8/11/2019 Bakerloo News (October 2014 - Strike Special)

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October 2014: STRIKE SPECIALrmtbakerloobranch.org.uk @bakerloormt

Strike against cuts! FULL TIME EQUIVALENT STAFFINGLEVELS ON BAKERLOO STATIONS:HOW THE CUTS WILL HIT USNOW FFtFLOCATION

Source: Fit for the Future - Stations: CompanyCouncil Working Group Bakerloo Line draftproposals, May 2014

49.6 44.4Oxford Circus

15.2 8.1Edgware Road

34.6 32Picc Circus

27.6 23.2Charing Cross

16 12Wembley C

6 4Kensal Green

16 12Queens Park

34.6 26.2Elephant

13 9.6Kilburn Park

STRIKE DETAILSDo not book on for shiftsstarting between 21:00 onTuesday 14 October and20:59 on Thursday 16October.(Action for Fleet members is slightlydifferent. See rmtlondoncalling.org.uk formore.)

18 11Harrow & W

PICKET LINESRMT Bakerloo will organise picketlines at Queens Park and Elephant &

Castle throughout the strike. Allbranch members are encouraged toattend picket lines. Please contactyour local rep for more information,or email

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RMT members across LondonUnderground will strike from 9pmon Tuesday 14 October, until 9pm onThursday 16 October, as part of ourfight to stop staffing cuts and ticket

office closures.Since LUs Fit for the Future Stations cuts plans were announcedin November 2013, RMT membershave consistently pushedmanagement back and forcedconcessions by taking action.

Our strikes have won acommitment that no-one will losemoney if they are mapped into adifferent or new grade, as well ascommitments on minimisingdisplacements and a guarantee that

members will not have to reapply fortheir jobs. If we strike again, we canwin more.

Why you should strike:

London Underground proposes atleast 953 job cuts, the closure of everyticket office on the Tube, and loneworking on over 50% of stations.

These cuts and closures will makeour jobs more stressful, and damagethe impact of the service were able toprovide for our passengers. See ourtable for info on how the cuts willaffect stations on the Bakerloo Line.

Striking gets results.Weve alreadywon concessions and, significantly,massively delayed implementation ofmanagements plan.

With Phil Hufton, a key architect ofthe cuts plan, about to leave LU,management are rudderless and indisarray. A solid strike, followed bymore action if necessary, can disrupt

managements plans.

We have support.Disabled peoples groups,

pensioners groups, student unionists,womens rights campaigners, and

others many of whom have cometogether in the Hands Off LondonTransport (HOLT) campaign support us because they know thesecuts will make the Tube less accessible

and more dangerous for passengerswith particular needs.They want a well-staffed Tube

service, staffed by properly-trainedworkers in secure jobs, not LUsnightmare vision of a mostly-automated system staffed by askeleton crew of casualised workerson temporary or fixed-term contracts.HOLT and other campaign groupshave collected thousands of signatureson petitions against cuts and closures,and Greater London Assembly

members like Labours Val Shawcrosshave put Boris Johnson on the spotabout the scale of staffing cuts hesproposing.

Well be striking alongside otherworkers.

NHS workers will strike on Monday13, local government workers incouncils and schools will strike onTuesday 14, and civil service workerswill strike on Wednesday 15.

Theyre striking against low pay; the

government austerity policies whichmeans many public sector workersdont earn enough to make ends meetare also behind our strike.

The Tory-led coalition has slashedTransport for Londons centralgovernment funding by 12.5%, andTfL and LU bosses are passing thosecuts on to us.

By striking alongside otherworkers on 13-15 October, weremaking a stand against a governmentthat claims theres no money for

public services at a time when the1,000 richest people in Britain haveincreased their wealth by astaggering 15.4% (by over 50 billion)in the last year.

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Lets be clear: this is not a stationsdispute. This dispute involves allgrades of workers on LondonUnderground, fighting against savageaacks on our terms and conditions.The stations are just first onmanagements chopping block.

It will be impossible for LondonUnderground to implement these cutson stations without having tocompletely rewrite drivers terms andconditions. The role LU envisages fordrivers in the future is unrecognisablefrom the one drivers perform today,and will require a total overhaul ofour Framework Agreement. Therecould be no 35-hour week safety netand no minimum duty lengths. To beFit for the Future, drivers will beexpected to be far more flexible, touse LUs word. This could mean cross-line working, and other new rules

designed to get the maximum out ofworkers in a more dangerous workingenvironment with more insecurity andpoorer terms and conditions.

The folly of aempting toimplement all-night running forcertain lines at the same time as a jobscull on the stations shows howwarped managements thinking is.The thought of the driver being on thefront line at 3am with a train full of

inebriated passengers and no stationstaff to assist is the doomsday scenariofor the driver grade. Consider the PTIrisks, the abuse of PEA handles, etc. Afrightening prospect.

The RMT has no opposition to 24-hour running in principle, but only ifthe system is well staffed with fully-trained station staff - not the skeletonstaff model LU wants.

Drivers, station staff, and othergrades are in this together. The stationstaff are not a different job orworkforce that drivers are takingaction for. They are our colleagues;many drivers came from the stationsgrades. We rely upon them daily for amultitude of procedures. If there is acull on the stations it will inevitablymakes our job harder and moredangerous. Drivers need well-staffedstations!

There are no shortcuts around thisfight. All workers in all grades and inall unions are affected by these cuts.We hope that our brothers and sistersin other unions recognise the necessityof this action and support us.

We have tried to talk with thecompany, but all LU has done isrenege on its commitments. The timefor talking is over; its time to takeaction. All out on 14-16 October!

LU workers and RMT members

Alex McGuigan, Noel Roberts,and Vicky Hayward has beenunjustly sacked by the company.

Alex, a Northern Line driver with29 years service, failed abreathalyser test, but managementfailed to follow its own proceduresand follow up the test by testing aurine sample for alcohol (it wasonly tested for drugs). They alsofailed to take into account Alexsmedical conditions, which can givefalse positives for alcohol.

Noel Roberts, from East Ham,has been medically terminated,despite having been back at work(after a period of sickness) formonths, and despite being declaredby everyone from his own GSM toLUs own Occupational Healthdepartment as being fit to work.Vicky Hayward, from Central LineEast, was sacked on the basis ofmanager statements relating toCCTV evidence they had seen,which she and her rep were notallowed to accessed... and whichhad in fact been destroyed!

These sackings are all unjust, andrepresent abuses of LUs ownprocedures. Management is clearlytrying to create an atmosphere inwhich summary and authoritariansackings and disciplinaryprocedures are used to intimidateworkers into keeping our headsdown.

RMT will not tolerate these

injustices, and is fighting forreinstatement for Alex, Noel, andVicky. If management are allowedto get away with sacking workersin this manner, none of us aresafe.

Drivers and stationstaff are in this

together!

Justice for Alex,Noel, and Vicky!Reinstatementnow!

Bakerloo Newsis a monthlynewsletter from the Bakerloobranch of the RMT union. Thebranch meets on the firstMonday of every month at 1600at the Red Lion Pub on Kingly

Street (W1B 5PR). All membersare welcome. To submit a storyfor Bakerloo News, or to contactthe branch, please emailbakerlooline@rmt.org.uk

RMT Bakerloos Queens Park picket line during the last strike.