Category: LUL

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Tube drivers’ strike on Central Line East rock solid this morning

Tube drivers’ strike on Central Line East rock solid this morning

TUBE UNION RMT said today that strike action on the Central Line East is “rock solid” as expected this morning with the union repeating the call for management to start taking the issues at the heart of the dispute seriously  and start engaging in genuine and meaningful talks. 

 RMT has met the company on numerous occasions, including the talks on Monday, in an effort to reach an acceptable solution to this dispute but despite the best efforts of our negotiating team, LUL have maintained that they will be proceeding with the displacements. RMT therefore had no option but to put on this latest phase of strike action to reinforce the demand that management return to talks and halt the forced and unacceptable displacements until agreement is reached. That action is being solidly supported at all depots and pickets are out in force.

 Mick Cash, RMT General Secretary, said:

“RMT negotiators have made strenuous efforts to resolve this dispute but the door has been slammed in our faces. The action is rock solid today with the impact severe and widespread and the blame for that lies firmly at the door of an intransigent LU management that refuses to see sense.

“Let us be in no doubt, if LU are allowed to get away with this move on the Central Line they will start shunting drivers around the combine at the drop of a hat regardless of the consequences. Our members will be sent out from pillar to post to plug gaps that are solely down to staffing shortages. With massive budget cuts in the pipeline at LU this is a straw in the wind as to how the company expects to operate in the future.

“Staff across London Underground are angry and the company would be wise to recognise that. The action today relects that anger at local level and RMT remains available for serious talks but is now down to the company to show that they are prepared to listen and engage with our negotiating team.”

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February 15th RMT Circular

FULL-TIME TRAIN OPERATORS POSITIONS, CONTRACTED HOURS AND OVERTIME RATE – NIGHT TUBE DRIVERS – LONDON UNDERGROUND (LUL/14/2)

 

The following resolution was recently received from the London Transport Regional Council:-

“This Union deplores the decision of LUL to prevent NT Drivers (TO23) from moving to full-time (TO21) positions for a period of at least 18 months. TO21 jobs are currently being advertised internally, all other staff including part-time NT Station Staff are eligible to apply, but NT Drivers are not.

 The 18 month tie in period is a direct result of the ASLEF Boxing Day agreement, which the RMT did not sign up to.

 This Union also deplores LUL’s decision not to pay NT Drivers the overtime rate for work until they exceed 35 hours, they’re contracted at 16 hours at the moment so it is unlikely they will ever achieve an OT rate. Drivers cannot do voluntary OT, so the only payments they receive are for finishing late due to service disruption, it is discriminatory for FT Drivers to get the OT rate each they finish late, but NT Drivers to never get it.

 This Region asks the NEC to declare a dispute over these discriminatory practices and to prepare a matrix to ballot all NT Drivers on these matters”.

This matter has been considered by the National Executive Committee, which has taken the decision to advice London Underground that we are in dispute over these discriminatory practices and to ballot our Night Tube Train Operator members for strike action and action short of a strike. I am currently acting in accordance with this decision and will keep Branches advised of all further developments.

 

DISPLACEMENT, TRAIN OPERATORS, CENTRAL LINE – LONDON UNDERGROUND (LUL/16/4)

Further to my previous Circular (IR/22/17, 18th January 2017) the National Executive Committee has consulted with Local Reps and the RMT Central Line East Branch and has taken the decision to call on all affected members at Hainault, Leytonstone and Loughton Traincrew Depots NOT TO BOOK ON for any shifts that commence between:-

  • 21:00 hours on Tuesday 21st February 2017 and 20:59 hours on Wednesday 22nd February 2017.

 

I urge all members to stand firm together against these unacceptable enforced displacements. This is the thin end of the wedge and London Underground must be under no illusion that Train Operators will fight against unnecessary and unfair displacements to plug gaps left by staffing shortages. I will keep Braches advised of all further developments.

 

PAY PARITY, TRANSPLANT ENGINEER TRAIN DRIVERS – TUBE LINES AP JNP (LUL/10/2)

Further to my previous Circular (IR/39/17, 31st January 2017), the Company has been advised that a dispute situation also exists due to management’s failure to guarantee that Operational Managers with an ETO licence will be included in the pay parity agreement.

I can now advise that the ballot papers will be posted to these members on Tuesday 14th February and the closing date for this ballot is Tuesday 28th February 2017. I am currently acting in accordance with this decision and will keep Branches advised of all further developments.

