Night Tube delayed: step up, don't let up!

Posted in Tubeworker's blog on ,

For months, LU has insisted that Night Tube would go ahead on time and on its terms. It has treated our health and work/life balance concerns with contempt. It might as well have published Night Tube rosters and timetables in recent weeks with the accompanying message: "We are the bosses, we are in charge; a workplace is not a democracy, we don't care what you think". We shut down London twice and still LU didn't listen.

So for LU to "suggest" yesterday that it might defer the 12 September implementation of Night Tube marks a departure from its previously belligerent approach. Now it is time to press home our advantage. RMT, TSSA and Unite's 48 hour action at the end of August will step up the pressure at this crucial time.

Aslef's decision not to join the strike is regrettable. Aslef, and all unions, should not be seduced into thinking that "delay" will automatically result in a more worker-friendly Night Tube for us. We will still have to fight for our terms and conditions. Recent communications from LU Employee Relations indicate that we will still have to fight hard as LU is not yet giving an inch on the issues we care about.

On 11 August, an LU bulletin ridiculed our demands for extra staff as "irresponsible", although extra staff is one of the only ways for existing staff to avoid working extra nights. It stated: "flexibility is essential to delivering a successful Night Tube", meaning LU still expects us to kiss goodbye to our apparently "inflexible" work conditions.

On 12 August, another bulletin made clear that LU has not offered anything new for discussion during the upcoming consultation period, nor is it likely to do. The bulletin only re-stated the offer that all four unions rejected ahead of last week's strikes. It still tried to promote it as a "fair and affordable" deal. Again, it insultingly tried to downplay extra night shifts as a "small number" per year. It said that, in "future", train operators will be "able to choose" to work nights, but made it clear that nights will be compulsory for the "transition".

This is not the language of a management that is prepared to concede to our demands without feeling the pressure of industrial action. Aslef members are rightly worried that their union could disappear into negotiations that produce a delayed, but not an improved, Night Tube offer.

If we stick together now, we can get the Night Tube we are prepared to deliver, on terms we accept. We can reduce our fatigue and claw back the work/life balance we already miss. The "delay" of Night Tube will only benefit us if we all - in all our unions - keep the pressure on!

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