Workers' Liberty

There is news in the dog house that the Lloyds bankers are going to share £2 million for Christmas parties. I suppose that means most of the money going to top dogs and very little to us mutts.

In the last weeks, BoJo has announced:

• a £5 billion cuts package on TfL

• cuts to outer-London off-peak Tube services
  
  

Now all the fat cat bosses
Who think they are so wise
Say we are in a recession
The workers won't arise

So Boris Johnson thinks that a quarter-of-a-million income is 'chicken feed' - so long as it is his second income not our pay claim!

As TfL/LUL management tell us that we have to lose jobs and tighten our belts because of the recession, you might wonder whether this is the right time for them to be living it up at a slap-up, back-slapping awards ceremony. But yes, they hot-footed it down to the Novotel Hotel in Hammersmith for a very lovely dinner and to hand each other gongs at the annual London Transport Awards.

LUL has not made any money available for staff Christmas parties for two years.

LUL is inviting (more accurately, summoning!) all staff to its Valuing Time event, to explain ‘the challenges we face in delivering a world class tube for a world class city’ – as if we don’t

Our fat-cat boss, Tim Parker, has resigned after less than three months in the job.

Boris Johnson has appointed a new henchman. His new 'deputy mayor' (funny, we thought such a post would have to be, erm, elected) goes by the name of Tim Parker.

Take charge of a prized national asset. Make a pig's ear of it. Leave with a big pay-off.

You know when a member of the Royal Family opens a hospital or whatever (no such ceremony when one is closed, of course)? In preparation for the ribbon-cutting and baby-kissing, the management order the building to be cleaned more thoroughly than it has ever been cleaned before.

Believe it or not, Metronet's bosses get to slink away from the disaster they created with more than a million quid of public money in their already over-stuffed pockets.

In case you were wondering how much administrators cost, it is apparently around 750 quid per person per hour (that's their fee, rather than the amount the individuals are actually paid).

Our beloved leader Tim O'Toole has written to us again. Bless him for taking time out of his busy schedule to keep us informed of the state of play of our magnificent system.

LUL's letter to staff at home is going down like a lead balloon.

You've got to admire their cheek. LUL send a letter to every member of staff at home explaining why they won't give you a pay rise - and it's signed by a bloke on a quarter of a million quid a year!

Tubeworker's had a great idea.

Breaking news ... Bob Kiley is leaving his post three years early, in January next year.