RMT Strike 9th June 2009

The RMT have called for a 2 day strike from 7pm tonight (Tuesday 9th June). I, as much as anyone else are not looking forward to the inevitable chaos this will cause in travelling home, and back to work during the dispute. I decided to find out why the strike has been called. The television and print news have given mostly one side of the story, and I wanted to find a more balanced view.

Here is information about why the strike has been called. It has been taken from the RMT website. This tells a different story to that being shown in the media. It outlines the issues, as well as the voting figures ( a more full version can be found at:

http://www.rmtlondoncalling.org.uk/sites/default/files/ltrc%20may09%20strike.pdf )

"The Issues: Jobs

London Underground is cutting 1,000 jobs and TfL may cut 3,000 more. Neither will rule out compulsory
redundancies. LUL says that these are ‘only’ admin jobs. But transport needs administrators as well as frontline staff.
Unlike your employer, RMT values all our members’ jobs. LUL/TfL are pushing through an ‘Organisational Change Process’ which allows for compulsory redundancies, in breach of an agreement it signed with RMT (and ASLEF) in 2001. If LUL gets away with tearing it up, then no job is safe – including engineering and operational grades.

The Issues: Pay

RMT asked for a one-year deal, a substantial pay rise, a £26k minimum, and improvements to conditions. LUL offers a five-year deal: 1% for 2009 and RPI+0.5% for the next four years. With CPI (the government’s preferred inflation measure) at 3.2% in February, this is a year-on-year pay cut in real terms. The five-year timespan takes us past 2012. LUL wants to stop us demanding a decent reward for working
during the Olympics. TfL has not even made an offer! Both employers have refused to even consider our other claims, on issues such as medical redeployment, shorter working hours and family-friendly policies.

The Issues: Justice

LUL is clamping down on attendance and discipline, leading to rampant mistreatment of staff - over-the-top punishments; sick pay stopped; pay docked for emergency domestic leave; endless contact when you are sick; warnings given with no discretion; managers spotting fictitious ‘patterns’ of non-attendance; union representation denied; sickness treated like a crime. Many actions by managers are aggressive and punitive, and many are outside the company’s policies and agreements. Management have created a regime of fear, where people even come to work when they are ill. We have all suffered under this harsh regime ourselves or know a workmate who has. This has to stop."

Details of the voting:

Q1 Are you prepared to take strike action?

LUL: Yes 2,810 No 488 Majority = 85.2%, or 6:1

TfL: Yes 60 No 15 Majority = 80%, or 4:1

Q2 Are you prepared to take industrial action short of a strike?

LUL: Yes 2,927 No 362 Majority = 89%, or 8:1

TfL: Yes 67 No 8 Majority = 89.3%, or 8:1


This shows the issues from the RMT point of view, as their view is not being publicised in the media. Please read and make up your own mind.

If you feel that you want to lend your support to the RMT workers, you can leave a message of support at :

http://www.rmtlondoncalling.org.uk/supportus

Support the Ford Visteon Workers Occupation

Come to the factory anytime!
Especially around 12 noon

Morson Road EN3 4TN
near Ponders End train station, Enfield

The plant is 5min walk, cross the foot-bridge, walk down main road towards Central London, the next street to the left is Morson Road, the factory situated at the end

Statement (below) from some Ford Visteon workers and supporters (from inside the occupied factory)


We have occupied our factory Ford Visteon workers have occupied our factory since Wednesday 1st April. The previous day in a meeting lasting just 6 minutes we were told that the European company, with plants in Belfast, Basildon and Ponders End, Enfield, was going into administration and that we were to leave - without our wages being paid. Personal possessions could be collected the next day, but at 10 o'clock the factory was locked closed. Workers had already occupied the Belfast factory.
We demand what is due to us The 200 workers who are part of the Ford subsidiary want the same conditions they have always had via "mirror contracts" with the parent company. Up to now they don't know when they will get wages due, and their pensions are to be controlled by the government Pensions Protection Fund. This means a maximum of £9,000 payout, and much reduced conditions! Some of the women and men have 40 yrs service!

The whole situation has been created for news management - announce it during the G20 and it will get buried in the media. And this is largely what's happened. The move is to save Visteon USA money at our expense.

But unexpectedly Unite union members have taken determined action that bosses thought they had eliminated years ago.

The workers want their existing terms respected. Ford Visteon can't be allowed to avoid their responsibility. So far they have tried legal intimidation but have even managed to mess this up.

As well as proper redundancy payments, some are suggesting that the skills of the workers who can make anything in plastic, should be used to make increasingly needed parts for green products - bike and trailer parts, solar panels, turbines, etc. Government investment in this rather than throwing money at bankers could be profitable & save jobs in the long term.

All support welcome Ford Visteon workers have been pleased at the support received from other Ford plants as well, such as Southampton, who are blacking Visteon products. 100s attended our rally on Saturday..

Please come to the factory at any time (especially 12 noon) to show us your support. Get your Union branch or organisation to pass a resolution in support. Help raise money by doing workplace and community collections, and drop in...

Messages of support to those inside: visteonoccupation@googlemail.com

This is a fight we can win. We're off our knees and fighting fit!