Health and safety

We instruct the General Secretary to make preparation for a ballot for industrial action short of strikes

We note that London Underground intends to count ‘Incident Customer Service Assistants’ towards minimum numbers for station staffing, despite the fact that these are not station staff and have minimal training. This union reaffirms our opposition to this, and notes that we are already in dispute with LUL about this matter, which has been referred to ACAS.

We note the correspondence from London Underground. We instruct the General Secretary to forward this letter to our functional council representatives of train, depot and service control staff, asking for their comments and any additional information they may have about this issue, and to place replies in front of us.

London Transport Regional Council and branches to be advised.

We note the correspondence from London Underground Ltd.

We instruct the General Secretary to obtain a report on the progress of this issue at LU Company Council, and to pursue the other unions for a response to our request for a joint approach.

London Transport Regional Council and branches to be advised.

• Related Stories
  • LUL's Rainbow Procedure For Sickness
  • Nowhere Over The Rainbow
    

London Underground and Tube Lines are to be prosecuted by the Office Of Rail Regulation following a runaway engineering train on the northern line.

Back in August 2010, the defective engineering train ran backwards through six stations after it separated from the train which was towing it off of the line.

A collision with a passenger train was averted thanks to the quick actions of control room staff and train operators on the day.

We note the correspondence from our London Taxi branch, outlining their objections to pedicabs, which include: lack of proper CRB or police checks; unsafe design; congestion; and lack of fare structure leading to passengers being ripped off.

We therefore accept our branch’s view that this union should campaign for a ban on pedicabs during the period of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and accordingly instruct the General Secretary to ask our Parliamentary group to submit an Early Day Motion, and to raise this issue with Greater London Assembly members.

RMT is fighting against London underground's 'rainbow' procedure for sickness.

It seems an odd choice of name. Rainbows are caused when the sun shines through the rain. If you have a few rainy days, there may well be no sunshine from the bosses at LU - just the sack.

There are many scenarios where you could fall foul of the new procedure and potentially lose your job.

Here are a few:

• You had a few odd days off sick and then needed to care for a sick family member.

We note the report from our representative on file, outlining how London Underground is implementing its Rainbow Attendance policy, the unfairness and detriment this is causing to our members, and advice to representatives. We endorse this report, and instruct the General Secretary to send it by post to all London Underground representatives.

All responses are to be placed on file, and further reports, correspondence and legal opinions are to be placed in front of us.

We note the correspondence from ASLEF. We instruct the General Secretary to reply, advising ASLEF that RMT is campaigning against the introduction of Automatic Door Opening on the Victoria Line and urging ASLEF to join us in this campaign. Any further correspondence from ASLEF, and reports of local contact with ASLEF on this matter, is to be placed in front of us.

PENSION AND PASSES – TUBE LINES

The strike action taken since Tuesday in this dispute has been rock solid and members are to be congratulated for your solid support and determination in our ongoing campaign for pension and passes justice.

TUBE UNION RMT today demanded an independent investigation into London Underground maintenance and staffing cuts after photographic evidence emerged suggesting that the train that hit the buckled lining on the Bakerloo Line in Thursday mornings rush hour came within inches of being ripped open like a sardine can with potentially lethal consequences.