Rail union RMT has described Greater Anglia’s Olympics recognition and rewards proposals as “both divisive and wholly inadequate” as its members prepare for a ballot over strike action.
The union announced today (June 20) it is making urgent preparations for a ballot for both strike action and action short of a strike of all members on the Greater Anglia (GA) franchise.
RMT consulted with reps who chose to reject the Greater Anglia proposals, believing they went no way to recognising the massive increase in Olympics-related traffic on the key GA rail arteries.
RMT has also claimed that the proposals are deliberately seeking to be divisive to disrupt unity across the rail workforce.
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: “Greater Anglia have deliberately dragged their feet over this crucial issue, knowing that the clock is ticking down, and they have now confronted us at the 11th hour with an offer which they knew full well would be totally unacceptable.
“As a consequence, we now have no option but to move to an urgent ballot for both strike action and action short of a strike to reinforce our case for a fair and unified settlement.
“There can be no excuse for the cavalier attitude of the company to these negotiations on an essential section of the Olympics transport network and we would hope that they would now come to their senses and enter into meaningful talks at this late stage.”