 Yours sincerely

Mick Cash

General Secretary

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Tube drivers to strike again on Central Line East

Tube drivers to strike again on Central Line East over cuts-led forced displacement of staff 

Following last month’s rock solid strike action against the forced displacement of Central Line Train Operators, and having consulted with local reps , RMT’s National Executive Committee has taken the decision to call on all affected members at Hainault, Leytonstone and Loughton Traincrew Depots NOT TO BOOK ON for any shifts that commence between:-‎

21:00 hours on Tuesday 21st February 2017 and 20:59 hours on Wednesday 22nd February 2017

 

RMT met with the Company on 3rd and 13th January in an effort to reach an acceptable solution to this dispute but despite the best efforts of our negotiating team, LUL has now written to RMT stating that it will be proceeding with the displacements. RMT therefore has no option but to put on further strike action to reinforce the demand that management return to talks and halt the forced and unacceptable displacements until agreement is reached.

 Mick Cash, RMT General Secretary, said:

“RMT negotiators have made strenuous efforts through the ACAS machinery to resolve this dispute but the door has been slammed in our faces. To up the ante, LUL have now written to us confirming that they will be bulldozing through the displacements regardless.

“Let us be in no doubt, if LU are allowed to get away with this move on the Central Line they will start shunting drivers around the combine at the drop of a hat regardless of the consequences. Our members will be sent out from pillar to post to plug gaps that are solely down to staffing shortages. With massive budget cuts in the pipeline at LU this is a straw in the wind as to how the company expects to operate in the future.

“Staff across London Underground are angry and the company would be wise to recognise that. This latest phase of action is on and RMT remains available for serious talks.”

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February 3rd RMT Circular

STATION STAFFING & SAFETY ARRANGEMENTS, POST-IMPLEMENTATION OF FIT FOR THE FUTURE – LONDON UNDERGROUND (LUL/14/5)

 ALL ACTION IS SUSPENDED – MEMBERS TO WORK AS NORMAL

Further to my previous Circular (IR/39/17, 31st January 2017), our RMT negotiating team has been in intensive talks with LUL at ACAS to try to reach an agreement in respect of Station Staffing since Fit for the Future was implemented last year. A proposal has now been received from the Company and the details can be found on our website.

This has been considered by the National Executive Committee, which has congratulated our negotiating team for the outstanding progress made and taken the decision to inform the Company that ALL INDUSTRIAL ACTION IS SUSPENDED, subject to the satisfactory implementation of the commitments contained in the letter. All RMT Stations & Revenue members should therefore report for work and undertake all duties as normal.

It has only been possible to reach this position as a result of the 100% support we have received from Stations & Revenue members throughout this dispute. The overtime and rest day working ban had a massive impact and clearly demonstrated the need for more staff across the network and the strike action on the 9th and 10th January showed tremendous solidarity from all members.

RMT will of course remain vigilant and our Reps will be closely monitoring the implementation of the agreement. I will keep Branches advised of any further developments.

Yours sincerely

Mick Cash

General Secretary

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LUL Track & Signals Sunday to Thursday

Last year the union negotiated a deal whereby staff got a one off payment of £500 for the implementation of Night Tube. That has now happened.

The deal was based on people staying on existing rosters and allowed for time off from work being accrued.

During this period, the one off payment was reduced from £750 to £500. This was partly because the impact was reduced

Now we see the company on SSL where there is no planned start date for Night Tube, looking for people to volunteer. We have rightly therefore asked for an incentive as the company rightly agreed that our members can stay on ‘existing rosters and also allowed for time off from work to be accrued’.

However what we now find is that they want it for FREE and they want volunteers.

The reality is that track staff on Infraco JNP get four extra days off per year and we have said to the company there should at least have parity with those fellow workers.

So let’s be honest, they cut the money offered to us and then try to sneak Sunday to Thursday in through the back door. Thats not acceptable and we will be bringing this to a head in the next two months.

If they want a change then they are going to have to offer something to make it worth considering. Therefore if any of you are asked to volunteer, please refer them to you rep

 

UNITY IS STRENGTH

Posted on

Jan 31st RMT Circular

 

 

STATION STAFFING & SAFETY ARRANGEMENTS, POST-IMPLEMENTATION OF FIT FOR THE FUTURE – LONDON UNDERGROUND (LUL/14/5)

Further to my previous Circular (IR/22/17, 18th January 2017), our RMT Station Reps recently attended a meeting with the National Executive Committee, Lead Officer and negotiating team at RMT Head Office to discuss this dispute and report feedback received from members. Having considered the views from this meeting, the National Executive Committee has taken the decision to call further strike action and instruct ALL LUL STATION & REVENUE members NOT TO BOOK ON for any shifts that commence between:-

  • 18:00 hours on Sunday 5th February 2017 and 09:59 hours on Monday 6th February 2017 
  • 10:00 hours on Tuesday 7th February 2017 and 00:59 hours on Wednesday 8th February 2017

NB: To comply with legal advice the industrial action short of a strike consisting of the overtime and rest day working ban, non-familiarisation and non-rostering  of overtime, is suspended for the duration of the strikes but will commence again immediately after each strike ends and continuously from 01:00 hours on Wednesday 8th February 2017.

