Fit for the Future - Stations

This leaflet is a report from RMTrepresentatives on the Company CouncilSub-Group, which discusses the policysEquality Impact Assessment (EqIA). Itshows howaffects equalities issues.

Some groups of staff already experiencediscrimination and now face more. Butinequality affects you whether or notyou are part of one of those groups.

When inequality deepens, it weakens ourability to work together in unity - both inour jobs and in standing up for our rights.And although you may not be disabled,old, or have caring responsibilities now,you may do in the future.

INSIDE!

Figures show and management admit

will:

widen the pay gap onstations, with a new, lower-paid CSA2 grade at thebottom of the pay ladderand higher-paid managers atthe top

turn supervisors intomanagers, giving disciplinarypower to some station staffover others for the firsttime; bullying andharassment can be worsewhen one person has powerover the other

require staff to do work thatis currently done by higher-paid grades (eg. CSAs sellingtickets at POMs, CSSscovering CSM meal breaks)

This will create division andwiden inequality at work, to thedetriment of staff and ofteamworking.

The exercisehas:

not included part-time staff(see below)

not included fixed-termfull-time staff, many ofwhom are young people whocan not find affordablehousing because of theirinsecure employment

not even considered staffscaring responsibilities,despite asking about this onthe form (this will becovered in the reviewprocess)

refused to consider staffcaring responsibility fornon-disabled dependents

located many staff far fromthe dependents they lookafter, making it impossible

to carry out caringresponsibilities

increased travelling time,making life harder especiallyfor disabled staff and carers

made journeys to work morecomplex, leaving staff morevulnerable to harassment orassault while travelling

Many of LUL's part-time stationstaff care for dependents, aredisabled, are approachingretirement or are young peoplestudying at college. There is afar more equal proportion ofwomen and men among part-time staff than among full-timers.

Theprocess has:

not yet allowed part-timersto express a preference asto where they work

initially denied weekdaypart-time SAMFs/SCRAs thechance to apply forpromotion to CSS that wasoffered to full-timers andweekend part-timers

now advertised weekdaypart-time CSS posts (afterRMT raised the issue), butwith an advertisementimplying that they could bea mixture of early and lateturns, which is not suitablefor the needs of mostweekday part-time staff

not matched the number ofpart-time posts in newgrades to those in currentgrades; in particular, thereappear to be no part-timeCSM posts

produced draft schematics/rosters which scrap somepart-time posts, with theirwork being taken over byfull-time posts.

This has caused part-time staffanxiety and insecurity, gives

part-time staff less time tomake adjustments to eg.childcare, travel or housingarrangements, and raises fearsthat they will be used to fillgaps and displaced tounsuitable locations, spendingalmost as much time travellingto work as actually working!

The plans as they currentlystand will force some part-timestaff off the job.

London Undergroundsworkforce does not reflect thediversity of London (see box).These aspects of Fit for theFuture - Stations could makethese figures even worse:

forced displacements, moreanti-social rosters and new,more active job roles couldprevent disabled ormedically-restricted peoplecarrying out their new roles

the absence of anymeasures to assist staffwith caring responsibilitiesto stay in work whilejuggling other commitments

Londoners are disabled

LUL station staff aredisabled (2012/13).

Londoners are female.

LUL staffstation staff are women.

of Londoners are black/ ethnic minority (BEM)

LUL staff are BEM

WORKFORCEDIVERSITY

the reduction in the overallnumber of part-timepositions

the likelihood of womenbeing concentrated in thelowest-paid stations grades.

LU needs to provide us with itsprojection of the diversity ofeach grade under

.

Lone working will increaseas a result of staffreductions.

Moreover, closure of ticketoffices and reducednumbers of staff availableare likely to lead tocustomer frustration andmore assaults.

We have asked for abreakdown of hot spots forstaff assault where loneworking takes place,showing how many membersof staff have been subjectto assault on the basis ofgender, disability, ethnicity,sexuality etc.

Management suggest thattraining in conflictavoidance is a mitigation forstaff facing assault on thebasis of an equalitiescharacteristic. We do notaccept that this is relevant

or appropriate.

will result in an

overall increase in theproportion of shifts atweekends and other anti-social times, especially forCSSs and CSMs. This willparticularly impact onpeople with caringresponsibilities, and ondisabled staff.

Increased weekend workinghas a particularlydetrimental effect onparents who do not live withtheir children and who relyon weekends to see them.Most of these are men.One survey showed that thegroup with the highest levelof dissatisfaction with work-life balance is youngfathers.

SAMFs are being forciblydisplaced to CSS positions.Many SAMFs never appliedfor SS positions becausenight working wasincompatible with theirarrangements.

It will be difficult for somestaff to move to non-seatedroles (eg. SAMF to CSS). Thismay prevent some disabledstaff from continuing in theirwork, and will make it moredifficult to accommodatethe needs of pregnantwomen.

Management have admittedthat where a member ofstaff can not carry out theirnew role at their currentlocation due to medicalrestrictions, they havesimply moved themelsewhere rather thanconsidering changes to thestation to allow them tocarry on working there.

This also impacts on futurestaff - both new recruits andexisting staff who developdisabilities or medicalconditions. Thus, lookingafter existing staff is notenough.

We would like LU to provideus with a breakdown of thenumber of people withdisabilities or medicalrestrictions who have beenplaced in positionscompatible with theirhealth. Has anyone not beenaccommodated?

RMT has taken industrialaction to stop job cuts. Anti-social rosters,displacements, lone working, more work forless pay - all these issues are rooted in LULsattempts to run with fewer people.

RMTsstrike call last September forced LUL tocommit to place all medically-restricted staffin a role. Now, RMT is ensuring LUL honoursthat. We are also demanding that medically-restricted staff are not penalised with lesschoice over location than others.

RMT has demandedbetter rosters from LUL eg. a guaranteedweekend off every four weeks. We will onlyachieve this if we fight for more staff.

Some people are thinking ofleaving the job as new locations do not suittheir circumstances. Talkto your rep. RMT may take legal cases againstconstructive dismissal or discrimination.

Disabled passengersand charity Transport For All have protestedagainst staff cuts. RMT briefed disabilitycampaigners on the impact of staff cuts onaccess. RMT has worked with the Hands offLondon Transport campaign and can work withLondon Assembly members, MPs and the media.

Your RMT representatives on theEqIA Company CouncilSub-Group are:

You can contact them atequalities@rmtlondoncalling.org.uk

Up-to-date reports,information, advice,

downloads on RMTs fight todefend jobs:

www.rmtlondoncalling.org/every-job-matters