Click on the attachment to see the January 2012 edition of Bakerloo News.

Main stories follow:

Back To Work

Towards the end of last year the RMT won stunning victories for our members on the Bakerloo line. CSAs Paul McCulleough and Neil Turley were re-instated after getting the sack and T/op Jayesh Patel was restored to his job after being dipped to stations. Anyone who followed these stories will have been well aware that all three cases were terrible injustices. Paul and Neil were suspended after unsubstantiated allegations were made about them after a drink in a pub in Queens Park. After nine months waiting to find out their fate both men were sacked after a CDI in August.

That it took LU bosses so much time to reach a decision is bad enough, but to then reach the wrong decision is ridiculous. However, RMT carried on fighting to win their jobs back and both men were duly re-instated on appeal. Have no doubt management’s decision to give Neil and Paul their jobs back was no act of kindness, but a recognition that RMT were prepared to escalate the dispute.
Likewise, the restoration of Jayesh to his train driver job had nothing to do with management’s sense of justice (they haven’t got one) and everything to do with our union’s willingness to ramp up the campaign including calling strike action if necessary. Jayesh was dipped after calling a PNR on his train after being interviewed by a manager while he was driving. LU bosses came up with all sorts of stories to try and justify Jay’s demotion, but in the end caved in late last year. This was after the personal intervention of Bob Crow. Jayesh will be returning to Queens Park depot as a driver in February. It would be nice to think that our bosses made their decisions based on the reasoned arguments put before them, not so. As Eamonn Lynch’s campaign showed in 2011 only collective action by a fighting union can guarantee job security and workplace justice.

Boot out Boris!

Tubeworkers, their families and friends have the opportunity to elect a new Mayor this May. The Bakerloo Branch agreed the following resolution at the AGM in December:
This branch notes that the London Mayoral election is next year on Thursday May 3rd 2012. We believe that the re-election of Boris Johnson would be a disaster for London and unthinkable for our members.
This branch further believes that the only candidate capable of ousting Johnson is Labour’s candidate Ken Livingstone.
We call on the Council of Executives to agree to mount a campaign early in the new year amongst our members in London to secure the defeat of the Tory Mayor. This campaign to involve and engage all relevant branches.”

Brand New Year - Same Old Bosses

Happy New Year brothers and sisters, after a year when LU management spent most of their time suspending, sacking and then after many weasel words re-instating our members you would think that the bosses would have learned their lesson and found more useful ways of spending fare payers money. You would be wrong. Bosses on the Oxford Circus group have decided to throw away all procedures in an attempt to discipline a member of station staff.
Firstly, the member of staff had their annual leave imposed on them, then he received a letter telling him that he was off to LDI. The first date he was given for LDI happened to coincide with the arrival of the letter, so that wasn’t going to happen. The second date fell during his imposed annual leave. All this was explained to the management, but with the unique combination of vindictiveness and stupidity

Olympic roster – station staff

Proposed rosters for the Olympic working are being sent out to local management and reps for consultation and these rosters involve changing nearly all current rostered duties to accommodate the later running of services during the Olympic period.
Whilst the changes should adhere to the framework agreement the RMT is advising all local reps to contact the functional council for assistance when these rosters are presented locally, as it is our belief that until a similar Olympic working bonus is agreed at company council level for all LU staff to that which London Overground and other associated train operating companies have secured then local rosters which require a lot of good will from staff to operate should not be agreed.
Bakerloo line level 1 reps should contact Malcolm Taylor for further assistance and guidance.

Farewell Dear Leader

Scenes reminiscent of North Korea following the death of Kim Jong Il were seen at Elephant & Castle recently when news came through that TOM Ismail Rionda-Rodriguez was leaving to pastures new. Drivers were found weeping openly on the platforms, tearing their hair out and self-flagellating in the goldfish bowl. Few managers on London Underground have ever engendered such feelings at news of their departure. But then Ismael was no ordinary TOM. We won’t see his like again.