Saturday, January 30, 2010

Wessex Regional Organiser (Important Information)

To advise you all that Pete Gale (Wessex Regional Organiser) is currently unwell, and Pete Skelly (Relief Regional Organiser) will be covering the Wessex area Until Further Notice.

If you need any assistance of work related issues could you please contact at the first point your Local Reps and if not your Company Council Representatives before the Regional Organiser, unless its an issue that cannot be resolved at local level.

Mobile:07920 724 862

e-mail: p.skelly@rmt.org.uk

Thanking You

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Mick Cash (Senior Assistant General Secretary) is attending Waterloo Branch


To advise that the Senior Assistant General Secretary Mick Cash will be attending Waterloo Branch on the 28th January.
Mick will be addressing the Branch on issues that are being dealt with Nationally, which include the Network Rail Job Cuts that this Union are dealing.

Please come along if you can and have your chance to raise issues to Mick Cash and listen to updates from your local Representatives.




Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Pay and Conditions Ballot Result

Rates of Pay & Conditions of Service 2009 – South West Trains

The following decision has been taken by the GGC:-

“That we note the referendum ballot result is as follows:-

Total Votes Cast 769

Numbers Voting Yes 687

Numbers Voting No 81

Spoilt papers 2

That this matter is referred to the Southern Sub-Committee for examination and report.

Yours sincerely

Bob Crow

General Secretary

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Rates Of Inflation Update

Circular No. NP/011/10/MC

19th January 2010

TO: ALL BRANCHES, REGIONAL ORGANISERS, REGIONAL COUNCILS, & EXECUTIVE.

Dear Colleagues,

Inflation Rates Circular

The December rates of RPI and CPI were published by the Office for National Statistics on the 19th January 2010. The next publication date is the 16th February 2010.

December 2009 retail prices index rate is 2.4%.This is up from 0.3% in November. The last time there was an increase in the annual inflation rate greater than 2.1 per cent was between June and July 1979, when the rate increased from 11.4 per cent to 15.6 per cent.

This record increase is due to a number of exceptional events that took place in December 2008:
the reduction in the standard rate of Value Added Tax (VAT) to 15 per cent from 17.5 per cent
sharp falls in the price of oil
pre-Christmas sales as a result of the economic downturn
In addition to these events there was also significant upward pressure to the change in the RPI annual rate from housing. Within housing the main upward effect came from mortgage interest payments which rose this year but fell significantly a year ago when most lenders passed on the one and a half point decrease in the Bank rate.

The Government’s preferred measure of inflation, CPI, is at 2.9%, up from 1.9% in November.

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.

Yours sincerely,


Bob Crow
General Secretary