We all thought the strikes had won pay protection for all station staff. But after weeks of negotiation, LU’s plans look drastically different.
LU staff — SCRAs, SAMFs, and SSMFs — will have to go through a “selection process” to “qualify” for jobs of our current salary.
It’s worse than “applying for your own job”. We have to apply to see if we have the competence to do a job of a higher grade... for the same money as we currently earn! If we “fail” then we will be demoted.
For example, a ticket seller would have to go through “selection” to be a supervisor in outer London. If successful they will become a station supervisor, but only keep ticket seller’s wage. A supervisor from outer London would have to apply to supervise large, central London stations... but only to maintain current wages!
The campaign has died down since the strikes were suspended in May. We’ve not seen many updates from talks; at work, we’ve stopped planning for more strikes. Now, although it will be difficult, we need to crank it up again with urgency.
Industrial action is a surer way of determining our future than a biased LU “selection process”. We need to prepare for more strikes, but make them part of an ongoing programme of action that also includes actions-short-of-strikes and continuing political action to maximise pressure on the company.
All of this needs to be accompanied by a communications offensive from the RMT: blanketing every workplace with bulletins, leaflets, and posters, and getting reps and organisers round to talk to people and hold mini-meetings in messrooms and depots.
LU’s latest scheme is a result of its overall drive to remove 953 positions. There are too many people for too few jobs. This creates competition for the best jobs — hence LU’s “selection” test. LU might hope that by making this drastic proposal, it will persuade people to take severance and effectively to cut their own jobs. But that does not help those of us left behind, competing for a reduced number of jobs.
We will need to strike again. Our demand must remain: not one ticket office closure, not one job cut!