Great Western Coffee Shop

Network Rail has been given seven days to improve its two-year pay and conditions offer to 7,000 signalling and other key operational staff or face ballots for industrial action (link below.)
http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2008/03/network_rail_operational_staff.html#more

In co-ordinated referendums that closed today members of RMT and TSSA in operational, customer services and project and engineering-support grades voted heavily to reject the offer, of 4.8 per cent this year and RPI plus 0.5 per cent in 2009.

Members of Unite have also been urged to reject the offer in a referendum yet to close.

The RMT is to ballot some 5,000 signallers and other key operational staff over pay and conditions after rejecting a ^cynical^ offer of an additional 0.1 per cent on the first year of a two-year deal (link below.)
http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2008/04/rmt_to_ballot_network_rail_ope.html#more

The union has informed the company that it is now in dispute, and will be balloting members for strike action and for action short of a strike. The union has also told the company that it wants a common anniversary date for all operations and infrastructure workers.

Signalmen! My grandmother was Mayor of Southampton and she was Mr. Mayor and you had better remember it. Plus she was chairman of any meeting she presided over and she was one of the most effective feminist I've met!

Signallers are chirpy cockney chappies who hang around the back of warship bridges (usually played by David Attenborough) and are the first to be killed when in action.

On a more serious tone who ever told John Major that breaking up the railways would reduce the power of unions was stupid. As with the drivers take out one TOC at a time so with signalmen you an shut can down the railway with just a few of the 5000 key staff being on strike.

I'll get straight on to the RMT  ;D