majority of us couldn’t take the risk of not accepting the new contracts.
We joined a union to help us negotiate better terms for our new contracts so we can afford to pay our rents. Goodlord chose to initially ignore the union, then not take the negotiations seriously and finally to try and discredit those in the department who had decided to unionise. Because of these actions we feel our only recourse is to strike.
The lowest paid employees of Goodlord should not have to pay for the mistakes of the highest paid.
You can follow the strikers @badlord.
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It was never my intention to go on strike
My name is Magaly Quesada, I work as a cleaner at La Retraite Roman Catholic School for Girls’, my husband Roberto also works there, I came to the UK from Cuba as a political asylum seeker 13 years ago and I’ve worked at La Retraite for nearly 10 years, but despite having worked there for so long, I don’t receive sick pay.
Not being paid sick pay makes me feel inferior, I don’t understand why a worker who works full time has this right but one who works part time does not, I believe this is discrimination and no one has been able to give me a satisfactory reason for why this is okay. I believe that in the eyes of God we are all equal and should be treated equally.
It was never my intention to go on strike, but I believe that our demands are fair and that anyone with a little empathy should be able to understand our predicament. La Retraite has left us with no choice but to strike, in order to make our voices heard we must strike, and although we are afraid, we won’t back down.
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Stop the bullying
The NEU are in dispute over bullying at the college that they describe as institutionalised. The latest example of this is the victimisation of a trade union representative at the college.
He is being investigated under the college investigation policy for gross misconduct. The alleged offence took place in June and he was only informed in October. The union believe the investigation to be flawed, biased, vexatious and setting out to prove guilt. The NEU representative had previously raised concerns about bullying email chains.
He had also raised a concern about racism and discriminatory behaviour. He was also criticised for attending and speaking at a meeting run by the NEU and for distributing a questionnaire on workload and stress based on a Health and Safety Executive questionnaire.
The members of Shrewsbury Colleges Group NEU have voted strongly in favour (95%) of strike action in support of their representative in a formal ballot. Strike action is planned for Wednesday 24th February and then further dates in March if the college do not remove the threat from the NEU representative.
Jean Evanston NEU -
British Gas Fire
The worst thing about it is I loved this company. But now it just feels toxic.
“I’ll give you a little background info. A few years ago they attacked our pensions and in return promised us growth by hiring 400 apprentices. To this date they have hired about 50.
They then announced they would attack our terms and conditions. Mid pandemic we have this added torment thrown upon us.
Working through the pandemic was awful. We’ve been told we work in a “covid safe” environment but I lost my smell and taste in March. It’s only just recently come back. We have engineers scared for their lives as they have underlying health issues. “Covid-Safe”, Easy for them to say, sat in their homes Infront of a computer. It’s honestly been hell.
“We’ve been told we work in a “covid safe” environment but I lost my smell and taste in March.”
The customers have been amazing throughout. Can’t do enough to stay socially distant during visits, it’s those I feel sorry for during this strike but the senior leadership team have brought us to this point. Not the engineers. We’ve done everything they ask over the years. One year they said no to a pay rise to “help the company”.
It’s been a decade of mis management. I joined the company in 2010 and it was booming. Share price £4+ and since then just got worse and worse. Customer service quality has been constantly dropping and they moved dispatch to India. Customers are sometimes unable to speak to a human and complain of hard to understand foreign employees on the phone.
“They’re holding this fire and rehire over us like a metaphorical gun to our heads is disgusting.W
The worst thing about it is I loved this company. It’s made me able to buy a nice house, car, ho
lidays. But now it just feels toxic. I honestly feel we can come back from this but the way they’re holding this fire and rehire over us like a metaphorical gun to our heads is disgusting.Our hope is for them to remove fire and rehire from the situation and get back negotiating with the union, the deal they came up with got an 86% rejection. We know we can’t continue the way we are but they can meet us halfway.
Please send your messages of solidarity to @GMB_union using the hashtag #StopTheBritishGasFire.”
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Quality Care Deserves Quality Pay
The work we do, we do it with pride, we do it with dignity and we do it to put bread on the table, but to Sage’s trustees this is not ‘decent work’, it is not ‘a real job’.
“People are asking why we are striking? We have worked and worked in this pandemic, but when an employee, whether they’re a domestic, a cleaner, laundry staff, maintenance worker or a carer voices their opinion, there is a barrier, there is a block, they are ignored; why is this happening? It is happening because our bosses look at us like we’re nothing. The work we do, we do it with pride, we do it with dignity and we do it to put bread on the table, but to Sage’s trustees this is not ‘decent work’, it is not ‘a real job’.
