Unions demand bigger bonuses & reject £500 deal for Tube staff working during 2012 games

[richard]

London Underground workers have rejected a £500 'bribe' for working during the 2012 Olympic Games, it was announced today.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, which represents thousands of Tube staff, said the money was not an adequate reward for being on duty during the event.

Bosses said the offer from London Underground had too many 'strings and caveats' attached to it.

It comes after the RMT struck a deal for 500 Docklands Light Railway workers to get up to £2,500 simply for agreeing to work without disruption during the Olympics - a figure that dwarfs the offer on the table for Tube staff.

There is expected to be a huge increase in passenger numbers across the capital for weeks during this summer’s event and union bosses are demanding that transport workers are given extra pay to compensate.

DLR staff will get £900 bonuses simply for turning up for work - and will also be guaranteed five hours of overtime a week, for which they will be paid 75 per cent above their normal shift rate.

The RMT said the offer to Tube workers had been slightly improved to £100 dependent on meeting 'customer satisfaction' targets, as well as overtime payments which could add another £400.

The union pointed to other deals, including one for DLR staff and £600 payments at London Overground.

The agreements struck by Bob Crow's RMT union have been described as 'ransom payments' to prevent chaos on public transport during the Games.

Mr Crow said: 'RMT is rejecting this latest Olympics and Paralympics pay offer from LU and we will be meeting with the company again to press our case for a flat-rate, across-the-board payment which recognises the contribution of all staff throughout the high-pressure extended Olympics and Paralympics period and which is free from a whole barrage of strings and caveats.

'Other employers, notably London Overground, Network Rail and most recently DLR, have come up with serious offers and agreements and we expect London Underground to do the same.

'It is well-documented that transport will be the biggest logistical challenge throughout the Olympics period, with massive pressure on staff and services from moving millions of extra passenger journeys around Greater London and the South East.

'All we are calling for is a fair deal for all the staff involved in delivering the colossal transport challenge that we will be facing this summer and the negotiations to achieve that are ongoing.'

But critics have again hit back at what they see as union greed.

Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, said: 'The RMT seem to be stretching to breaking point the tolerance of most Londoners in their rejection of this improved pay offer.'

London Underground director George McInulty said: 'This summer LU staff will be asked to work flexibly, and we are determined to properly acknowledge the contribution they will be making to a fantastic Olympics and Paralympics Games while keeping London moving.

'We have put forward our proposals about how our staff could be fairly rewarded based, as usual, on feedback from our customers and on the flexibility that staff show in working different shift patterns.

'Discussions continue on the issue.'

London's Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy said he was not worried at the latest breakdown of pay talks with the RMT union over Tube staff working during the Olympics, describing it as 'a tactic'.

He said: 'We will get a deal with the RMT. Our staff are going to be very proud to do this. There is not anybody who works for us who is not looking forward to the opportunity to showing what they can do.'


Source
By Charles Walford
www.dailymail.co.uk

[richard]

No surprises there then. Who would have thought that the unions would be able to resist a little bit of arm-twisting bearing in mind they have a captive market and a deadline that can't be moved.

Some might say it was blackmail, but I wouldn't be so harsh on the poor little underpaid and overworked lambs.

Anyone fancy a flight out to somewhere hot and sunny in July or August? Join the club.