Tubeworker's blog

The recent announcement from TfL that no changes will be made to our pension until 2026 was seen by some as a concession of some kind.

It was one of the reasons union officials and executive committees gave for cancelling our recent planned strikes.

But has the company actually made any...

The latest edition of On The Move focuses on Night Tube and other elements of night working across TfL.

One interview with a member of Night Tube station staff says it’s enjoyable because it’s a different passenger profile, and people who are out partying are more fun. Tubeworker is pleased they...

Station staff on the Metropolitan South Cover Group, which includes Baker Street and Wembley Park, will strike on Friday 18 August. The strike also includes Night Tube staff at Baker Street.

They’re striking to protest the recent imposition of reduced staffing levels and worse rosters, which have...

The latest edition of our bulletin is now online, collating content from our blog.

This edition argues that the recent cancellation of strikes by RMT, Aslef, and Unite was the wrong decision, lacking in transparency and democracy. We also feature stories on ongoing disputes across the job, plus an...

RMT, Aslef, and Unite have suspended strikes planned for next week on LUL. The company has moved, a bit... but is it enough?

LUL has agreed to pause the imposition of its horrific new attendance policy. That's progress, but it doesn't mean they won't bring that policy back in new talks.

There's a...

Thales GTS workers are balloting for strikes, with the vote opening on 27 July and closing on 17 August.

Thales engineers provide technological support to LUL and other transport companies across a wide range of functions, including signaling and communication systems. Like many outsourced...

RMT is re-balloting train operator members on the Bakerloo, District, Central, Hammersmith and City, and Jubilee lines to renew the mandate for industrial action in the dispute over the removal of detrainment duties on stations.

Ballot papers go out on 27 July, and the ballot closes on 17 August. T...

TSSA has sent an email to its members on LUL about the upcoming strikes from 23 July, which will see members of the three other Tube unions (RMT, Unite, and Aslef) walking out.

So, obviously, in a spirit of basic trade union solidarity, the TSSA email tells its members to respect the other unions'...

On the Jubilee Line, management have brought in "flash and dash" rosters at Wembley Park, Willesden Green and West Hampstead, meaning there are not enough station staff to detrain trains.

Unfortunately for management, train drivers on the line, and across LU, are refusing to "flash and dash" as it...

We were due a pay rise on LUL in April 2023. Negotiations are ongoing, with LUL's latest offer standing at 4%. So far no union has gone into dispute or begun preparations for a ballot.

We must not let management dictate the pace. Allowing negotiations to drag on and on only benefits the company...

Unite has announced that its members on London Underground will be joining RMT and Aslef members on strike on 26 and 28 July.

Unite has a small membership on LUL, mainly in engineering depots, partially a legacy of some of the old engineering unions that merged to form Amicus, which then merged...

The RMT union has called a week of selective strikes from 23 July in the ongoing London Underground dispute over jobs, pensions, and conditions, with workers in different functions striking at different times (see below for details). Aslef has also named strikes on 26 and 28 July, the days RMT train...

It's over three months since we took any strike action. The momentum has been very much with the bosses in that time - although they've been pushed back slightly on CSA job cuts on stations, they've announced a new raft of cuts in the CSM grade and are pressing ahead with "Trains Modernisation", job...

London Underground, having finally agreed to talk and potentially make changes to their first round of stringent cuts to stations staffing, have now announced a further round of cuts, this time to Customer Service Managers and Area Managers.

When the Fit For The Future cuts programme was first...

Cleaners face job cuts and displacements through ABM's "Project Lean", a restructure aimed at reducing its staffing level.

RMT has rightly demanded the roll-out of the project, which was never consulted on through the newly instituted collective bargaining structure, be stopped.

If it isn't, an...

The latest edition of Tubeworker bulletin, collating content from our blog, is now online.

This edition argues for an immediate ballot over LUL pay, and reflects on our recent meeting on why LGBT+ equality is a union issue.

Click here to download the PDF.

RMT has suspended an overtime and rest day working plan on LUL stations, due to run from 25 June to 1 July, after bosses budged in talks about jobs cut in a recent rosters and staffing review.

LUL had carried out a programme of 600 job cuts across Tube stations. The company insisted that the jobs...

RMT is balloting members in revenue grades on Arriva Rail London (London Overground).

Workers have had a number of concerns about workplace issues ignored, and, after a collective grievance was brushed under the carpet, are taking the next step by moving to ballot.

The vote ends on 11 July.

RMT safety reps have raised a number of safety concerns with Thales' "Four Lines Modernisation" (4LM) signaling system, due to convert the Sub-Surface Railway (District, Hammersmith & City, Circle, and Metropolitan lines) to automatic signaling.

The project has been plagued with waste and errors...

RMT has now formally rejected LUL's latest pay offer, which was for a 4% increase covering 2023/4.

That's good, but the union's message to members communicating the rejection says only that it is "seeking further talks in which we expect a substantial improvement [...] to be made."

But why should...

The Tories’ “Minimum Service Levels” Bill, aimed at restricting the right to strike even further, is bouncing between the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

Given the Tories’ majority, it is likely to pass at some point. It gives the government the power to set a “minimum service levels” in...

Dozens of protection workers took their fight for better pay, improved working conditions, and direct employment to City Hall on 8 June.

The lively protest followed several well-attended meetings where a charter of demands was drawn up. LUL needs to bring these workers in house, and the rest of the...

At our monthly Tubeworker meeting on 15 June, we heard from RMT LGBT+ activist Cat Cray, and Clive Bradley, an activist with Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) during the 1984/5 miners’ strike.

We discussed how LGBT+ workers are still discriminated against on the basis of their sexuality...

LUL’s latest pay offer to our unions is for a 4% increase, covering 2023-2024.

The amount is well below inflation. The RPI rate of inflation in April 2023, the point at which our previous pay settlement expired, was 11.4%. A pay rise that is less than the rate of inflation is a pay cut.

Although...

The latest On The Move features articles on various aspects of TfL's EDI (Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion) agenda.

We don't want to be too sniffy about this stuff... we still work in a largely male-dominated industry, which is overwhelmingly white in many sectors. The fact that our employers are...

The Standard reports that the number of TfL and Crossrail employees earning over £100,000 has increased to 766, up from 597 in 2021/22.

As usual, the Standard uses this story to amplify Tory attacks on Sadiq Khan. The Tories probably think all 766 of the high earners are train drivers...

The...

Tubeworker & Off The Rails public (Zoom) meeting

🗓 Thursday 15 June, 15:00-17:00

Log in at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89802934171?pwd=NEh5MzJzTWp0eWptSE9WaDA1NlhOdz09

LGBT+ people continue to face oppression and discrimination, in the workplace and beyond, particularly with attacks on trans...

The latest edition of the printed version of our bulletin is now online.

It collates stories from the blog, and has some extra material too. This month's edition argues for escalated action following RMT's excellent re-ballot result.

Download the PDF here.

Aslef, the majority drivers' union, has held an industrial action mandate on London Underground continuously for over two years. They've used it just once - striking alongside RMT (and many other unions) on 15 March.

With the company's attacks on drivers' conditions picking up pace, surely it's...

RMT members on London Underground have voted to renew our industrial action mandate for another six months, voting by a 96% majority on a 56% turnout.

The increased turnout reflects the hard work reps did to ensure ballot returns, as well as the fact that, since our last ballot, LUL has intensified...