RMT PAY BULLETIN September 2011

Circular No. NP/183/11/MC

30^th September 2011

H.O. Ref: R14/5

TO: ALL BRANCHES, REGIONAL COUNCILS, REGIONAL OFFICES,

COUNCIL OF EXECUTIVES & HO OFFICERS.

Dear Members,

RMT PAY BULLETIN

September 2011

The Office of National Statistics has just published new inflation figures for the twelve months to August 2011.

The Retail Price Index (RPI) for this twelve monthly period is 5.2%, up from the 5% figure for the twelve months to July 2011.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is 4.5% for the twelve months to August 2011. This is up 0.1% from the figure for the twelve months to July 2011.

The main upward pressures to annual inflation came from clothing, fuels & lubricants, furniture & household goods and domestic heating

The main downward pressure to annual inflation came from transport services, particularly passenger transport by air, sea and rail. There was also a downward pressure from recreation & culture, particularly from games, toys & hobbies and, to a lesser extent, recording media and data processing equipment.

In pay submissions the RMT will continue to emphasise that your financial commitments have increased at a much greater rate than inflation and your living standards have suffered as a result.

National Minimum Wage

The rates of the National Minimum Wage have changed. There are three levels of minimum wage, and the rates from 1 October 2011 are:

	Current rate	Oct 2011	% increase
Adults	£5.93	£6.08	2.5
18-2O year olds	£4.92	£4.98	1.2
16 and 17 year olds	£3.64	£3.68	1
Apprentice rate (under the age of 19 plus older apprentices in the first year of their course)	£2.50	£2.6O	4

In submissions to the Low Pay Commission, the RMT will continue to argue that the National Minimum Wage must be set at a significantly higher level to ensure that all workers are kept out of poverty; that the regulations must be extended to all seafarers serving in UK territorial waters to help safeguard minimum standards and that the age-related NMW rates should be abolished and the full adult rate be paid from 16 (until the school leaving age is raised to 17 in 2013 and 18 in 2015). The Union will also continue to campaign for the NMW to be set at half male median earnings as soon as possible, building towards the eventual goal of two-thirds of male median earnings.

Recent non-RMT settlements

Company /Sector	Award	Effective From
Vauxhall	· 5% increase to basic pay	1 Sept 2011
Philips Lighting	· 3% increase to basic pay	1 Apr 2011
Jacobs E&C	· 2% increase to basic pay	1 Jul 2011

Recent RMT Settlements
Company	Award	Effective From
Shipping
Isle of Man Steam Packet	· A 3.5% increase to basic rates of pay	1 Jan 2011
Catering
At Seat Catering	Year One · A pay offer of 5% effective. An increase in the commission threshold from £560 to £565 per week. Year Two · A pay offer of either RPI (based on February 2012 figure) or 3% whichever is the greater, effective from pay anniversary of 1st April 2012. Year Three · A pay offer of either RPI (based on February 2013 figure) or 3% whichever is the greater, effective from pay anniversary of 1st April 2013.	1 Apr 2011
Train Operating Companies & Freight Operating Companies
Merseyrail Guards	Year One · An increase of 5.5% Year Two · February RPI 2012 or £25,550 (Equates to 4.1%), whichever is greater. The following additional items were also proposed by the Company as part of the offer:- · Compensatory leave where the rest day falls on either Christmas Day or Boxing Day has been confirmed as a permanent change to guards’ terms and conditions. · An agreement to discuss the feasibility of all committed time being payable post April 2012. · This offer is subject to supporting the implementation of the Integrated Resource Management System. · Guards opted into Smart Pension Salary Sacrifice Scheme with a 28-day opt-out clause. · An agreement with the company to enhance the on-train customer service.	1 Apr 2011
Merseyrail Drivers	Year One · A 5.5% increase to basic pay effective 1st January 2011. Year Two · An increase of November RPI or a ceiling of £39,000, whichever is the greater. The following additional items were also proposed by the Company as part of the offer:- · Where a rest day falls on either Christmas Day or Boxing Day, a compensatory day’s leave will be granted to be taken before the 31st March of the following year. · All committed time will be payable and Merseyrail will engage with Northern Rail to explore the feasibility of an all-line PT&R. · This offer is subject to supporting the implementation of the Integrated Resource Management System.	1 Jan 2011
DB Schenker Groundstaff	· A pay award of a 2.50% increase on basic salaries	1 Apr 2011
DB Schenker Ex-Colas MPV	· A pay award of a 2.50% increase on basic salaries	1 Apr 2011
Chiltern Railways	Year One · a 5% increase on basic pay and allowances. Year Two · With effect from 1st April 2012, an increase of 3.65% or February 2012 RPI (whichever is greater), on basic pay and allowances. Year Three · With effect from 1st April 2013, an increase of 3% or February 2013 RPI + 0.25% (whichever is greater), on basic pay and allowances      Additionally, the company are offering the following elements:- 1. Special Bank Holidays: Any future bank holidays that are granted over and above the normal statutory entitlement will be paid as follows:- Any member of staff who is required to work (rostered or rest day) will receive payment at time and one quarter (t1/4) plus a compensatory day. Staff with a rest day off or annual leave will receive a compensatory day. 2. Olympics: The Company are offering a commitment to convene a meeting with all unions party to the Chiltern Railways Collective Bargaining Agreement to address the service requirements for all operations during the Olympics and Para Olympics scheduled to take place in 2012, with a view to concluding these discussions by 24th December 2011. 3. Travel: The Company are offering a commitment to continue to talk to our colleagues in London Overground, Arriva Trains Wales and Cross Country with a view to agreeing a non-contractual entitlement for reciprocal travel for our staff. 4. Leave: The Company are offering a commitment to enter into meaningful discussions with the unions to review any inconsistencies in the leave arrangements for customer service staff with a view to concluding these discussions prior to commencement of the 2012 annual leave year.	1 Apr 2011

