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Play it Safe and Keep Your Job

Partly as a result of what has happened to Mercy [Odisi, former RMT rep, Green Park Group] our branch [Finsbury park] has decided to produce the following guidance for SAMFs which, if followed, should protect ticket office staff from suffering the same fate as befell Mercy:

1. Be extra careful with money transfers and float/deposit safe audits.

2. If you are doing POMs and are unhappy with the amount you have taken, compared with the amount recorded that you have taken, log it and tell ESAF on the autophone.

3. Secure your TOMs and your cash drawers when appropriate.

4. Check your money before you declare it as an ‘uncounted bag’. You can get your TSDA through ESAF on the TOM. Check the details. If you have a discrepancy of £5 or more, get 2 flags of the TSDA. Keep one, attach the other to the station log book and make a log entry. Job done. If it is a ‘lot’ of money, do the above BUT TELL THE SS FIRST. Await instructions.

This is not about NOT trusting each other. Most of the time the system rectifies itself; for example, you make a mistake in a transfer, you are £10 down, the other SAMF’s account is £10 up. The system sees what has happened and rectifies it. If you haven’t done any of the checks listed above, you would be none the wiser. You and your oppo hear nothing about it (when was the last time a DSM talked to you about discrepancies on your account? Thought not) until management decides that you have had too many discrepancies on your account and call you in for an interview with the Men in Black. This is what happened to Mercy.

Management would like us to see this process as being both fail-safe and politically neutral. We don’t.

If you have any queries concerning the guidance contained in this newsletter, please contact one of your local reps.

Article from Feb 2010 edition of Finsbury Park Monthly News