Tube drivers to strike for controls over work hours

Drivers in the RMT union on London Underground (LUL) have called six days of strikes over three months, starting 24-25 March, against the imposition of a longer working day and shorter notice of shift changes, supposed to deliver a “four-day week”.

Rank-and-file bulletin Tubeworker welcomed the decision to call three rounds of action, rather than the usual: call some dates, wait and see, then work out what to do next. That kind of action has lost momentum in past campaigns, allowing the company to set the pace.

With an imminent “pilot” of the longer working day on the Bakerloo line, there is little time to spare in nipping this proposal in the bud before it takes hold. LUL bosses maintain that the scheme is “voluntary” while providing no guarantees that anyone who signs up to it can revert back to five-day shorter shifts and giving no assurance that new drivers will even be given an option. In any case, no depot, and certainly not a whole line, can run a timetable with some drivers on totally different parameters than others.

Reason

The real reason for the longer working day was made clear in a BBC article, in which LUL bosses are quoted as saying: “These changes will help us to… improve our ability to flexibly deploy our drivers and enable us to offer a modern and efficient service while creating no additional cost.”

Newer drivers will also find themselves able to offer the most “flexibility.” How can you plan for childcare and other caring responsibilities if, as a “Line Pool” driver based at Acton Town, you might find out on a Monday morning that your shift the following day, which you thought would start at 07:00, is now starting at 05:00… at Upminster, 40 miles away! Any driver transferring to another depot automatically enters the “Line Pool”, so, unless a driver plans on remaining at their current location forever, these changes can hit anyone. That the company is still not sharing the equality impact assessment tells us something.

Drivers in both unions, RMT (all grades) and Aslef (driver-only), previously rejected these plans when they were known as “Trains Modernisation”. Unfortunately, Aslef’s leadership on the job has worked with management to try to implement this deal.

Aslef members should ask themselves whether an offer that tears through existing agreements, increases our parameters, and makes it nearly impossible for drivers with caring responsibilities to plan their time, is worth it for an extra day off a week.