Voluntary Severance? Forget it ...

London Underground has made clear that only managers and a handful of SAMFs may have the chance of voluntary severance when it makes its job cuts. CSAs will not, and neither will the vast majority of SAMFs, and neither will any other grades.

In a case of "one rule for managers, another for the rest of us", LU is confident that it can achieve its job cuts in the CSA and SAMF jobs without offering VS because it has held so many posts vacant, and because it plans to simply move you around and displace you to other stations.

Questions and Answers about Job Cuts

At yesterday's Joint Working Party meeting about job cuts, the unions raised some points about the process and received answers to questions we raised at the previous week's Company Council meeting. These issues are listed below. You will notice that in most cases, the company is not giving clear answers to the unions' questions, which reinforces RMT's view that it is not talking to us in good faith.

Staff Our Stations - Strike Ballot Called

TUBE UNION RMT confirmed today that they are preparing for a ballot of members for strike action and action short of a strike after London Underground failed to withdraw the threat of axing 800 staff.

“RMT has made it clear that we will not sit idly by while the Mayor, his transport officials and Tube Line’s drive down tube staffing levels to dangerously low levels. We gave LU and Tube Lines an opportunity to pull back from these cuts but they have decided to plough on leaving us with no option but to organise ballots.”

RMT Young Members 2010 AGM Training Course

YM Logo
RMT Young Members’ AGM training Course - 2010
Aberdeen, Sunday 27th June – Friday 2nd July

Last year we held a very successful ‘AGM Course’ for our young members. Sixteen attended – the largest course of its kind that we have organised. Our improved organisation for young members was further reflected when 30 delegates attended the recent National Young Members Conference, in Liverpool.

We are now looking for young active members to train on our 2010 course which shall run in tandem with our AGM in Aberdeen. Members must be under 30 years of age at the start of the course.

Applications need to be submitted by the 30th April 2010

Click 'Read More' to read the rest of the circular and '1 Attachment' to download the circular and application form

First They Came ...

Click '1 attachment' / file name to download this as a PDF.

First they came for the admin staff, and I did not take action because I am not admin staff

Then they came for the engineers, and I did not take action because I am not an engineer

Then they came for the station staff, and I did not take action because I do not work on stations

Then they came for service control, and I did not take action because I do not work in service control

Then they came for the revenue staff, and I did not take action because I am not an RCI

Brixton News 30th March 2010

RMT at Brixton depot has produced a new newsletter for drivers. You can read the text below, or click '1 attachment'/file name to download and print it.

Sacking of Drivers

Over the past couple of months there have been several issues including London underground sacking drivers. We at Brixton have had two this year. One of the issues is a said 96% attendance standard. There is no such figure anywhere. If asked to sign any documents stating any attendance percentage targets, do not! Speak to your union rep.

Plan to Cut Block Training to 3 Days

Senior train operators will recall a time when LUL took their training seriously. With sole responsibility for several hundred passengers, often in inaccessible locations, it’s essential that a driver knows how to take remedial action to get a train moving should it become defective. Likewise, drivers need to know and understand the rules and regulations that help make the underground system operate safely.

All Grades to Defeat Stations Job Cuts

Will all grades come together to fight job cuts on stations? It should not be seen as ‘will drivers support the station staff?’ but ‘will we support each other’? That’s the true meaning of solidarity: our own interests are best protected when we stand together. In order to achieve this a 'General Strike' of all grades should be put to the membership across the combine under a single heading of ‘job losses (particularly in operational grades) equals an unsafe tube’.

Stop the Cuts - It's Time to Fight or Die

The cat is out of the bag. LUL have told the unions bluntly that they intend to slash as many as 800 operational jobs across the combine. Recent leaked documents have shown that these cuts are merely the tip of an iceberg which includes sub-surface stations having no more than minimum staff numbers, even during special events, and open section stations having no staff at all. This is a Company Plan with knobs on.