Well, we’ve got news for those trustees, we might not wear a suit and tie, but we look after the residents at Sage, we care for the elderly and the vulnerable in the local Jewish community, and we do it with compassion and pride. For us, this is a profession, and it is a dignified one. But unfortunately, striking has turned to be the only way we can make our voices heard.
“We are simply asking for recognition for what we do and to be paid a living wage”
We are simply asking for recognition for what we do and to be paid a living wage and to have rights that recognise the value of our work. We want the community in Golders Green, and society in general, to treat us like human beings. This is why we are asking for a living wage of £12 per hour and full pay sick pay and annual leave that matches what they have in the NHS. We should not be forced to come to work when sick and put our health, and the health of the residents in danger.
“We want an end to the discrimination and the inequality”
We want an end to the discrimination and the inequality, the last thing we wanted to do was go on strike, we simply want basic respect and dignity and to be able to get on with our job which is caring for the residents. And I hope that after this first round of strikes, Sage will see sense and do the right thing so we can all get back to work, but we will not stop until we are treated with respect”.
You can support the striking careworkers by donating to their crowdfunder here
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The Battle of Barnoldswick
To embark on the unknown, whilst forsaking your wages, is a scary thought for many. So the real question is why do they do it?
Firstly, let’s be clear nobody ever relishes the prospect of taking industrial action, even less walking out the factory gates, your office, your school/university, your hospital or whatever your work place happens to be. Let’s face it, most people work to live and to embark on the unknown, whilst forsaking your wages, is a scary thought for many. So the real question is why do they do it?
The answer is pretty simple, because they feel that they have no other options, they have no choice. Many of the people, who sadly are essentially forced to take industrial action each year, are not militant, they are not ‘loony lefties’ as some in the right wing media like to portray them – they are decent ordinary working people fighting for fairness and equality. Fighting for their families, for their communities and in some cases their livelihood. Be it fair pay, decent terms and conditions or their job.
“When people are backed into a corner the human instinct for survival kicks in.”
When people are backed into a corner the human instinct for survival kicks in. The stress of the situation triggers the the fight response as opposed to the flight option. So why were we on strike?
The workers at Rolls Royce Barnoldswick went on strike following the announcement by the company that it intended to offshore the majority of work that was done at the site to Singapore, to a plant that the workers help set up and went and trained the workforce a decade ago, after receiving assurances that in helping the company this would not be to their detriment and would never be at the expense of their jobs. Whilst on strike they were dealt a further blow with another announcement that the company was going to outsource more work to a subsidiary factory in Spain. They simply had nothing to loose.
However, I am pleased to say that after 9 weeks on strike in the midst of winter, in a cold part of Lancashire we have been able to suspend the action having reached agreement with the company which will now be put to the members in the next few days, this will hopefully provide a secure long term future for the site.
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My Kingdom for a fair pay rise
“When the managers want something done we are expected to do it no questions asked but when we want something the managers are nowhere to be seen”
I just want to start of with why its absolutely necessary to strike during the lock down because on a day to day basis security staff at the Royal Berkshire Hospital are always left in the dark and a lot of the time silenced.
I have noticed that when the managers want something done we are expected to do it no questions asked but when we want something the managers are nowhere to be seen. Or, when we voice our concerns they brush them away and turn a blind eye. For example, at the beginning of the Covid pandemic we were expected to go into high risk covid areas. A lot of us weren’t happy about this due to the fact that we don’t get sick pay if we’re ill whereas everyone else on site does. When we challenged this and we refused to go into those areas we were threatened by them [management] saying, “well you might as well look for other jobs then”. Of course everyone got scared and did as they were told.
“A lot of us had to steal PPE because they wouldn’t supply us with it.”
A lot of us had to steal PPE because they wouldn’t supply us with it. The wages are just ridiculous, I sometimes think to myself, is this job even worth it? With all the abuse and the s**t pay why should I put 110% into my work when Kingdom don’t make any effort to help us?
The list of problems can go on and on but the only way to stop these problems is to strike and get our voices heard. It is the right time to strike during the pandemic because people complain asking where’s security? Staff are asking how they can come back without security? It creates problems and the more problems the more it shows them what we go through every day and how much they actually need us. All we want is to be paid fairly and to be heard.
Unite The Union members employed as Security staff by Kingdom Security at the Royal Berkshire are currently on strike demanding fair pay. They have asked not to be named.
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