Health and safety

Dear colleague

IMPOSITION OF COVID-19 ROSTER – LONDON UNDERGROUND

IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR TRAIN OPERATORS AND INSTRUCTOR OPERATORS

Your union notes with alarm London Underground’s intention to impose duty rosters at train operator depots that will provide for a significant ramping up of the current emergency level of service on the Tube.

Dear RMT members in Train grades,

Following the universal rejection of Covid 19 Emergency duty schedules and LUL's threat to impose them next Sunday,we met at Director level yesterday and informed them that these schedules were fundamentally misconceived.

The proposed timetabled service was far too intense for purpose and the schedules were fundamentally unsafe and inappropriate.

Tube bosses have announced plans to impose a 4 minute timetable on the Jubilee Line in a matter of days. At a time when we are risking our lives and that of our families to come to work; it is both unnecessary and an insult to us to expect us to operate such a high level of service throughout the day when trains are frequently empty.

Tier 2 continue to demand full and adequate P.P.E for station staff when dealing with the following circumstances:

- Attending emergency incidents, including PILOTs, evacuations, managing crowd control and managing the PTI. These are all situations where it may not be possible to achieve 2 metres social distancing

- A supply to be kept on stations for any member of staff that develops symptoms whilst in the workplace and who will need to travel home in order to self isolate.

Jubilee South branch has unanimously passed a motion during calling for "London Underground ...to put all full timers onto at maximum a four-day week, for as long as the lock down continues, with further reductions in hours made wherever possible as well." The resolution also states that "there should also be similar meaningful reduction in hours for those on part time contracts."

RMT have recently received a barrage of queries from both individual members and from our elected representatives on what to expect from their employers with regard to Coronavirus – Covid 19 Pandemic, what protections are being put in place and how their health and safety is to be protected by the employers. This document is for all RMT members employed in the rail industry whatever their role.

Transport union RMT said today that is continuing to apply pressure in discussions with TFL for full support and protection for London Transport staff as the Covid-19 emergency continues.

• Please download the attached newsletter to read it. You can also print it out to distribute and display in your station.

RMT pressure, at both workplace and Functional level, has resulted in an agreement that all areas must implement local arrangements to revise staff deployment and shift allocation on the basis of emergency BNSs and the reduced service. 

Yesterday the RMT THSC took part in the third in a series of conference calls with LU to discuss the ongoing Covid-19 crisis and measures that were being put in place to reduce risk to all parties. 
 
LU confirmed that tube usage had remained at 94% down on normal levels but accepted that there continues to be areas which experience short term heavy loading. Their view is that changes to timetables will resolve this concern. 
 

Tier 2 News is a health and safety Newsletter for stations.

In his bulletin:

- Locking and unlocking unstaffed stations
- Dealing with passengers ill on trains

Please download the attached bulletin to learn more. You can also print and distribute it on your station.