No race to the bottom in revenue!

Posted in Tubeworker's blog on ,
Race to the Bottom

For further background to this issue, see:

  • TfL TSEOs should be LU RCIs, July 2020
  • Support TfL workers' strikes, January 2020
  • RCIs: Vote yes for action!, January 2020

  • Questions are being asked about the role of TfL-employed “TSEOs” on LU stations, after a group of white TSEOs assaulted a black member of LU staff at West Ham, after a misunderstanding over a face covering, which the LU staff member has temporarily moved down to take a drink, was needlessly and aggressively escalated.

    Recent Yammer posts from TSEO managers have also appeared to revel in the physical side of their role, with one post mocking “the look on Londoners’ faces when they find out we’re able to restrain them.”

    The TSEO grade was created as part of a race to the bottom in the TfL revenue department, creating a new, lower-paid grade, in a similar move to the one LU had planned for its revenue department via the creation of the RCO grade. The TSEOs were recruited explicitly to deal with “anti-social behaviour”, and if their managers’ Yammer posts are anything to go by, are being encouraged to see themselves as a bouncers. Given this, is it any wonder we’ve seen incidents like the one at West Ham?

    All enforcement work on LU stations should be done by LU RCIs, on existing LU terms and conditions. Rather than creating a new TfL-employed grade on lower pay, or creating a new LU RCO grade, the existing RCI grade - which has been deliberately understaffed, at about 50% of its establishment, for years - should be properly staffed and expanded. RMT and TSSA, which organise LU RCIs, must work with Unite, which organises the TfL TSEOs, to fight against the race to the bottom.

    Comments

    Submitted by Mary Noah (not verified) on Sat, 20/02/2021 - 10:24

    I resonate with the writer. TfL/ LU removed all powers from Revenue Control Inspectors with vast experiences in dealing with; frauds, de-escalating conflicts and most importantly giving excellent customer service.

    RCIs have been reduced to nothing but rather the company has gloried on this new created TSEOs that have no working knowledge of the tube and equally lack standard of tolerance that RCIs have shown towards our customers over the year's.

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