"I wanted to protest vigorously at the planned cut of staff at Warwick Avenue Station.
"This very busy station is important to all its users- tourists, locals, business people travelling at peak times. It has been the target of many incidents prevented by the attendance of its vigilant and kind staff
"I feel that it is important to keep it adequately staffed at all times."
Ann Futter
The Regional Council (with the very great help of the Stations & Revenue Grades Committee Secretary!) has been compiling statistical information on membership levels on station groups and traincrew depots. We calculated the density (percentage of RMT members at each location) for stations and trains, and will soon carry out the same exercise for other grades.
You will shortly be receiving a ballot paper to your home address over the massive job cuts that LUL Management are planning. These disastrous cuts will result in detrimental working conditions and seriously undermine safety of staff and the travelling public.
The dangerous consequences of having 800 fewer staff have driven LUL to propose crazy safety changes so that drivers self despatch trains. Many of you will have heard the ludicrous idea of driverless trains being spread about in the media.
All grades will be affected by these savage job cuts which are only the beginning of LUL’s attempt to cut costs and we must fight them together.
The RMT's General Secretary Bob Crow will appear on the BBC's Question Time programme tonight (Thursday 22nd of July) at 10.35. Shortly afterwards it will be available on the BBC's Iplayer here.
Whatever your grade, there are (at least) ten reasons why you should vote Yes to strikes and Yes to action short of strikes in RMT's ballot. The Regional Council has produced a leaflet for members in each grade reminding you of these ten reasons. Click on the links below to download the leaflets for ...
Click '1 attachment' / file name to download this as a 2-page leaflet.
1. Because these job cuts will be a disaster for all of us - every grade of station staff; other grades of Underground workers; and passengers too.
2. Because LU management are not listening to your union reps in talks. Industrial action will make them listen.
3. Because management have not given you a chance to vote on whether you want job cuts. RMT is giving you that chance - this is your opportunity to show your opposition to de-staffing of stations, offices and depots.
AFTER MONTHS of accusing tube union RMT of scaremongering over the safety impact of cuts on London Underground, tube bosses this morning put their hands up and admitted that the cuts mean that services are running on dangerous and rotten infrastructure dating back to the 1920's with worse to come in terms of the risks to millions of passengers as the Government lines up further attacks on the TFL budget and the tube upgrade programme.
RMT underground members begin balloting today for strike action across the entire network over jobs and safety cuts.
RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:
Click '1 attachment' / file name to download this as a 2-page leaflet.
1. Because the merging of the three revenue units into one was a prototype for these cuts. Look at the effects this has had: extremely low morale; higher stress levels; more disjointed, unrealistic workloads for management and admin. Imagine how bad it would be if this was spread to the rest of LUL.
2. Because ticket offices will be shut, passengers won't be able to sort out Oyster problems or buy tickets, so there will be an increase in assaults on staff.
Click '1 attachment' / file name to download this as a 2-page leaflet containing other articles too.
1. London Underground management propose to cut around 800 station staff. This means that they are looking to get maintenance staff who work out on the operational railway attending and assisting in emergency situations eg. If a train gets stalled in a tunnel, with no station staff available, they will send out a callpoint maintainer or technical officer.
The new Health & Safety rep on the Wembley Central Group, Alan Foster has raised the issue of places of safety for staff on the gateline. On London Underground the standard place of safety is the GLAP. But when LU took over the control of the silver link stations north of Queens Park in 2007 none were put in. Management were quick enough off the mark to bring in gate lines to maximise revenue but the safety of the staff working the gate lines was deemed secondary.