It's confirmed: Boris Johnson has broken his promise that no London Underground staff would be penalised for being unable to get to work because of the heavy snowfall on 2 February. In answers to questions put to him by Green Party Assembly Member Darren Johnson, the Mayor backs up the unfair actions of London Underground management in every single respect.

Now we know how much a promise from our Tory Mayor is really worth!

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Below are the answers to the follow-up questions that Darren Johnson raised on our behalf at the London Assembly's Mayor's Question Time this month. They are based on information that RMT's London Transport Regional Council provided. After the Mayor ignored our letter, we wrote to all GLA members about this, and both Darren Johnson and Labour's Valerie Shawcross have taken up the issue on our behalf.

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Mayor's Question Time - September 2009

Snow Day Pay (1)

Question No: 2276 / 2009

Question by Darren Johnson ?

With reference to your response to question 1789/2009. You state that 442 staff chose to take annual leave. It is my understanding that staff had no choice but to either lose pay or lose leave. Do you agree that your answer was misleading?

Answer from the Mayor, Boris Johnson :

No. LU’s approach to managing the issues that arose on 2 February was to strike a balance between ensuring that staff with genuine reasons for not getting to work were not penalised and recognising that many thousands of its staff went to considerable lengths to get to work.

The outcome of the approach was that the vast majority of staff reported for duty; managers did not penalise lateness; managers were flexible in granting annual leave to those with genuine reasons for not being able to attend – hence the reference in response MQ1789 / 2009 to staff choosing to take annual leave; all except four members of staff resolved their circumstances in accordance with the guidance issued by LU and no absence on that day triggered disciplinary action.

I believe this outcome was fair and realistic.

Snow Day Pay (2)

Question No: 2277 / 2009

Question by Darren Johnson ?

With reference to your response to question 1789/2009. Do you agree that in special circumstances such as this London Underground management should grant special leave to staff who are genuinely unable to attend rather than deduct a day’s leave or pay from staff?

Answer from the Mayor, Boris Johnson :

Granting special leave to particular individuals would have failed to take account of the special efforts made by many thousands of Underground staff to report for duty on that day. LU’s approach was flexible and did take account of special circumstances – however it also recognised that the vast majority of staff reported to work as usual and some made very considerable efforts to do so.

I also refer you to my answer to question MQ2276 / 2009.

Snow Day Pay (3)

Question No: 2278 / 2009

Question by Darren Johnson ?

With reference to your response to question 1789/2009. You state that ‘where staff could not get to their usual place of work they were encouraged to get to their local station to help with providing customer information’. It is my understanding that this information was not available until the afternoon of 2 February and therefore unavailable to the vast majority of staff affected. Do you agree that your answer was misleading?

Answer from the Mayor , Boris Johnson:

It is an established principle within LU that if an employee is unable to attend their normal location for a particular reason they should make every effort to attend an alternative location and make contact with the appropriate senior member of staff. That a specific instruction to this effect was not given prior to 2 February does not alter this accepted and well understood principle.

I also refer you to my answer to question MQ2276 / 2009.

Snow Day Pay (4)

Question No: 2279 / 2009

Question by Darren Johnson ?

With reference to your response to question 1789/2009. You state that “managers were encouraged to use their discretion to ensure that those with legitimate reasons for not being able to report for work were not penalised”. I understand that when one group station manager did exercise his discretion by awarding paid special leave to staff, the manager was over ruled by a more senior manager and forced to dock his employees’ pay or leave instead. Do you agree with this approach?

Answer from the Mayor , Boris Johnson :

There are many hundreds of cases where managers did exercise their discretion however in this case the local manager’s decision was overturned in the interests of fairness and consistency across London Underground.

I also refer you to my answer to question MQ2276 / 2009.