Please clink on the attachment to download the January 2010 edition of Bakerloo News.

The lead story follows:

1. Bakerloo drivers take a stance on job cuts

As London Underground prepare to make swingeing cuts across all operational grades, Bakerloo drivers have served notice that they are prepared to take strike action to defend their sacked workmates.
LU have made it clear that they are ready to cull 1200 operational jobs. Their Operational Service Review takes no prisoners: station staff, duty managers and drivers are in their sights as they attempt to make cuts across the board.
The biggest hit will be 1000 station staff. The bosses plan to close or cut most of LU’s ticket offices, and to reduce station staffing. To provide customer service and safety, the RMT believes that London Underground stations need more staff not fewer. Popular opposition stopped planned ticket office closures in 2008; now we need the same popular opposition to stop them again.
Also in their sights are DSM’s and DMT’s.
Drivers who thought their role was safe are also seeing cutbacks affecting establishment levels across the combine. The RMT has been informed that London Underground bosses plan to cut even more staff on the train side. Trains Functional Council Rep, Bill O'Dowd reported "we have now had confirmation, that Management intend to remove Rostered Team Talk from new working Time Tables, this was revealed to us at the last TFC". The RMT objected to these further cuts to train grades staffing levels.
This new agenda for slashing train crew numbers will mean that 35 operators will be displaced - saving LUL £1.9M.
This comes on top of the LUL/ASLEF 2009 Agreement resulting in cuts across the combine to spare duties and pool numbers halved from 10% to 5%. This means for example that both depots on the Bakerloo Line have seen their establishment numbers taking a hit in the name of savings.
With LUL’s agenda of slashing staffing levels and the number of Bakerloo train drivers being well over establishment, any driver up in front of a disciplinary panel has been unfairly and summarily dismissed. One driver, who had 2 SPADS in nearly 3 years was marched to a case conference and dipped to a CSA. This is in clear breach of procedures.
As a result of these injustices the RMT balloted our train driver members at Elephant and Queens Park to defend our sacked colleagues and have returned a decisive YES vote for strike action. We are prepared to negotiate but the RMT General Grades Committee will announce strike action if necessary and at the same time will pursue Directors Appeal’s for both members.
The fight back starts here.