Workers' Liberty

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.

The litany of bizarre 'SPAD reduction' gimmicks continues unabated, with the Northern Line now getting in on the act. Apparently, management seriously believe that painting the lower part of trainstops red will help prevent drivers starting up against red signals.

Tubeworker has had cause to comment on many previous occasions about management's somewhat eccentric schemes for reducing SPADs. But this one really takes the biscuit ... or some form of confectionary anyway.

We think management may be planning to install minibars in drivers' cabs. Stands to reason, since their 'top form' booklet recommends having the following with you in the cab - water, orange juice, coffee or tea, bananas, low-fat low-sugar cereal bars, cheese/tuna/turkey/salmon/peanut butter wholemeal bread sandwiches, nuts and raisins, and dried fruit. Blimey. Not that it specifies when you should eat these things - perhaps as you are motoring along? or grab a mouthful in between closing the doors and moving off?

As we know, management are constantly figuring out way of reducing SPADs. They have expert analysts on the case, and no stone is left unturned in their efforts to deploy the latest scientific strategies. So a prize for innovation, please, to Bakerloo line management, for coming up with this ingenious new plan: drivers should concentrate.

A Northern Line DMT on a driving day had an aggravated SPAD. He got a 12-month suspended sacking - but was returned to work at his own depot!

How can he have any credibility dealing with drivers ov

SPADs have shot up over the last year, rising 18% from 775 last year to a whopping 951 this year.

The cause? Well, remember Tubeworker reporting on those impractical new timetables on the Northern, Piccadilly and Bakerloo lines? Could it be that if you cram too many trains in, then drivers come up against reds more frequently, and therefore will drive through them more often?! And could it be that the stress caused by impractical timetables that make people run over their duty times doesn't help either? And here's one more suggestion - taking staff off the stations, including off SATs duties, is hardly going to reduce SPADs, is it?!

LUL prides itself on its 'Dignity at Work' policy promising you decent toilet facilities - you know, regularly cleaned, enough bog roll, etc.

It's a shame that this policy doesn't seem to extend to the right to relieve yourself free from being nagged about SPADs. Yes, at Morden depot, sit down for a PNR and you'll find yourself staring at a SPAD poster. Can't we get a minute's peace?!

The RMT won a great victory last month by forcing management to re-instate Raj Nathvani and Les Bruty, Jubilee Line drivers who faced the sack in a ridiculously heavy-handed bid to attack the union

You know how keen management are to reduce SPADs? Very, when it comes to cracking down on drivers. Less so when it comes to taking action themselves.

The Picc Line’s SPAD group addresses issues such as signal sighting. It’s supposed to meet monthly – but has only just had its first meeting since May!

Ruislip depot ballot result - Service Control grades committee - SPAD wristbands

The SPAD (that's Signals Passed At Danger, for you non-Underground workers earwigging the TW blog) Champ has really excelled himself this time, issuing drivers with wristbands stating that 'Professionalism Prevents Piccadilly SPADs' and 'Piccadilly Drivers Don't SPAD'. Tubeworker wonders when we will have our first SPAD caused by a driver being distracted by reading his/her wristband.

We suggest alternative wristband slogans:

• "SPADs - blame the signals not the drivers"

• "Anti-social hours cause SPADs - 4-day week now"
• or even "SPADs = fact of life"