On Friday 25th January, detrainment staff on the north end of the Bakerloo line will take their sixth day of strike action against lone working. Their resolve remains solid, and is an example and inspiration to all Tube workers. There has been no scabbing at all, even more impressive when you consider that some of the workers involved are new starters and probationers.
As well as continued backing from their own branch, other RMT branches are rallying round the strikers, making financial donations and mobilising to show support.
The decisions about when to strike are decided by the workers themselves through their RMT branch meetings. Union head office quite rightly endorses these decisions, but has disappointed the strikers by doing little more to actively promote the action – for example, for this week’s strike, there has been no personal letter to members. It sometimes seems like union officials may not fully grasp the detail of the issues involved.
This time, the strikers should receive strike pay from the union. And quite right too. By giving money to strikers, the union recognises the reality of workers’ lives – bills, mortgages, etc. It also shows the value of solidarity and gives branches and fellow workers a practical way to show support. Mostly, it helps the action to continue until it is successful. After all, the point of striking is not to feel worthy about the great sacrifice we are making – the point is to win.
The detrainment staff deserve all our support. Drivers in particular should remember why detrainment staff were introduced. They are there to protect drivers from assault, false accusations and accidental overcarrying of passengers into depots and sidings, as well as to protect passengers. On the strike day, as on every day, drivers should remember to carry out their detrainment responsibilities to the letter.
Although resolve is not wavering, detrainment staff are wondering where the dispute goes form here. Tubeworker suggests two things. Firstly, the union can use strike pay to enable more action without causing destitution. Secondly, this issue should come to a head when management finally sit down to draw up the new schematics and rosters for the permanent staffing of the stations after the ‘transition’ stage following the transfer from Silverlink, and we should focus our fire on this. While this ties the detrainment issue to other issues arising from the transfer, we need to ensure that the lone working issue is not left high and dry if other issues are resolved.