RATES OF PAY & CONDITIONS OF SERVICE 2024 – TRANSPORT FOR LONDON

Our Ref: TFL/0001

 

20^th August 2024

 

Dear RMT Member

 

RATES OF PAY & CONDITIONS OF SERVICE 2024 – TRANSPORT FOR LONDON 

 

RMT submitted our pay claim to TfL including demands for a substantial increase in rates of pay and improvements to conditions of service. Talks took place with the Company in July and a verbal offer was made to increase pay rates by 3%. However, pay bands would remain frozen and any member whose pay rises above the top of their band would receive only a non-consolidated payment for any salary above the band. This offer would have the effect of denying many members a consolidated pay rise on account of them sitting at the top of the band.

 

This is the same approach to pay that TfL have applied for many years, which has resulted in many low paid TfL members being denied a consolidated pay raise for years. The offer plainly rejects the unified position of every recognised TU for a pay rise to be implemented in full to every member within the collective bargaining unit. Management also ruled out any reduction in the working week and your RMT negotiating team unanimously found this offer to be unacceptable.

 

I wrote to TfL to reiterate that any acceptable pay offer must be paid in full and as consolidated salary to every member in the collective bargaining unit. I also advised TfL that a failure to make such an offer would lead to a dispute situation. A mass meeting of TfL and LUL members took place on Wednesday 7^th August which was also completely united in a position that any offer would only be acceptable if it is consolidated for all irrespective of imposed pay bands or business rules. No acceptable offer was received from TfL and your RMT Lead Officer and negotiating team recommended that the Union now proceed to a ballot of all TfL and LUL members.

 

The latest offer received from TfL is a 3.8% increase. The position on pay bands was unchanged and it remains unacceptable. You and your colleagues have suffered a decade of pay erosion with many members missing out on consolidated pay rises in several years. TfL management now seeks to go further in making explicit proposals that pay bands and other elements of pay management will not form part of collective bargaining between us going forwards. Pay management affects the contractual pay of you and your colleagues and imposed pay bands are being used by the employer to exclude some members from the negotiated pay rise. 

 

The National Executive Committee has considered this matter and is disappointed that the Company has failed to address the issue of pay bands for our members and are using CPI to calculate increases. The NEC has therefore taken the decision to commence a ballot of all TfL members for strike action and action short of a strike in the form of an overtime and rest day working ban; No ambassador volunteering; Not to familiarize staff who do not usually work at a location; No training of staff for roles that are outside of their normal substantive role; No undertaking of training that is outside of a member’s normal substantive role.

 

I am now making the necessary preparations to conduct this ballot and will advise you of the balloting timeline shortly. In the meantime, please ensure your details; workplace, job title and home address are correct on our records. If any of your details have changed please update them using e-Membership at www.rmt.org.uk, e-mail info@rmt.org.uk or call the Freephone helpline on 0800 376 3706.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Michael Lynch

General Secretary