Tube Lines to be reintegrated into London Underground! The headline on management's bulletin wanted us to believe that this was all good news, in the manner of Cilla Black reuniting long-lost siblings.
But read past the headline and you will see two big devils in the detail: firstly, that only support and projects staff are coming back in (to TfL and LU APD, respectively), not maintenance workers; and that the transferring staff will not be allowed to join the TfL Pension scheme.
This is a very dangerous new development. We might have rows with management about contractors, private employees etc being allowed to join the fund, but it has always been the case that directly-employed LUL and TfL staff have been allowed to join it. This is a departure from that, with potentially-catastrophic consequences, not just for these workers but for all of us.
The Pension Fund's income is the contributions from its members and their employers. With hundreds of former Tube Lines workers excluded, a major income stream is cut off and the Fund becomes weaker and less reliable for all of us. This is the money that sustains us in retirement.
Defending ourselves against this attack is a fight for every single one of us.