Further strike dates to be taken in March will be announced once they are determined and agreed. I will of course keep Branches advised of all further developments.

PAY PARITY, TRANSPLANT ENGINEER TRAIN DRIVERS – TUBE LINES AP JNP (LUL/10/2)

Further to my previous Circular (IR/317/16, 26th October 2016), working party discussions over a draft proposed ETO Re-Grading Initiative continued up until last week when talks unfortunately collapsed at the final hurdle. Despite the best efforts of our negotiating team, management seem intent on multi-skilling the ETO Grade rather than accepting any alternative solutions proposed by RMT which would still meet needs of the business without undermining any other grades.

The National Executive Committee has considered a report from the Lead Officer and taken the decision to call on members to take strike action by NOT BOOKING ON FOR ANY SHIFTS that commence between:- 

  • 05:59 hours on Friday 3rd February until 05:59 hours on Sunday 5th February 2017
  • 05:59 hours on Friday 10th March until 05:59 hours on Sunday 12th March 2017

 Members are also instructed to take ACTION SHORT OF A STRIKE between:-

  • 06:00 hours on Sunday 5th February and 05:50 hours on Friday 10th March 2017
  • 06:00 hours on Sunday 12th March 2017 until further notice.

This action consists of:-

  • Taking meal breaks as per existing agreements and law
  • Not exceeding maximum driving times
  • Not volunteering for additional B2F Trains
  • Not working overtime through extending shifts
  • Not training non-driving or Assist Grades to drive
  • Not driving trains, except on lines, depots and sidings unless you have a full working knowledge of the area concerned, understand the meaning of all signals and are competent and appropriately licensed

I am also making the necessary preparations to ballot our Operational Managers with an ETO License as management has failed to give the guarantee that these members will also be included in the pay parity agreement. I will keep Branches advised of al further developments.

BREAKDOWN IN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS – LONDON UNDERGROUND (FLEET GRADES) (LUL/14/2)

Further to my previous Circular (IR/22/17, 18th January 2017), London Underground has been advised of the dispute situation due to breaches of agreements by Fleet management. I can now advise that the ballot papers will be posted to members on Tuesday 7th February and the closing date for this ballot is Tuesday 21st February 2017. If any Fleet Grades member does not receive their ballot paper, please ask them to call the Freephone helpline number on 0800 376 3706.

I will keep Branches advised of all further developments.

 Yours sincerely

Mick Cash

General Secretary

 

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Tube drivers action on Central, Waterloo and City Lines

Tube drivers action on Central, Waterloo and City Lines solid in all depots this morning

Mick Cash, RMT General Secretary, said:

“Pickets are out in force this morning, picket lines are being respected and the support for the action is absolutely solid in all depots. This action has been provoked by a pointless and aggressive approach by London Underground that is entirely cash led and which was always going to spark an angry backlash and this exactly what has happened. Despite repeated warnings from the union management have ploughed on regardless.

“Let us be in no doubt, if LU are allowed to get away with this move on the Central Line they will start shunting drivers around the combine at the drop of a hat regardless of the consequences. Our members will be sent out from pillar to post to plug gaps that are solely down to staffing shortages. With massive budget cuts in the pipeline at LU this is a straw in the wind as to how the company expects to operate in the future.

“Staff across London Underground are angry and prepared to stand up and be counted the company would be wise to recognise that. RMT remains available for serious talks.”

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LUL Network Command Reorganisation

LUL are starting discussions today regarding a reorganisation with the Network Command and Response Team.

This proposal includes a changes in some areas such as the DOME team, Asset Performance Control Centre, Duty Network Operation Manager and  the Incident Response Team (Incident and C&I TO’s).

The reality is that management always like to rearrange their teams, that is their role. They are also looking at their budgets and their headcount. That is what they do too

Our role is to make sure that it is done in the right way and that our members are catered for and that any impacts that they reject are fully opposed in the usual way. That is what we do

Once we have met management today then the full details will be set out for our members and full discussions will take place.

