RMT leaders consider strike action
As thousands of Civil Service workers begin a 48-hour strike today over pay and conditions, leaders of the RMT rail union meet to decide on whether to ballot their members on industrial action.
The union is alarmed at proposals from infrastructure operator Network Rail to transfer thousands of its maintenance staff to private contractor Jarvis.
In addition, the RMT opposes a pay and pension offer made by Network Rail, claiming that the proposed pension scheme for new employees is ” no better than a glorified savings plan subject to the whims of the market”, in the words of general secretary Bob Crow.
“Their pay offer of three per cent is the lowest in the rail industry,” Mr Crow added, warning, “those left in the old final-salary pension scheme are destined to pay ever-increasing costs as the scheme is left to wither on the vine. We will not sit back and watch as our members are made to pay the price of privatisation, and we will not tolerate a two-tier workforce.”
Network Rail denies the RMT’s objections, claiming that the offer is 3.5 per cent and includes a commitment to a 35-hour working week.
Chief executive John Arnitt stated: “We find the strike threat astonishing as we are in the middle of pay negotiations. A variety of good deals are on the table.”
The RMT has 7,000 members working for Network Rail.
The company is planning to transfer 3,000 of its maintenance staff to Jarvis, but has as yet refused to rule out compulsory redundancies.
The RMT has not given any indications as to when or where it might strike.
