Attendance and discipline

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.

What is Rainbow, how is it being implemented and what does it mean for our members?

Management are taking action against our members where the following arbitrary ‘triggers’ are reached.

• 10 items or more of sickness in the last three years
• 100 days absence in 3 years
  

Following abuses by management of the drug and alcohol procedure, your RMT reps on the Trains Funcional Council have produced the attached guidance document for your attention.

RMT GUIDANCE ON THE DRUG AND ALCOHOL PROCEDURE

Following recent abuses of the D & A procedure on the Piccadilly Line were drivers
have been routinely tested following a SPAD and in one instance where a driver was
tested for taking a train out of service, agreement has been reached at the Trains
Functional Council on February 10 th 2012. The Trains Functional Council agreed that

RMT General Grades Committee decision:

We note that Sodexo stopped the occupational sick pay of our representative Petrit Mihaj, claiming that a clause in the contract of employment allows the company to withhold sick pay if an employee is under notice of or part of the disciplinary process.

We believe that this clause is deeply unfair, as it causes a detriment to an employee without him or her being found to have done anything wrong, or even to have been charged with doing anything wrong.

RMT General Grades Committee decision:

We note the report from our Regional Organiser. We welcome and accept his view that our concerns regarding return to work interviews and the same manager carrying out fact-finding and disciplinary interviews are now resolved.

44 YEARS SERVICE AND 13 WORKING DAYS ‘TIL RETIREMENT - “HERE’S A 23-WEEK WARNING!”

With 44 years service and only 13 working days until his retirement, Steve Hover, a respected and well-liked Loughton driver, was summoned to attend a Local Disciplinary Interview (LDI) for infringing LUL’s punitive sickness policy, and given a vindictive 23-week warning.

RMT General Grades Committee decision:

We note the legal advice received on this matter.

While we are disappointed that our advisers believe that there is no legal avenue to compel London Underground to allow trade union representatives to accompany members at Rainbow Attendance Review meetings, we welcome the advice that it may be possible to pursue legal claims arising from London Underground Ltd’s apparent unilateral change to its attendance policy.

We therefore instruct the General Secretary to:

RMT General Grades Committee decision:

We note the report from our Regional Organiser, and welcome the confirmation from London Underground management that Local Disciplinary Interviews (LDIs) should not be conducted by the same manager who conducted the fact-finding.

We instruct the General Secretary to advise all our London Underground representatives of this, and to request that any attempts by management to breach this are reported to us.

RMT General Grades Committee decision re Northfirelds depot case:

We note the report from our LU Fleet branch secretary that the ballot for industrial action is no longer necessary as the disciplinary action against our member has been dropped with ‘no case to answer’.