Defending jobs

Every driver on the combine needs to get ready to defend the job. LU's plans to slash staffing on stations will effect every grade in every function and will impact directly on our ability to do our job safely and professionally.

There has already been a lot of coverage in the press about RMT's proactive pledge to tackle any London Underground cuts head on. We've selected a few of the stories in the news.

• Mayor watch

  RMT warns of “unprecedented” action ahead of Tube staffing announcement

Now you can show your support as the 'Every Job Matters - Defend London Underground Jobs' campaign gets under way. This 'Twibbon' will make it easy for you to show you are against cuts on London Underground on social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Simply sign in to either Facebook or Twiiter then click on this link - https://twibbon.com/Support/every-job-matters

TUBE UNION RMT warned today that they have been notified by London Underground that a major announcement on jobs, services and safety cuts is due to made to senior union representatives at 9am tomorrow – Thursday 21st November.

The announcement was trailed by tube boss Mike Brown at a recent meeting of the London Assembly where he confirmed that ticket offices, station and platform staffing and other safety critical posts would be threatened in response to £225 million annual cuts imposed on TFL in the Government Spending Review.

We note and adopt the report of our Southern Sub-committee.

We welcome the resolution from our Jubilee South branch, and support its proposals. We therefore instruct the General secretary to:

1. Organise a public meeting in defence of London Underground jobs, preferably in conjunction with Action for Rail, and involving disability access to transport pressure groups such as Transport for All, and supportive MPs and GLA members.

We note the correspondence from London Underground Ltd dated 13 November 2013, advising that the company is to reveal its ‘Stations Operating Model’ and formally launch consultation on the morning of 21 November 2013.

Tube union RMT confirmed today that ballot papers have been despatched to London Underground member’s in a strike vote of all staff over LU’s use of agency staff and the casualisation and downgrading of existing jobs across the network.

RMT is certain that part of the hidden cuts package being drawn up in secret by LU chiefs includes a specific programme to extend and expand the use of casualised, agency staff into all possible areas of the tube network on a rolling basis.

• A meeting has taken place at GS level with ASLEF, TSSA, Unite and the TUC where agreement was reached to hold a joint campaign against the cuts.
• It was agreed that the joint campaign would be facilitated through the existing joint rail union Action for Rail Campaign which is coordinated by the TUC and South East TUC.
• Other organisations have come on aboard to support the campaign including the National pensioners Convention, Disabled People against the Cuts and Transport for All.
  

Transport For All; the charity campaigning for a fully accessible, reliable and affordable transport network for disabled and older Londoners has written to the Evening Standard describing the horror that disabled and older passengers will feel over tube bosses plans to cut staff.

Transport For All describe it as living in la-la-land to think cctv and ticket machines is a suitable alternative to station staff for the 43% of wheelchair users who have suffered hate crime on the tube, or the 29% of disabled people who feel unsafe using the underground.

The Letter