LUL has tabled proposals for a 4-day working week for Train Operators. Please see the full details of this proposal HERE, including two presentations made to the Union on 7th and 14th March. Your RMT Reps have also produced a newsletter which you can view HERE .

Your Lead Officer has consulted with Reps and members and has reported that an overwhelming majority of members across all lines and depots are opposed to the offer. The progression to a 4-day working week is over three phases of implementation where each phase must be agreed and complete before the next phase can commence. This would mean some lines would not move to a 4-day week until 2028. Any failure to agree to managements’ demands during the renegotiation of existing agreements could end the process, leaving management to take advantage of new technology and other changes already having been implemented while then refusing to implement the 4-day week.

The productivity demands attached to the offer will squeeze more than 30 minutes from the working day where drivers are currently taken off the front of a train to meet existing parameters which were won by you and your colleagues over the years to protect members from fatigue.

The offer is made on a no-cost basis to LUL and management has already accepted that Train Operator headcount would fall as a result of intensified working. Your Reps believe these changes would undermine safety and increase fatigue with duties of up to 9.5 hours and an increase on aggregate driving time. Members would book on electronically, on platforms, with shifts starting as they turn the handle.

The impact on new and existing pool drivers would be unacceptable with members in the pool not knowing their duties for a week until the Thursday of the proceeding week. New drivers would not be able to nominate away from a line for five years, meaning a newly qualified driver could be stuck in a pool for five years.

Members now have a choice between fighting for a cut in the contractual working week through our pay negotiations, which can deliver progress towards our policy of a 32-hour 4-day week, or we can give up on a cut in working hours and accept these disastrous productivity demands from LUL which squeeze the working week into four day of intensified, exhausting work.

The National Executive Committee notes the proposal would remove terms and conditions which Train Operator members have fought hard for over many, many years. The proposal is lacking detail and has been sent to us as a “comprehensive offer which must be considered in full”. RMT’s demand for a non-compressed, 32-hour 4-day week remains, and the National Executive Committee continues to demand true negotiation to achieve this.

The NEC has taken the decision to conduct a referendum on this matter so all members can have their say. The NEC strongly recommends that you vote ‘NO’ to reject the offer.

YOU MUST HAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS TO TAKE PART

The on-line referendum will close at 10:00 hours on Tuesday 1st April 2025

Referendum Instructions

Members will shortly receive an email from 'RMT Referenda' which will allow you to register your vote. Please follow the instructions and make sure you complete this by no later than 10:00 hours on Tuesday 1st April 2025.  

If you know of any member who has not received this email or if you are having any difficulties voting, please contact referenda@rmt.org.uk or the RMT Helpline on 0800 376 3706. If you do not receive your vote immediately, please check your junk/spam folders before contacting us for a replacement. 

VOTE ‘NO’ TO REJECT THE OFFER

Yours sincerely

Eddie Dempsey