At 00:45 on Saturday 4 December, a customer ended up on the track at Tottenham Court Station, on the eastbound Central line.
Later that day, both the Daily Mail and the Guardian ran articles effectively blaming RMT Night Tube strikes for the crowding on the platform, that they linked to the person ending up on the track. Both papers had anonymous quotes from bystanders referring to a lack of staff and overcrowding.
In their rush to make political capital out of a terrible situation, both papers missed, or chose to
ignore, two very important facts. Firstly, the incident happened just ahead of the last timetabled
Epping train. It was not a Night Tube service and therefore was not affected by the strike. The train was at Oxford Circus when the incident happened. The industrial action had no direct bearing on the crowding at TCR. Secondly, the RMT is fighting to keep staff on stations and maintain platform
duties. It is only by taking industrial action that we will be able to do this.
However, another witness, who wished to remain anonymous, said they saw “no staff” and claimed it was “entirely preventable”. The papers saw no irony in quoting this whilst implying blame for the only union fighting the proposed cuts of 5-600 station staff. The thing that could have avoided the tragic accident at TCR is an increased station staffing level, to allow staff deployment to the platform to better manage congestion.
So why is this happening? Well, it has something to do with LUL's favourite F word: flexibility. This
has been their great obsession for the last decade. Getting drivers to tear up their agreements
would be a significant win for management. It saves them money, but more importantly it opens the
door to changing other agreements across stations, fleet and engineering. Lifts and escalator maintenance night shifts could be given day cover. CSAs could be given rostered nights, not only to cover Night Tube but also to make up minimum numbers at night during the week, allowing LUL to cut night turn CSS or CSM duties. Established working patterns across the combine will be ripped up, all in the name of flexibility.
Why are we opposed to the bosses' notion of "flexibility"? Apart from the obvious fact that it costs jobs, because of another "f word": fatigue. Greater flexibility means greater fatigue. The two are inseparable. It is no coincidence that LUL has been desperately paying lip service to our fatigue with token initiatives like fatigue reporting. Fatigue is dangerous. It is detrimental for our physical and mental health. It upsets our home life and relationships. We already do dead earlies, dead lates, runs of seven and in some cases eight shifts. We have twelve hour turnarounds and for many grades nights. We are still told we need to be more flexible! What little structure we had before was destroyed by Fit for the Future. What is planned is far worse.
It all ties together. Grade consolidation for Night Tube drivers is the first step in a much wider range of attacks intended to increase "flexibility". The fight ahead is vital, and it is clear the government, TfL/LUL, and the Mayor will use every tool in their arsenal to try and attack us. Their friends in the media will lead that assault. The actual facts, as we have seen, have little interest for them.
This is a fight we can win. It has a wider impact than just Night Tube. It may only be the opening
shot in a bigger battle but it is vital we make it count. There are pickets every weekend at key
depots. Please get out and support the drivers.
