00:00Hi everyone, I'm Nick Dent, I'm Director of Customer Operations for London Underground.
00:04I've recently been leading the London Underground Pay Talks and I'd like to give you a short
00:08update on where we are.
00:10So firstly, let me just remind you of our pay offer.
00:13It's 3.4% clean, no conditions attached offer that's very much in line with what has been
00:19offered and accepted elsewhere in the industry.
00:23Throughout the talks we have been really transparent with all of the trade unions about our financial
00:27position, we've explained that in detail and also explained what we can afford and what
00:31we can't.
00:32We're now in a position where the RMT negotiating team have called industrial action and are
00:37asking for more.
00:39Not more money, it's important for you to understand, but more time away from work.
00:44So either a reduction in contractual hours or additional annual leave.
00:50Now that would come at an enormous cost to the organisation.
00:54Even half an hour off the working week would cost tens of millions of pounds to the organisation
00:59and the same would apply for an extra day's annual leave.
01:03And that's because of the very significant number of additional people we would need to
01:06employ to cover that work.
01:08Aside from the fact that we can't afford that kind of claim, you will also know that our overall
01:13package of benefits, which includes our pay, our time away from work, the whole range of
01:19benefits that you have, they really are the best in the industry.
01:24Only recently in these talks, the RMT have been raising issues and concerns about fatigue,
01:30particularly for colleagues who work rostered shifts.
01:34We take fatigue really seriously.
01:36We have processes in place, well established, we fatigue assess our rosters, and when we're
01:40making any changes in the organisation, fatigue is always at the forefront of those considerations.
01:46So we have over the last couple of weeks tried to engage the RMT on numerous suggestions of
01:51how we might further improve fatigue, particularly for those colleagues who are working operational
01:56shifts and those colleagues who are working longer than the contracted 35 hours.
02:02Unfortunately, the RMT made it clear that they only wish to engage with us on suggestions,
02:07measures that reduce contractual hours or give people more time away from work, so more annual
02:13leave, in other words.
02:15And as I said earlier on, that is absolutely unaffordable.
02:18We made that clear to the RMT and I want to make that really clear to you today.
02:23You may remember that there were some other items as part of the discussion.
02:26So, for example, Boxing Day payments, colleagues who work on Boxing Day, and also leisure travel
02:31benefits.
02:32These are all covered in the bulletin that was sent out recently, so please have a look
02:35at that and ask your manager if you've got any further questions.
02:40And finally, in these talks we have urged the RMT to put this offer to their members.
02:45The ballot that led to this Industrial Action being called was held, it was started long
02:50before our offer was available, so many people will have voted without actually knowing what
02:54the pay offer was.
02:56So we think it is the right thing that the offer is put to members.
02:59That is an approach that the RMT have taken in other organisations, Network Rail for example,
03:04and we think that that's the right thing to do here too.
03:07So before we have all this awful disruption and you lose pay if this strike goes ahead,
03:12if you are an RMT member, please do speak to your local representative about this offer
03:17being put to members.
03:19Thank you for everything that you're doing and thank you for listening to this update.
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