This is an open letter from Stratford No 1 branch to Steve Hedley (RMT Regional Organiser) and all members regarding 'Mystery Shopping Surveys' and management's treatment of staff.

Dear Steve Hedley,

At our last branch meeting, several stations reps and activists raised the issue of increasing management pressure on members.

They were concerned in particular about managers calling in staff members to discuss Mystery Shopping Survey results and using these results to criticise and intimidate staff. Mystery Shopping Surveys are supposed to give management information about the performance of the station, rather than of individual staff, so we consider this to be an abuse of the system.

Moreover, since Mystery Shoppers are anonymous, staff can not challenge their findings. A Mystery Shopper may report no PAs being made on a particular platform at a particular time, whereas the member of staff may insist that they did indeed do the PAs. It is one, identified, person's word against another, unidentified, person's.

Management place particular emphasis on pressuring staff into telling customers to go elsewhere for their ticket in future. For example, you will be "marked down" if you do not encourage a customer to buy their season ticket or top up their Oyster online next time.

We believe that this is part of LUL management's concerted effort to create a regime of fear and subservience at work, and part of their strategy of driving business away from the ticket office window in order to justify future cuts in ticket office jobs.

There may well be similar clampdowns among other grades, even if they go by different names or with different techniques.

The branch decided that we should raise this at all levels of the union. So we have asked all our local reps to table it for discussion at their next level one meeting. We are asking for it to be placed on the agenda of the next Stations & Revenue Council meeting. And we also agreed to refer it to yourselves at head office to raise at the highest level with London Underground management.

Regards

Yvonne Duncan Secretary Stratford no.1 branch