Yours sincerely,

Bob Crow

General Secretary

Re: Learning update

Dear All

Please see below for some info and a couple of events that may be of interest to you.

Open Learning - Please be reminded that the SWT Open Learning Centres are still open and available for your use. For those of you that aren't aware,the centres are based in Waterloo, Basingstoke and Southampton. The SWT Open Learning department offers numerous self-study and online courses in wide array of subjects, including Complimentary Therapies, Supervisory Skills, Counselling and Languages. To make an appointment with an Open Learning Advisor, please call 074-9801 Internal or 01256324413 External.

Maths4us.org - Maths4Us is a joint initiative between unionlearn, NIACE and National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) to encourage people to tackle numeracy, take-up numeracy learning and have fun with maths. There are many reasons people don’t feel confident in maths. Often people have had a bad relationship with maths dating back to their school days, for all sorts of reasons: Link Don’t let this be the reason to stop learning. You can help yourself and others to conquer their fears. Improving maths skills means feeling more confident to: help our children with their homework and encourage them to enjoy maths use everyday maths skills at home such as budgeting understand and use maths at work For further information, visit www.maths4us.org

Unionlearn Learning and Careers Advice Line - It's your call on 08000 92 91 90 or visit www.unionlearn.org.uk/advice - on the 11th September, unionlearn formally launched its new FREE Learning and Careers Advice Line, in partnership with learndirect . In the last month it has received over 700 enquiries, both online and by telephone from Trade Union members seeking advice on how to further their education, available courses and new career directions. There was interest in subjects as diverse as computer programming, skills for life and welding inspection. This new service is open to TU members across England and Wales, information is available on over 900,000 courses delivered by over 10,000 further education providers nationally. Help is also at hand for people with disabilities to make access to learning easier and guidance is available in nine community languages. Call the FREE impartial advice line on 08000 92 91 90 (only free if you call using your landline). And you can get help in nine different languages:

English - 0800 100 900 : 8am - 10 pm every day

Farsi - 0800 093 1116 : 9am - 5pm Mon – Fri

French - 0800 093 1115 : 9am - 5pm Mon – Fri

Gujarati - 0800 093 1119 : 9am - 5pm Mon – Fri

Polish - 0800 093 1114 : 9am - 5pm Mon - Fri Punjabi - 0800 093 1333 : 9am - 8pm Mon – Fri

Somali - 0800 093 1555 : 9am - 5pm Mon - Fri Sylheti - 0800 093 1444 : 9am - 5pm Mon – Fri

