Piccadilly News July 2015: Ballot For Industrial Action Announced
  • Piccadilly News is the newsletter for tube train drivers at Arnos Grove, Acton Town and Northfields. You can download, print and distribute the newsletter using the link below.

MANAGEMENT TAKING THE PIC Not content with offering a substandard pay rise and trying to foist unagreed and rubbish rosters on us, management have started to take a hardline and aggressive stance on a number of issues on our line, resulting in career changing decisions for a number of our members. Following a recent meeting of senior union officials and reps on the line and after motions passed by both RMT branches, it has been decided to declare a dispute and ballot our members on the Piccadilly line for industrial action over the following issues.

Dismissal of train driver Acton Town driver, was harshly dismissed after answering an important call on his mobile during an assessment. At the time the phone rang, the train was standing at a stop board and was empty, and a colleague who was in the cab at the time completed the job of stabling the train at Northfields. Paul only answered the phone once in the Passenger saloon. This sacking is completely over the top and cannot be left unchallenged by our union.

Abuses of Disciplinary Policy With harsh and unreasonable dismissals (see above) and staff errors being sent to LDI.Breaches of SPAD PolicyWe have recently seen members be unnecessarily redeployed to stations following a number of safety-related incidents.

Breaches of Attendance Policy Rainbow, LU’s unagreed attendance hammer, has returned. Members have been summoned to rainbow case conferences for breaching absence triggers in the rainbow policy – including absences for such things as bereavement, unavoidable illnesses and time off after a one-under or other stressful event.

Inadequate Driver Training Driver training has been slashed from 20 to 14 weeks. LU’s own stats show that this cut corresponds with a huge increase in SPADs and overruns by newly qualified drivers. Yet management refuses to accept the facts and instead have adopted a ‘sink or swim’ attitude towards trainees, punishing those who sink.

Weak Brakes It has been shown that there is an issue with the braking capacity on certain units which has led to SPADs and overruns. This is putting drivers’ jobs at further risk, not to mention the threat to the safety of staff and passengers.

Cockfosters Depot There continue to be uncertainties around the opening of Cockfosters depot, including over basic issues such as reasonable parking spaces for members.

Stop this Nonsense Now We need to fight back or things will only get worse -the next victim of a punitive management could be YOU.In the coming weeks there will be further leaflets explaining each issue in more detail. Vote YES for strike action and YES for action short of a strike and help your negotiators make management see sense.