Goodbye 5 Rounders – Hello Victimisation of Glenroy Watson (again!)

Meanwhile, management seems to have seen the resolution of the 5 rounder issue as a green light to continue their vindictive campaign of harassment and intimidation against Glen Watson, our rep at Seven Sisters depot. Not happy with taking over £4,000 off him in wages for representing our members, attempting to break into his email account and routinely stitching him up over attendance issues, they seem to see now as the right time to send him to a Company Disciplinary Interview (CDI) on trumped up misconduct charges for refusing to take a letter off a DMT who was chasing him around the depot and the platform at Seven Sisters in a scene reminiscent of a Benny Hill sketch!

They have been "investigating" this nonsense since March and only now feel that the time is right to use the heavy stick – in the middle of local and company-wide disputes, what a coincidence, eh?? The CDI is pending and the branch will be keeping a close eye on the outcome, with a ballot for industrial action still active regarding this issue. We also have a mandate to ballot the rest of the branch if this victimisation continues.

You have to start asking yourself the question of whether the management team on the line have a problem with black reps and activists as it was not too long ago that they were trying to stitch up our safety rep at the depot, Mark Walters, and trying to send him to CDI for refusing to move a suspect package on a train at Brixton. Meanwhile they have upheld the vicious sacking of Carl Campbell who takes his case to Employment Tribunal at Stratford commencing Monday 26th October and is claiming unfair dismissal and race discrimination. The case is due to last the week and anyone wishing to support Carl is welcome to come and observe the proceedings.

Meanwhile another black driver at Brixton has recently had a complaint of bullying, with evidence of a breach of the harassment policy on the grounds of a racist comment, upheld against one of the managers at the depot - a manager who was heavily involved in bullying Carl prior to his dismissal. You would think that management would be better occupied in implementing a failsafe mechanism to stop the doors opening on the wrong side, especially considering the increasing frequency of such incidents; yet another of our members is currently stood down for a WSDO incident. But no! They are too busy victimising our reps, sacking our people, ripping down our propaganda and even putting up ASLEF notices encouraging people to scab!

Article from October 2009 edition of Finsbury Park Monthly News