Prepare for action!

Posted in Tubeworker's blog on ,

The RMT's General Grades Committee met today (Monday 6 October), and decided that further action in our "Every Job Matters" dispute will be necessary to force management back on their cuts and closures plan. Starting for the night turns next Tuesday (14th), we will be striking for 48 hours. This is very welcome news. Failure to act now would have given a green light (or green aspect!) to the Mayor and the management to go ahead with their savage cuts plans.

Our dispute has already made gains. We've forced management to temporarily shelve their cuts plans, pushing back full implementation of the new staffing model to early 2016. We've won guarantees on salary, a commitment from management to minimise displacements, and a promise that Supervisors, SCRAs, and SAMFs will be mapped into "Customer Service Manager" or "Customer Service Supervisor" jobs rather than having to reapply for equivalent jobs (see here for more details). And the compan is beginning to reduce the number of jobs to be cut.

This shows that by taking action, we can have an effect - so it is right to take this momentum and push for more. We want to stop management's devastating cuts and closures. We know that a Tube system where more than 50% of stations have lone working will be less safe and accessible for passengers and staff alike. We know that a staffing model that will see some stations lose up to 58% of Full Time Equivalent posts from their rosters will make our jobs harder and more stressful, and damage the service we're able to provide to passengers. We know that closing nearly 270 ticket offices and replacing them with only 150 new POMs will not adequately serve the diverse needs of London's travelling public, which includes many people unfamiliar with the Tube system, who have specific access needs, or who don't have English as a first language.

With management trumpeting the arrival of the "Night Tube" in just 12 months' time, we know that if we want to be "Fit For the Future" we need more staff, and longer opening hours for our ticket offices.

This isn't a "stations" dispute; it's a dispute about the whole job. It'll impact drivers hugely if there's an incident on the platform on the track at a station with lone working. If a Supervisor or CSA can't assist, the driver will be left to deal with incidents alone. And if management get away with huge cuts on stations, Fleet, Trains, and Engineering grades will certainly be next. Reps in different grades will undoubtedly be getting round workplaces to build the strike.

But that is not the only reason that this is an all-grades dispute - RMT's dispute is called EVERY JOB MATTERS because it encompasses all threats to jobs. LUL has already begun the formal process for commissioning driverless trains. Once these trains are commissioned, designed, ordered and paid for, it will be much much harder for us to stop driverless operations. So we need to act now. Moreover, LUL is threatening to cut trainers' jobs - while at the same time using a private training company to run its Supervisor workshops!

Yes, management has appeared intransigent on the issue of staffing cuts and ticket office closures, but we know they're nervous behind that veneer. Axeman-in-chief Phil Hufton is on his way out, and we've already pushed implementation to the other side of an election year, when the political balance of forces (in both Westminster and City Hall) may well shift. Nothing is inevitable, despite management's claims!

We can also time our action to coincide with other public sector workers' strikes. NHS workers will strike on 13 October, local government workers on 14 October, and civil servants on 15 October. They're striking against austerity-driven pay deals which will perpetuate low-pay for millions, we're striking against austerity-driven cuts to TfL and LU's budget that our management are passing on to us.

At the moment, only RMT looks like calling more action. TSSA and ASLEF members should respect RMT picket lines, and members of those unions who understand the reality of management's proposed cuts should fight for their unions to join the "Every Job Matters" dispute.

Tubeworker believes we should announce an ongoing programme of action, including strikes and actions-short-of-strikes, decided by the relevant Grades Committees, reps, and branches on the basis of what would be the most impacting forms of action for their grade and area. A bold strategy and programme of action can rebuild the momentum in our dispute.

We've already pushed management back. More action can push them further. Strike next week!

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