Workers' Liberty

Tubeworker of 25/10/04 supports the campaign for the reinstatement of Joanne White, a Station Assistant at Embankment unfairly sacked by LUL. It recommends a vote for John Leach in the election for the region's representative on the RMT Executive. Read the front page text below. Download page 1 here, and page two here.

JUSTICE FOR JOANNE

an injury to one is an injury to all

LUL has sacked Embankment SA Joanne White in a travesty of justice that has shocked even seasoned union reps.

When Joanne was off sick with physical injuries received in a vicious assualt, she was phoned at home and summoned to attend a meeting. At a further meeting, Joanne was dismissed on the spot without warning. She did not even have a DB hearing.

LUL’s excuse was that Joanne was on probation – which came as a surprise to her, as she had a letter from management confirming she had passed her probation!

Probably realising how dodgy this looked, management then came up with other explanations for Joanne’s sacking.

First, a police caution she had received three years ago – even though she had declared it when she applied for her job with LUL.

Then, time she had taken off work in a previous job! Excuse us, but we didn’t realise the Attendance Policy applied before you even joined LUL. What’s next – you get an item for bunking off school when you were 13, or booked late for not turning up to kindergarten on time?

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Joanne’s case illustrates several of the key issues for station (and other) staff:

> LUL shows precious little “duty of care” to staff who have been assaulted.

> LUL routinely denies even the most basic rights to probationers. Tubeworker reckons probation should be scrapped outright – new staff should be managed with the same assessment and disciplinary procedures as everyone else.

> LUL tolerates managers who bully and mistreat its staff.

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Joanne’s union – RMT – is campaigning for her reinstatement. Local managers have responded to this campaign with a petty clampdown on Embankment staff. Tubeworker urges those staff not to be cowed by this, but to let it spur you on to fight for justice for Joanne.

If LUL gets away with this outrageous sacking, then it will give a green light to any local managers who want to laugh at the procedures and at any notion of justice, and treat staff like dirt.

Every Underground worker should rally to the campaign to reinstate Joanne. RMT branches around the combine have invited Joanne to speak, collected money for her, and offered full support to any action her workmates at Embankment want to take.

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RMT Executive election: Vote John Leach

RMT members are currently voting for who will represent us on the union’s National Executive Council.

Current EC member Willie Devlin wants us to vote him back into the job. But Willie has presided over the union’s mishandling of the pay claims in the last two years, and is little more than a Yes-man for head office who has disappointed most union activists.

Tubeworker’s vote will go to John Leach. John was on the EC during the fight against PPP, and showed his best points in early 2001. First, he led the members out on unofficial strike action alongside ASLEF in defiance of a High Court injunction. Then, he led a rank-and-file revolt against a rubbish deal that Bob Crow wanted to foist on us. Tubeworker has little confidence in the other candidates to carry out actions like this, even if they say that they would.

John is also the best candidate in terms of his respect for democracy, his genuine commitment to fighting discrimination, and his views on where the union’s political support should go (ie. only to socialists, not to liberals or nationalists).

Tubeworker disagreed with some things that John did when he was on the Executive last time. If he is elected again, he will probably do some things that we disagree with again.

But we are confident that of the three candidates, John Leach is the one who has the most commitment to rank-and-file members, and who will best follow the wishes of those members.

But remember – rank-and-file members getting organised is the best way to make any union leader deliver!

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RMT Southern Relief Regional Organiser election:

Vote Peter Skelly

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