On Sep 3, 8:02 pm, Paul Corfield wrote:
On Mon, 03 Sep 2007 15:53:07 +0100, Barry Salter

wrote:
From the RMT website:

MORE THAN 2,300 RMT members at collapsed Tube privateer Metronet will
begin a 72-hour strike at 18:00 tonight after the company and its
administrator failed to give the unequivocal guarantees on jobs,
transfers and pensions that the union is seeking.

[snip]

"We said from the start that our members were not prepared to pay for
the collapse of Metronet with their jobs and pensions, and that remains
our bottom line.

"What our members want is to be transferred to a public-sector
organisation, and that is the only way in which their jobs and pensions
can be protected," Bob Crow said.

And having made it home in a seething, packed train and then seen him
"apologising" to the travelling public on the telly I'm not full of love
and nice thoughts for Mr Crow.

The bit he knows but conveniently fails to mention is that the
Administrator's legal duty is not centred on protecting pensions. While
I fully understand why the staff at Metronet are rightly concerned about
pensions Mr Crow is demanding the impossible and he knows it.

Going on strike is not the right way to secure the long term result he
says he wants which is to transfer Metronet work back to the public
sector. Why on earth would anyone wish to give him even more industrial
power by being able to pull even more people out on strike? This sort
of crap is just the sort of thing that Ken's political opponents want in
order to undermine the Mayor's policies on transport that I suspect most
people probably support.

God knows what it is going to be like tomorrow - I might make it in but
how on earth I (and thousands of others) are going to get home I have no
idea if everything is as packed as I expect it to be. And to think we've
got 8 days of this if next week's action goes ahead!

--
Paul C

Admits to working for London Underground!


Of course if you work for a private company, you have very little
rights if it gets taken over or goes bust. Certainly not some dinosaur
Marxist on a fat salary calling a strike at the meerest though of any
possible future problems with pensions or staffing levels.

Neill