Tubeworker's blog

At present an inquest into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes is taking place. This occurred over three years ago in the aftermath of the 7/7 ‘terrorist bombings’.

He was shot 6 times in the head and in full view of passengers on a train at Stockwell. Reports have surfaced that the driver was...

RMT members are about to get a say in a very important election. Not the President of the USA, but the RMT's London Transport Regional Organiser, who will be in charge of the industrial strategy and negotiations with all the companies who were ever part of London Transport - from LUL, to cleaners...

Cleaners are still not all receiving the London Living Wage they struck for in the summer. At Mayor’s questions in July, Boris publicly promised it to cleaners on Metronet contracts, but not all Metronet companies are paying. Cleaners on Tubelines contracts have a 60p increase but no guarantee of...

LUL management's attendance clampdown has plumbed new depths as they have medically terminated a member of staff who was not even sick!

Yes, you read that right. LUL has sacked a CSA on medical grounds who is fully fit for work.

The company did not like her past attendance record. But medical...

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.

They don't even cover the Supervisors' meal breaks, and leave a CSA working alone at certain times of the...

Euston staff found out about their new roster when it was posted on a pin board with a notice ‘to take effect from 16th November’. So it looked like it was going ahead, without consulting the unions, breaking the agreement between the unions and management. The roster itself is not much...

Metronet has backed down in its victimisation of Andy Littlechild and the dispute is now settled. Andy has kept his job and his grade.

This is doubtless due to the strong response from his workmates, who immediately balloted for strike action and made their support for Andy clear. Metronet knew...

Don't forget tonight's RMT members' meeting, 6.30pm, Friends House. Discuss the pay claim and plan our defence of victimised activists and members.

Tubeworker has long argued that rnak-and-file union members should discuss and decide on what we want in the pay claim rather than just wait for head...

Word reaches Tubeworker that the King's Cross staff who walked out to prevent abuse of the SRT are to face disciplinary action. So it's not a disciplinary offence for management to break the agreements that they themselves signed, but it is a crime to defend those agreements?!

You get the...

Cleaners employed by ICS and Initial are not receiving the London Living Wage, even though they are contrated by Metronet, who have promised it.

In negotiations, the full London Living Wage to be paid on TubeLines does not look secure. It looks like that the money is not forthcoming, so RMT will...

America will vote in the 'world's most powerful person' in November. George Bush has become a hate figure for the big money and world-conquering ambitions of the US. But will the world be a better place when he's gone?

The Republican candidate, John McCain, promises more of the same, but with an...

Look at the attacks that management on LU are throwing at us ...

The Special Requirements Team are being used to cover duties, when they should only be used for special events. New CSAs are being put into the SRT without any choice.

Staff are being threatened with forcible displacement on Edgware...

Metronet not only continues to victimise RMT rep Andy Littlechild, it has also turned its sights on several other reps too. The company's intention could not be more obvious: to clear the decks of assertive, effetive union reps so as to attack working conditions unchallenged. That's why must all...

Tip to Central Line trains management. When you install new seats in the cabs, make sure that they are securely fixed. And when a union health & safety rep repeatedly points out to you that they are not, take some notice.

Otherwise, what inevitably happens is what happened last week. The seat...

Karl Niles has worked for the Underground for 19 years. He has asthma. He works as a CSA in a Section 12 station (Pimlico) on the dustiest line on the combine (the Vic line).

Or he did work there. He doesn't work anywhere now, because London Underground has sacked him - and has upheld the sacking...

Several recent cases have brought into question how effectively our unions can defend workers when they are sacked. We currently face important battles to defend Andy Littlechild, Karl Niles and Sarah Hutchins, so it is important that we look at these recent cases - what has gone wrong, what has...

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

The SRT seem to be causing resentment wherever they go. People feel they are 'stealing overtime'. While tubeworker is not a fan of overtime - it usually means management are not covering...

Yesterday morning, ticket office staff at Kings Cross walked out when management once again broke their own rules by using a member of the Special Requirements Team (SRT) to cover a duty. The whole point of the SRT is that it provides additional staff tomeet special requirements; it must not cover...

The proverbial has well and truly hit the fan on Metronet, as management have suspended a leading union rep, amidst their attempts to attack working conditions.

Management summarily suspended Andy Littlechild in the middle of the night on trumped-up charges. Andy has been an active, committed and...

Management are making their presence felt with unusual enthusiasm at the moment as this year's 'Speak up!' survey is due. They will come round to LU staff, telling us that the company values our opinions and this is our chance to have our say.

They will also tell you that the group gets points for...

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. Management have revealed their callous disregard for the lives of the staff they employ and another attempt...

To see CBS poster workers and TubeLines standing up for inflation-plus pay rises last month showed the way forward for workers in LUL, TfL and others as we build towards a fight over next year's pay rise.

But passengers and the wider public were heard arguing, 'While I normally agree with...

The story of Elephant & Castle's Northern Line ticket office is a farce. Five years ago it was refurbished. But there was a problem: the new service counter was too low for staff to sit and serve customers in comfort.

Because Brixton station closed at the same time following the discovery of...

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.

Given that courts and Tribunals regularly let bosses get away with pretty much anything short of murder - and occasionally, actuality murder...

Some anonymous clown has put up notices at Elephant & Castle depot showing images from the CCTV recording of the incident that led to Jerome Bowes' sacking. They even had the cheek to append an RMT logo. Ha ha. Given that this recording 'belongs' to management and that very few people have access to...

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

Its planned rosters - which union reps reject - do not provide enough staff for what is going to be a very busy station. To add insult to injury, the rosters also rely on rostered Edgware...

Tubeworker is backing Steve Hedley in the election for RMT Regional Organiser. Here, we interview him about the key issues in the election ...

Q. What is the role of Regional Organiser that you are standing for?

A. Our region – the London Transport region of the RMT - covers everybody that was...

The Special Requirements Team is now being familiarised in zone one stations. They are being shown around three or four stations in a day for a period before they start work.

They could find themselves working at stations where they were familiarised three months ago. 'Familiarisation' seems to be...

Management let slip at one of their 'Northern line meetings' their latest plans to cut costs, which involves ... (no surprise)... cutting back on staff!

There will be an overall reduction in the number of reserve staff, people who are transfered or promoted will not be replaced. The result? More...

'Auto-completion' seemed to be playing some kind of joke on passengers over the bank holiday weekend - which of course made life more difficult for staff too.

PAYG customers were charged £2 for a single journey from stations like Greenford to Notting Hill Gate, although the advertised price is £1...