Workers' Liberty

'The Sun' took an interest in tube stations shutting last week, as a short closure of Arsenal station gave it an excuse to trot out the old anti-union cliches about railworkers mucking up the service

It seems that a big cheese manager, keen to bolster staff morale, was careless enough to describe the Piccadilly line as the "workhouse" of the Underground when he surely meant the "workhorse".

Acton Town staff have been alarmed to discover that management expect CSAs to work at stations on their own.

London Underground has sacked Mercy Odisi, Green Park SAMF and RMT rep, over ticket office irregularities.

The new One London internet system is here.

LUL has summarily dismissed Earls Court signaller Tony Crump, for a mistake at work.

Stonking ballot results on the Picc line, as Arnos Grove drivers voted 100% for industrial action in defence of Zak Khan on a turnout of over 50%.

A cutting to the west of Acton Town needs stabilising.

Piccadilly Line drivers are anxiously awaiting the judgment in Zak Khan's appeal against dismissal, and preparing for industrial action should LUL management reject the appeal.

There is a very good reason why the unions secured an agreement five years ago that station staff should not work on a platform for more than two hours at a time.

Acton Town station staff have been alarmed to receive 'guidelines' on sickness reporting from local management which bear little resemblance to company policy.

Management have withdrawn CSAs from Heathrow Terminal 5.

LUL has got itself a legal kicking, as one of our sacked workmates has won his claim of unfair dismissal and disability discrimination at Employment Tribunal.

Remember that dispute about the staffing of Heathrow Terminal 5? Remember how the threat of industrial action by RMT and TSSA forced management to stick some CSAs there as well as a Supervisor?

It seems that on Green Park group, management have added an extra stage to the attendance/discipline procedure. Now, you have a 'fact-finding interview' before being sent to an LDI.

Management have a handy hint for ticket sellers. If someone asks for a quid's credit to be added to their Oyster card and tenders a twenty pound note, ask them "Are you sure you wouldn't like more credit than that?".

Management have had a bright idea - you know, one of those that involves compromising safety in order to keep the service running and the cash coming in.

Drivers at Bollo House (Acton Town) have had enough of the management regime in their depot and have asked RMT to ballot them for strike action.

At Earls Court control centre, management have introduced 'corrective action plans'. A member of staff gets so many 'items' and they are hauled off by a manager to 'agree' and implement a plan.

It seems that staff destined for the Heathrow Terminal 5 are to be trained at Queen's Park station in detrainments.

We know it's London Fashion Week soon, but this is going a bit far ...

In Heathrow management's latest wheeze, they want staff to wear a sash emblazoned 'Oyster Help' on the gateline!

One of the (many) problems with the way Oyster is set up is that when visitors leave the country, they often miss out on claiming back their £3 deposit or unused pre-pay because they can't find an open ticket office with a short enough queue to make it worthwhile cashing in their chips.

Heathrow Terminal 5 station will open next year, served by both Heathrow Express and our very own Piccadilly line.

Agency staff are starting to appear in places other than the transferring Silverlink stations.

LUL have declared their intention to use them for special events - making us wonder what happened to the 'special events team' that was part of the much-lamented stations shorter working week deal.

Chaos on the Picc yesterday, when a couple of hours' suspension in the early afternoon led to delays well late into the evening, no thanks to management's refusal to implement an emergency timetable.

Piccadilly line drivers are getting well naffed off with the regime on the line following the recent-ish arrival of a new performance manager.

One driver's employment was terminated after less than two months off sick. Another was sacked - upheld on appeal - following a driving error which was serious but no more serious than errors made by other drivers who were not sacked. And when a manager complained about another manager threatening him, both of them were sacked!

Management's plan to more-than-decimate our ticket offices continues apace. And there is a real mood amongst rank-and-file workers to fight back against it. Passengers too. A petition put together by staff at Boston Manor has already gathered more than 2,000 signatures. Repeat this across the stations and we would be well on our way to building the momentum we need to stop these cuts.

As contractor YJL started work on the floor removal at Bounds Green, station staff were shocked to find their lockers chucked into the back yard, rather than in the promised Portakabin. The lockers were covered by only an unsecured thin nylon tarp, leaving staff to retrieve their uniform in the dark.

When LUL won 'train operator of the year', management inserted their short arms into their deep pockets and fished out £20 per staff member for a bit of a do.

Tubeworker hears that these dos have been somewhat patchy across the job. But spare a thought for poor old Arnos Grove group, who amidst a change of local management, missed the deadline altogether.

Cockfosters suffered staffing cuts when the shorter working week came in - although a concerted fight by local union activists meant they were much less severe than originally proposed.

But the effects of the cuts have now been made much worse by management inadequacy. A few examples: SAMF duties left uncovered; Supervisors working alone for hours on end; ticket machine queues stretching across the ticket hall and beyond; gents public/staff toilets closed for a week without advice to customers or staff; temporary male toilets provided, but no posters to inform drivers; car park exit blocked by refurb but again no posters to advise passengers.