London Underground Job Cuts Dispute 2010-11

This is London Underground's response to RMT's presentation to the Company Council outlining our objections and our alternatives to the company's job-cutting plan (view it here). Despite the company refusing to publish our presentation on its Intranet, we are happy to publish its response on our website, as we trust readers to draw their own conclusions ...

RMT highlighted their concerns with the implications they believed would follow the proposed reduction in Station Staff

Tube union RMT today exposed the safety dangers of cutting station staff serving one of London's largest regular crowd venues – Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.

RMT have revealed that London Underground plan to almost halve staffing numbers at stations that come under enormous pressure when matches and events are being held at the Emirates. The stations affected are Arsenal, Finsbury Park, Caledonian Road and Holloway Road - all on the Piccadilly line.

RMT has obtained the following statistics showing how what proportion of London Underground's passengers are male and female:

• Commuters (59.7%): 59.14 % male / 40.86% female
• Leisure (35.8%): 54.36% male / 45.64% female
• Tourists (04.5%): 56.44% male / 43.56% female
• Total (100%): 57.31% male / 42.69% female

These figures show that significantly more men travel on London Underground than women, which reflects a continuing gender division and inequality in our society.

Ballot papers over the issues of massive job cuts and the resultant detrimental effects they will have on your working conditions and safety will be sent out shortly.

Your union cannot accept that you should pay with your job and safety for management’s financial incompetence. If savings need to be made they can come from the 200 TFL managers who earn more than £100,000 a year. We will not sit idly by whilst your safety is compromised.

Today, RMT gave a presentation to London Underground and the other trades union at the Joint Working Party setting out our case against the company's job-cutting plans. Click '1 attachment' / file name to view the slideshow we presented.

We await management's response.

The new issue of 'RMT London Calling' gives lots of facts and arguments against London Underground's plan to cut 800 jobs. It also celebrates the end of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with the return of Tube Lines to public ownership, while warning TfL not to make workers pay the price.

Click '1 attachment' / file name to download it. Please distribute widely.

Here are some of the responses we have received from passengers to our 'Staff Our Stations' leaflets:

"White City Tube Station is very busy and well and is situated at the heart of a large residential community and serves a number of major businesses such as the BBC and Westfield Shopping Centre. I object most strongly to the proposed staff cuts at this station."
Simon McKay

Figures obtained by RMT show that from October 2009 through to March 2010 surface level stations on the District, Central, Metropolitan, Circle & Hammersmith and Northern Lines were left unstaffed for entire shifts on a total of 439 occasions. One station, Mill Hill East, was left unstaffed for 95 entire shifts.

Current cuts plans being implemented by London Underground would see up to 800 ticket office, station and platform staff jobs axed creating a wave of ticket office closures and ushering in a culture of unstaffed tube stations, particularly late at night.

• Wednesday, 13:00, Aldgate station
• Wednesday, 16:30, Woodford station
• Wednesday, 17:00, East Finchley station
• Wednesday, 17:00, Golders Green station
• Thursday, 14:00, Elephant & Castle station
• Friday, 17:00, Highbury & Islington station

At all these, we will be giving out leaflets which spell out the proposed cuts to ticket offices and staff at the station concerned, and will be collecting signatures on our petition. Please come along and help if you can.