| Publicity achieved, Crow backs down |
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| Written by Adrie van der Luijt | |
| Saturday, 19 April 2008 | |
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RMT leader Bob Crow says he will recommend that a 48-hour Tube strike is called off.
The Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union announced only 24 hours ago that 2,500 RMT members at London Underground's maintenance firm Metronet would go on strike from 28 April in a dispute over outsourcing, pensions and travel facilities. Pension and travel facilities Metronet Rail is responsible for maintaining and upgrading two-thirds of the London Underground network as part of the Public Private Partnership (PPP). It is the second time this month that the RMT has backed out of a threat of industrial action. Written guarantee A 72-hour strike by RMT members in September 2007 was described by the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, as "one of the most purposeless strikes ever called" and came despite written guarantees given by Livingstone on a number of issues, including pensions. Livingstone said, "This must be the first time in history of a union going on strike when everyone has acceded to their demands." The RMT strike, which hit three million commuters and cost the UK economy an estimated £100 million, went ahead despite that the fact that two other transport unions, the TSSA and Unite, had accepted assurances. Crow hailed the September strike nevertheless as a huge success for his union, saying that a written guarantee obtained was better than a promise from a man in an expensive suit. This time Crow once again claimed victory, stating, "We now have in writing undertakings that when the Metronet contracts are taken back in-house by Transport for London (TfL) there will be no outsourcing, and that all Metronet staff will be entitled to join the TfL pension fund and enjoy the same travel facilities as other TfL employees." "That marks substantial progress, and tonight's developments will be placed before the RMT executive on Monday, but on the basis of the written assurances received tonight I will be recommending that the dispute be ended." Metronet bailed out The RMT leader is an outspoken critic of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) funding model used by the consortium behind private maintenance firm Metronet, the shareholders Atkins, Balfour Beatty, Bombardier, Thames Water and Seeboard. Ernst & Young was appointed administrator to Metronet in July 2007 after a £2 billion overspend, following which Metronet was bailed out by Gordon Brown at a cost of almost £2 billion to the taxpayer. Crow has previously complained of media vilification after newspapers questioned his motives for repeatedly calling strikes after other transport unions had accepted what was on offer. He has been criticised by other trade unions for using high-profile militancy in his ambition to grow the RMT's membership to 100,000 members. The RMT has seen its membership increase by over 50 per cent since Crow became general secretary in 2002. The RMT union broke its ties the Labour Party in February 2004 after a dispute over the RMT's decision to allow local branches to affiliate with other parties. In the same year, Crow resigned from the board of Transport for London following a fall-out with left-wing mayor Livingstone. David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said two weeks ago, "Coupled with the chaos at Terminal 5 this strike announcement sends a signal out to the rest of the world that London is not a place to come and do business. Enough is enough. Someone needs to get a grip and sort out the mess that the UK’s transport infrastructure has become." Related articles
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