It is important to stress though that because of our industrial strength in this area, that the talks will be meaningful and our members are safe in the knowledge that our unity is our strength will see us succeed

Posted on

Metropolitan Line Signals Annual Leave Agreement

The RMT have net with management over the last week following problems covering last Christmas Day on call.

To this end we have tried to address some of the issue regarding being on call and how cover is arranged and will vary the agreement with the below proposal that is agreed in principle.

“Christmas Day cover (assuming NO train service) will be as per previous custom and practice arrangements: 1 x TO (12 hr Days) + 1 x TO (12hr Nights) on call.

Staff covering on call on Christmas day will only be expected to attend site if a report is made that may be expected to affect the start up of train services on Boxing Day. This will be a decision made by the Incident Manager and be justifiable to the Line Incident Manager (LIM).

Annual leave period, as per the framework will be assessed by fourteen days after the end of February date for the main submission of annual leave (3.2.1 Signals Framework).

If no cover for Christmas day is forthcoming then a level 1 meeting will take place to address this matter prior to leave over the Christmas period being granted.

Any other requests to work Christmas Day period will be dealt in an individual manner and work will be found for any person wishing to work. All other staff are expected to book annual leave.”

The aim of these words are to describe the type of fault a person will be called to attend on Christmas Day i.e. Service Affecting and that we will monitor the situation for the next few months to see if there are any volunteers. In the event that there is not then we will meet with management to review a way forward

 

Proposal

 

The longer term view will be to negotiate a stand alone agreement for all Incident Technical Officers/ DSIMs and how the Christmas Period will be covered in a consistent and unified way

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Emergency Public Rally in support of Tube workers

Emergency Public Rally in support of Tube workers

 Wednesday 1 February, 18:30pm

Indian YMCA, 41 Fitzroy Square, London, W1T 6AQ

Tube journeys are up by 23% in the last six years.

Even Tube management have conceded that the 838 job cuts imposed by the previous Mayor, have had a devastating impact on passenger safety.

The cuts have also left station control rooms – which are the “eyes and ears” of the network – unstaffed. This has led to a serious threat to passengers at a time of heightened safety and security alerts. Last year’s incidents at Canning Town and North Greenwich, exposed just how serious those threats are. Those safety warnings have been reinforced by daily reports of intolerable overcrowding and pressures on stations and services right across all routes.

With the constant overcrowding on stations and platforms, it is only a matter of time before there is a major tragedy.

RMT has confirmed a new phase of action from 6 February, as part of Tube workers’ campaign for safe staffing levels.

I enclose a leaflet advertising the event. Please share this widely including on social media and with your workmates, family and friends.

Yours sincerely,

 

Posted on

LUL Circular 18th January

DISPLACEMENT, TRAIN OPERATORS, CENTRAL LINE – LONDON UNDERGROUND (LUL/16/4)

 Further to my previous Circular (IR/395/16, 19th December 2016), the ballot concluded with members voting as follows:-

Are you prepared to take strike action?

 Total Votes Cast               90

Number Voting ‘Yes’          82

Number Voting ‘No’           8

Spoilt Papers                    0

 Are you prepared to take industrial action short of a strike?

 Total Votes Cast               90

Number Voting ‘Yes’          86

Number Voting ‘No’           2

Spoilt Papers                    2

The National Executive Committee has noted the result strongly in favour of taking strike action and action short of a strike and has taken the decision to call on all affected members at Hainault, Leytonstone and Loughton Traincrew Depots NOT TO BOOK ON for any shifts that commence between:-

  • 21:00 hours on Wednesday 25th January 2017 and 20:59 hours on Thursday 26th January 2017.

RMT met with the Company on 3rd and 13th January in an effort to reach an acceptable solution to this dispute but LUL has now written to us stating that it will be proceeding with the displacements. This has left us with no option but to take strike action to demand that management return to talks and halt any forced and unacceptable displacements until agreement is reached. I am sure all members will support our Central Line Train Operators and I will keep Branches advised of all further developments.

BREAKDOWN IN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS – LONDON UNDERGROUND (FLEET GRADES) (LUL/14/2)

 The following resolution was recently received from LU Fleet Branch:-

“Due to a breakdown in industrial relations with management and the ongoing attacks at various levels, this Branch calls on the General Secretary to advise LU we are in dispute and request the NEC to ballot all LU Fleet members for strike action and action short of a strike. This action has been called due to management breaching the agreed machineries, our main agreement and local agreements, namely:- 

  • Not consulting or negotiating with this Union about reducing staff numbers within Fleet
  • Breaching our agreement on Night Tube and their failure to recruit the additional staff to cover this job
  • Actively attacking our Reps for carrying out their duties
  • Not following the correct process when seeking to change rosters
  • Removing a very long and established practice of ‘phone in days’ throughout Fleet without full and meaningful consultation”.

