RMT Exposes Full Impact Of Tube Cuts On Women, Older And Disabled People And The BAME Community

RMT exposes full impact of tube cuts on women, older and disabled people and the BAME community

As the tube action enters its third day, with continuing rock solid support, RMT has revealed that London Underground's own assessment of the impact of its proposals on passengers raises concerns that the cuts will have a seriously adverse impact on women, older and disabled people and the BAME community,

The revelations come as RMT General Secretary Bob Crow joins a protest by disabled workers against the tube cuts on Thursday 6th February at 2.30pm at Tottenham Court Road tube station.

The assessment admits that there is a “Perception that there will be fewer staff and therefore more crime and antisocial behaviour at stations” and that “concerns about crime and antisocial behaviour tend to affect the travel patterns of women, BAME Londoners, younger people and/or those on lower incomes more so than other groups”

The document warns that in respect of women there are “concerns about crime and anti-social behaviour affect their travel patterns, particularly after dark.”

The assessment also says “disabled customers are more likely to experience difficulties relating to physical accessibility, which might be impacted if station staff numbers were reduced” while …“older people can develop a range of disabilities and are more likely to experience difficulties relating to physical accessibility. Older people may need help with using the potentially complex technology used at the POMs.”

In respect of the BAME community London Underground highlight that “concerns about crime and anti-social behaviour affect the travel patterns of BAME Londoners in particular. Some BAME communities contain a significant number of people who have English as their second language and in some cases a very limited command of the English language. This can impact on these customers’ ability to ask for help.”

Bob Crow said,

"When we said this dispute was about both jobs and services we meant it and this analysis shows just how hard the cuts will hammer key sections of the London community. None of this has been factored in before the cuts bulldozer was unleashed and reinforces RMT's call for the proposals to be suspended to allow a proper and open evaluation at a conference involving unions, management and tube users. "