Next week’s rail strike called off
The RMT has called off a 24-hour strike set to begin on Tuesday, but the proposed strike on London Underground is still set to go ahead.
The RMT had been angry over Network Rail’s decision to close the final salary pension scheme to new members.
General secretary of the RMT, Bob Crow, said: “Network Rail has offered to re-open the final salary pension scheme to new employees upon completion of five years’ service,”
“That service would include any agency or sub-contractor service in the rail industry prior to transferring into Network Rail.
“Employees with less than five years’ service would meanwhile join a money-purchase scheme, but would be able to transfer into the final-salary scheme upon completion of five years’ service.
“The offer also includes an improved 3.5 per cent increase on pay rates this year, and RPI plus three quarters of one percent next year, and an initial 25 per cent refund on rail season ticket costs. The 35-hour week is to be brought in by 2006, as previously agreed.
Industrial action has now been suspended to allow members to vote on the offer.
A judge had been due to rule on Friday on the legal basis for the strike, after lawyers for Network Rail brought an injunction against the RMT over alleged irregularities in the ballot for strike action.
In a submission to the court they are believed to be claiming that the information provided by the RMT was “inaccurate and deficient”.
Under union legislation the union is required to supply the employer with details of the number of ballots sent out, the places of work to which they were sent, and the grades of staff receiving the ballot papers.
According to the Telegraph, irregularities in the information received by Network Rail include 862 employees whose workplace was described as “unknown” and 12 employees said to work at Brighton signal box, which closed 21 years ago
This is not the first time that the RMT has had legal trouble with its strike ballots.
On 8th June the RMT called off industrial action against South Central Trains after they breached the requirement that industrial action should take place within 28 days of the ballot closing.
At the time RMT general secretary, Bob Crowe, said: “The company threatened to use the anti-union laws against us because they claimed our action was called technically one minute too late to be within the law,”
“It seems that a judge can declare our industrial action illegal because it was set to begin on the last bong of midnight rather than the first.
“These laws were designed as a straightjacket to make it as difficult as possible for workers to take industrial action – and this is about as absurd as it gets.”