This matter has been considered by the National Executive Committee, which has taken the decision to inform London Underground we are in dispute and to conduct a ballot of LU Fleet members for strike action and action short of a strike. The Company has been advised accordingly and I am currently making the necessary preparations to conduct a ballot for industrial action. I will keep Branches advised of all further developments.

 STATION STAFFING & SAFETY ARRANGEMENTS, POST-IMPLEMENTATION OF FIT FOR THE FUTURE – LONDON UNDERGROUND (LUL/14/5)

Further to my previous Circular (IR/1/17, 3rd January 2017), the National Executive Committee congratulated all members for the tremendous strike action on Sunday 8th and Monday 9th January 2017. Now the Company has until Monday 6th February to come up with a genuine proposal which meets our reasonable demands over station staffing and safety. If nothing is forthcoming, the NEC has resolved to call further, escalated strike action as the current situation is a disaster waiting to happen and cannot be allowed to continue.

In the meantime, the overtime and rest day working ban, non-familiarisation and non-rostering of overtime remains on as a clear demonstration that it is not possible to run a decent service without sufficient, experienced, safety-critical staff.

The following resolution has also been received from Bakerloo Branch:-

“This Branch calls on the NEC to name a programme of further strikes in the station staffing dispute. These strikes should:- 

  • Be longer than 48 hours
  • Seek to maximise disruption, for example by taking place on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday
  • Involve Night Tube staff, with at least one strike day starting or finishing at 23:01 on a Friday
  • Be announced as part of an ongoing programme of action, also involving demos, rallies etc., similar the approach RMT has pursued in the dispute on Southern
  • Coordinate as much as possible with other disputes, including the Central Line Drivers’ dispute and the Southern dispute”.

This National Executive Committee has now referred this matter to the Southern Sub-Committee and I will keep Branches advised of all further developments.

 DISMISSAL, D. STOREY, TRAIN OPERATOR, WEST RUISLIP – LONDON UNDERGROUND (LUL/4/1)

 Further to my previous Circular (IR/1/17, 3rd January 2017), London Underground agreed to conduct a Director’s Review into Brother Storey’s case and to allow this review to take place, the National Executive Committee took the decision to cancel the strike action which was due to commence on Monday 9th Janurary 2017. The outcome of the Director’s Review which took place on Thursday 12th January is awaited and I will keep Branches advised of all further developments.

 

Yours sincerely

Mick Cash

General Secretary

Posted on

RMT demand action over downtime

The RMT have held talks with senior managers at  CPD Signals over the concerns our members have over the lack of work and downtime (no available work) where we have seen up to 40 people with no work on occasion.

The reality is that in the Project Area there has been a move to the work being down in weekend BTRs and night tube has affected the work being done on that night. Couple that with our members tending to work Monday to Friday Nights and a general down turn in normal work being done then it is obvious to foresee a situation where downtime increases. This obviously impacts job security in the longer term but also personal dignity and ability to maintain licensing

To the end, the RMT are demanding:

  • The company looks to prioritise internal Signalling work to these staff. It is a ludicrous situation where certain jobs are given to companies such as Kelly Rail (among others) and not our own staff.
  • That the way the ‘internal charging’ is done so that staff are just sent as staff rather than with an overhead
  • End of silo thinking. We understand people looking at their own budgets, however, if some work costs LUL as a whole more, then it is the economy of the madhouse to not give that work to internal LUL workers that have no work that night
  • Look to compete for other work. We see a massive investment in the SSL Signals upgrade and therefore fully utilising CPD Signals would seem an obvious choice. In the past, this organisation has even won contracts abroad to do re-signalling projects in countries such as Australia and Hong Kong
  • Invest in training staff on new technology so that they have the skills to work on all available assets
  • Look for volunteers to work rosters on agreed rostered rates of pay to have the staff available when the work is. This is a very contentious issue as staff on Nights have always fought and won the right for Monday to Friday Working. However, it would be wrong of us not to explore every eventuality to ensure our members job security.
  • LUL to stop the cuts in this area and do the work that the railway needs to be done

Our reps will be going to workplaces as soon as possible to speak to our members on this matter.

However, we also need to be clear that we will not be accepting a slow death of any of our areas and intend to fight to make sure our members have job security and a job that is worth having.

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