Urdu - 0800 093 1118 : 9am - 8pm Mon – Fri

Go ON.....Get started on your online journey - The Go ON website is a great place for you to get started with computers and the internet. It includes lots of FREE and easy courses that will give you the skills and confidence you need. It doesn't matter if you've never touched a mouse or keyboard before, or you just want to learn a little bit more, Go ON is a great place to get started. Get started - This section is full of fun games, inspiring videos and it also gives you the chance to find out more about the mouse and keyboard, and practise using them. Online basics - is the place to get started with the basics. The course includes six modules covering all the essential skills, including emailing, using the internet safely, searching for things online and using online public services - as well as helping you with your mouse and keyboard skills. Learn more - When you're feeling confident with the basics, the Learn more section is a great way to find out more about what you're interested in. From online shopping to using your mobile phone, finding friends on Facebook, there are loads of great things you can do online - and this section will help you to do them. What next? - Your journey doesn't have to finish after completing these courses - there's still lots more you can do! Whether you want to find a job, get an IT qualification or help someone else get online by becoming a Digital Champion, you'll find it all here! Go ON.....make online easy, visit www.go-on.co.uk

Just as a reminder, the next SWT ULR get together is on Weds 16th November at Basingstoke, it would be nice to see you there if you can make it. Please apply locally for your release, any problems please let me know.

I'm not sure if you have received any correspondance regarding two forthcoming events, but just in case you have not, the details are as follows:

4th October - in Doncaster, the RMT ULR National Conference is taking place. This will be held in the Doncaster Trades Club. If you are interested, the contact person for this is Lindsay Rutland, her number is 020-75298820 or l.rutland@rmt.org.uk

The second event is as below:

Event Details Sixth unionlearn Southern and Eastern Annual Conference

Date Tue, 1 Nov 2011 Time to from 09.30 to 3.30 Location Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LS Cost Free of charge Description Trade unions are at the forefront of workplace learning and this conference will be an opportunity to find out what is being achieved.

The event will have a range of workshops giving the latest information on a wide range of initiatives including:

•Skills for Life*

•green skills •health, work, and well-being

•working with the community •

importance of equality and diversity

In the afternoon we invite delegates to be take part in a workshop and an activity to exchange experiences on a range of topics.

Contact for more information sdawson@tuc.org.uk

Thanks,

Mark Mark Manwaring

RMT Union Learning Rep Wimbledon - Metro Area

Internal - 00-62379

External - 020-85455379

Mobile - 07921716158

Pay Talks with South West Trains

Dear Colleague

To advise you all that the first meeting has been arranged for your RMT Negotiating to meet with South West Trains to discuss the October 2011 pay review, this meeting has been arranged to take place on the 20th October 2011.

We will keep you posted on developments on this meeting as soon as we have concluded this first meeting

As you can see the date of the meeting is well past the Anniversary date of the 2011 pay award

Your Negotiators for the RMT are as below:

Peter Skelly (Regional Organiser)

Rickey Goodman (Company Council)

Michael Campbell (Company Council)

David Butler (Company Council)

Thanks

JOINT UNION STATEMENT ON RMT/TSSA TALKS - No. 3

Dear colleague,

Proposed RMT/TSSA merger - statement no 3

The following statement has been issued today

JOINT UNION STATEMENT ON RMT/TSSA TALKS - No. 3

"TSSA and RMT met on Saturday/Sunday 17/18 September 2011 to discuss the structures, operations and cultures of both unions. We each delivered presentations on our membership, democratic structures, political affiliations, staff structures, officials and offices and took the opportunity to ask questions and seek clarifications. Talks were positive and will now move onto a series of regular meetings to explore further the possibility of developing a new union.

Regular meetings will begin on 4th October 2011 and developments will be reported to the respective union executives as they occur. In addition we will continue to agree joint statements to members, branches and activists."

SIGNED: Gerry Doherty (general secretary TSSA)

Bob Crow (general secretary RMT)

RMT & TSSA MERGER

Dear Colleagues

RMT & TSSA MERGER

With reference to the above, I can confirm that the following statement was issued by Gerry Doherty and Bob Crow today:

"Colleagues,

Further to our previous joint trade union message (dated Friday, 12 August, 2011) regarding merger talks between RMT and TSSA, our negotiating teams will meet over two days following the TUC Congress next week.

The aim of this meeting is to allow both negotiating teams to better understand each other's unions in terms of our respective structures, operation and culture.

We will of course continue to keep you abreast of developments as they occur."

Gerry Doherty

Bob Crow