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

An appalling incident at Kenton station this morning shows just what risks London Underground are taking with safety with their compulsion to drive down staff numbers.

It seems that London Underground has put the word out round its managers that uncovered duties are to be left uncovered unless it is really really definitely crucial to the station's safety.

London Underground's destructive urges continue unabated, with their latest effort - getting rid of emergency stop plungers on platforms.

RMT has done us a service by again leaking management plans that will lead to job cuts.

The East London Line is due to reopen soon, newly-privatised and rebranded as London Overground.

Drivers are feeling the effects of the woeful 2009 Agreement as management come after jobs.

Tubeworker is happy to recommend readers sign RMT's online petition against job cuts and ticket office closures.

Click here.

With engineering work on the Northern line this weekend, management's freeze on stations vacancies is seeing some chickens coming fluttering home to roost.

Management are trying to cut minimum staffing numbers at Oxford Circus station - and you can bet that if they are trying it on there, they will try it on elsewhere too. Your station could be next!

Readers may have had the delight of perusing management's half-arsed effort to deny - or at least play down, since it wasn't actually a denial - RMT's leak of their job-cutting plans.

London Underground management are again rattling their sabres about potentially displacing "over-establishment" station staff.

A new agreement has appeared - the Trains Functional 2009 agreement. This new policy will see a reduction of spares and pool coverage, with drivers' posts lost from the establishment in some depots.

Staff on Oxford Circus group have been standing up together for staffing levels.

Management stopped covering duties on overtime, expecting staff to make do with fewer numbers and work extra hard to compensate. They began to only authorise overtime for dead earlies and dead lates, which could close the station if not covered.

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

Edgware Road management want to create three new Station Supervisor jobs. Usually, new jobs would be good news. But in this case, it may not be.

Bank group management are trying to cut from 2 to 1 the number of staff on the westbound Central line platform during the peak.

In mid-August, there was a shocking incident at Bond Street which goes to show just how dangerous management's understaffing of stations is.

Many station groups are struggling with coverage, because of LU management's deliberate strategy of short-staffing.

When management at King's Cross came up with a new roster, it was put to the staff, who found a few problems with it.

LUL management are again rattling their sabres and threatening to displace CSAs.

The press today is full of the reports of a thousand job losses on TfL/LUL.

TubeLines is cutting a team of 28 admin staff down to just 16.

On the Saturday that Oxford Street was pedestrianised for Christmas shoppers - one of the busiest days of the year - there were only two CSAs working at Tottenham Court Road between 5am and 5pm!

Management have withdrawn CSAs from Heathrow Terminal 5.

The extent of LUL's threat to displace CSAs is becoming more apparent.

Happily - or perhaps luckily - for LUL, Wood Lane station opened last Sunday without much of a hitch. This is indeed good fortune on the company's part, as the station is woefully understaffed.

This is the first week of the SRT working on stations. Tubeworker has spotted a few problems..........

Eleven reserve CSA’s on the Goodge Street Group were sent letters last week warning them that they could be moved from their current group, which is over-establishment, to one that is under.

LUL intends to open the new Wood Lane station next month, but seems to have overlooked staffing it properly.