Dozens of stations are closed this morning as Tube station staff strike again. And there is disruption in the train service on at least two lines as more drivers refuse to help management run their unsafe service.
There are many more picket lines than for last week's action.
You can read details of the dispute on Tubeworker's blog. You'll get a more accurate picture there than in the media, where London Underground's spin doctors are in overdrive. Fixated simply with maximising the number of open stations, they omit to mention that many 'open' stations are unstaffed, and those that are have bare minimum numbers. The company's claim that most staff are working normally is roughly translated as "We are keeping stations open with managers, other grades and scabs".
And as for their claim that the Piccadilly line is running a "good service", Tubeworker suspects that this is some kind of joke, as many Piccadilly line drivers refused to work.
In the face of dirty management tactics and a media onslaught, RMT members are holding solid with the action, because they know that our cause is just. We are not after more money or more time off - we are simply trying to stop management cutting staffing to dangerous levels at certain stations.
Our printed bulletin Tubeworker is keeping workers informed, taking on the arguments, and putting forward ideas, as it is distributed to hundreds of staff across the Underground.
Comments
Finsbury Park
I visited the picket line at Finsbury Park this morning. The mood was pretty upbeat but unfortunately the station had been kept open by managers and a couple of TSSA members.
I spent a few hours on Sunday distributing Tubeworker round some central London stations and the response was universally positive; many workers took several copies and quite a few were already reading the bulletin when I arrived.
Thoughts of an activist
This is proving to be a far far stronger supported strike than management expected. It has brought many new members into the RMT at least eight on my own group in the last week and many more considering joining. Whatever management want to say through the media staff can see on the ground how management are pulling out every stop to make it look like everything is rosy at home....they're not fooling anyone.
With the prospect of other grades coming in to join the fight, they are already going into damage limitation mode. The majority of members of the public do support our strike, there isn't the usual torrent of abuse by the media led few, just quiet support.
A senior manager on New Years Day commented that the staffing levels on New Years Eve was a trial run of Customer Driven Rostering and that it had worked. If thats true then DSM's are our future CSA's and the undergound will be a free service for customers.
So a thank you to the regional council for listening to the level 1 reps and balloting for action. thank you to the reps for listening to your members and pressing for that action and thank you to the members for showing very strong support to your union. It has sent a clear message those that have sought to divide us and conquer us have instead forced us together in unity.