RMT drivers: vote for strikes against abuse of procedures! Justice for Alex!

Posted in Tubeworker's blog on ,

RMT has begun balloting is driver members across the combine for strikes to protest at the unfair sacking of Northern Line driver Alex McGuigan. Tubeworker urges all our RMT-member T/Op readers to vote yes.

The issue at the heart of the dispute is a simple one. The procedure used to sack Alex was flawed and unfair. After he failed a breathalyser test, Alex’s urine sample was only tested for drugs, when LU’s Drugs & Alcohol Policy clearly states it should have also been tested for alcohol.

LUOH experts and other doctors have admitted that breathalyser tests are flawed and can give false positives, which can be causes by medical conditions such as diabetes, from which Alex suffers.
The company has launched a scurrilous campaign of lies and distortions within the company and in the media. TfL Commisioner Peter Hendy was forced to apologise after he blatantly lied on live radio about Alex “drinking at work”.

Tubeworker urges readers to ignore the company’s lies, and vote for justice. If the company is allowed to get away with sacking Alex on the basis of this flawed procedure, none of us are safe.
Tubeworker urges ASLEF drivers to respect RMT picket lines when a strike is called, and urges them to raise this dispute within their own unions. ASLEF members could fall foul of LU’s disregard for its own rules too. Union activists in other grades and functions should also discuss the possibility of widening this dispute out.

RMT has offered to call of the strike ballot if LU agrees to be bound by the decision of any Employment Tribunal brought by Alex. The company has refused. The fact that it is not prepared to agree to even this most reasonable offer shows that its attempts to claim the moral high ground are totally hollow.

Vote yes for strikes! No to the abuse of company procedures, justice for Alex!

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