Northern Line drivers, Waterloo & City service controllers, Interserve cleaners: prepare to strike!

Posted in Tubeworker's blog on ,

Northern Line drivers

A strike ballot for RMT driver members at the Morden depot on the Northern Line closes tomorrow (18 November). The strike is to demand reinstatement for Alex McGuigan, a Northern Line driver and RMT member with 29 years' service, who was unfairly sacked after a breathalyser test gave a positive reading but didn't take into account his Type-2 Diabetes or test his urine sample.

Alex is a popular character at the depot and activists are confident of a strong yes vote, despite a vicious, anti-union smear campaign from management and the right-wing press.

A solid strike at Morden will show the company that they can't get away with abusing their own procedures to sack staff.

For more on Alex's case, see here.


Waterloo & City service controllers

RMT service controllers on the Waterloo & City Line have been balloting for strikes since Tuesday 11 November. Their ballot closes on Tuesday 25 November.

The union decide to ballot for strikes following a months-long campaign of industrial action short-of-strikes in a dispute over regrading. For more on the dispute, click here and here.


Interservce cleaners on BCV

Cleaning workers on the Bakerloo, Central, and Victoria Lines will be balloted for strikes. The BCV contract was transferred from Initial to Interserve and, predictably, workers have lost out in the process.

Management bullying and harassment has increased, wages are not being paid on time, and RMT reps are being victimised by managers. Consequently, RMT has decided to ballot members for strikes, and action short of strikes.

The decision to ballot coincides with the latest strike by Interserve cleaners on a mainline railway contract at Waterloo Station.


The three strike ballots remind us of an eternal truth: class struggle never goes away! Even when we're not taking all-grades, combine-wide action over "big" issues like job cuts or pay, our bosses are still exploiting us.

Activists involved in the local dispute should discuss possible coordination, and activists elsewhere on the job should mobilise to support the strikes.

Solidarity wins!

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