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Management renege on 2008 Silverlink deal

Following a dispute by station staff on the Wembley Central Group in 2007/2008 involving a number of days of solid strike action, management moved from no station supervisors at the smaller stations to agreeing to phase out agency staff, have station supervisors on all stations during traffic hours and end the practise of security guards opening and closing stations. Although this did not satisfy our demands that the Ex-silverlink stations should be in line with LUL staffing it was a huge move from no staffing. Management now want to tear up that agreement on traffic hours Supervision.

A Joint Working Party (JWP) was set up as a sub group of the Company Council to discuss the implementation of that agreement, and whilst initially meeting on a regular basis over the last 18 months – 2 years the unions have found themselves getting stonewalled and meetings got cancelled on the issues of filling the supervisor positions on the Wembley Central Group and removing the agency workers.
When we finally got a meeting to look at getting Supervisors onto the stations LU have back tracked on the agreement by stating they will not have traffic hours supervision and intend on keeping security guards on stations at night to book on/off contractors and open & close stations.
London Underground are now stating that due to the financial climate the 2008 agreement is no longer an affordable option and have outlined their proposals for the Group.
This new position from LU is totally unacceptable and what is even worse is that senior LU management have stated that if the unions do not accept any of the proposals that management have on the table then they will be looking at selling off the line and privatising the previously owned Silverlink stations.
The matter has been raised with the General Secretary of the RMT and has also gone back to company council as it must under the collective bargaining machinery and is due to be discussed at the next meeting scheduled for the 26th of April.
The RMT will update all members on further developments.

Shutdown shambles

During a recent weekend shutdown on the Bakerloo line for engineering work train drivers at Queens Park found themselves working to a timetable which was outside the normal scheduling for tipping out trains. LUL’s own procedure states that drivers must not take passengers down to Kilburn High Road, However the timetable gave them no time to carry out the correct procedure. This meant that when trains arrived on platform 1 and before going to Kilburn High Road, drivers had a choice between using the new procedure of making an announcement and switching the saloon car lights off and on or doing a full manual tip out. As we all know the new tipping out procedure ends up with passengers going into the north sheds and is therefore unsafe.
However, if drivers followed the correct and safe procedure this would have caused delays on the line. Add to this the fact that no station staff had been brought in to help with detrainment and confusion soon reigned. When drivers did seek clarification they were informed that the line controller was happy for drivers to take passengers to Kilburn High Road. This is just plain wrong. RMT reps are now raising this shambolic situation as a matter of urgency with management.

The ‘work till you drop’ policy becomes clearer

When the news broke that ASLEF and LU had signed up to a deal for the Olympics of 9 and a half hour days and 6 tunnels on the Bakerloo Line the overall response was, is this some kind of terrible joke? While all drivers know that working weekends with their 8 hour duties is already hard enough the prospect of going over the existing driving parameters went down like cold sick.
As the RMT have been in talks with LU at ACAS to sort out a deal for the Olympics the full extent of the workload for Bakerloo drivers under the ASLEF/LU deal is now coming out. The union has been informed that up to 72% of duties will be in breach of the framework agreements and that the vast majority of those will involve 6 tunnels. Be clear as well, that LU will ensure that that will mean that 72% of the duties will be as near to 9 hours as they can possibly manage. This is the ASLEF/LU work till you drop policy for the Olympics. Are you looking forward to your 6 tunnels on a 8 hours 58 duty?
It has also become clear during talks at ACAS that management see these breaches of the framework agreement as the shape of things to come. Bosses are openly talking about a ‘legacy’ from the Olympics. To you and me that means that management see this ASLEF/LU deal as first step in destroying our hard won framework agreements.
The RMT’s position at ACAS has been straightforward. There is no deal with the RMT to break framework agreements for train drivers. This is about our terms and conditions at work and for the sake of a few quid for 6 weeks working, the deal that ASLEF have signed up to has betrayed every train driver on the combine.

No thanks

In the recent shut down south of Queens Park Oxford Circus management attempted to issue rostered station staff with an ultimatum: work at Oxford Circus or take an annual leave day. RMT functional reps pressed the point that this is not the way we do things, we assist customers to alternative routes by working within the rostered station. Management can make the offer but they can not order you. Engineering work is planned, therefore is anticipated! Your functional reps will be raising this breach of the framework of agreement at functional level. ‘Know your rights’ mini-booklets are available from your local reps.

Don’t be dragged in when off sick

Management on the Bakerloo Line have been pulling station staff in for fact-finding meetings whilst off sick, in one particular case a member of staff clearly stated a doctor told him he was infections and to rest. So what did management do? They ordered the member of staff a cab to bring him in to work. He was also told by the GSM and DSM’s that he was not allowed a trade union rep, a DSM even went further and said ‘bringing a rep will only make you look guilty’.
This kind of scare mongering tactics are often used by management to wear staff down so that they can have free reign to intimidate you back to work sooner than you are ready.
Only after swift and solid action by your RMT representatives did management back down. This won’t be the last time they try to pull this one. Know your rights and seek advice from your rep as soon as possible.
You are entitled to a rep at any meeting with management where you are off sick with no return date. You should get reasonable notice and informed of your entitlement for a rep to accompany you.