Following many months of talks, LUL have offered the below agreement to resolve our dispute.
Full draft below. This is the LUL Pay offer ONLY
AP JNP Offer to follow asap
Category: Strikes
LUL Pay & Night Tube
Talks will continue tomorrow, Wednesday, 20th January regards the LUL Pay and Night Tube dispute under the auspices of ACAS.
John Leach, LT Regional Organiser, stated the he expected talks to be ‘frank and constructive’ and we all hope that LUL come back with a more realistic offer that satisfies our members aspirations.
It is a shame that talks, that as LUL have said, have been extensive and lengthy, seem only to become constructive on the threat of Industrial action
"SAY YES TO SAFETY ON THE TRACK SAY NO TO SECTION 15"
Emergency talks ended in failure today when LUL refused to suspend the use of section 15 Possessions in the face of serious concerns from the RMT over their safety and a belief that someone may be killed.
LU’s proposed cuts to safe working in possessions, we believe, will result in fatalities. We have already seen a near-miss involving a engineers train, staff left on the track unprotected and over runs where associated traction areas are being left on.
As a result and after trying to raise concerns with management numerous times; RMT is being forced to ballot members in London Underground and Tube Lines Members who work on the track
The ballot papers are arriving NOW.
VOTE YES for both Strike Action and Action Short of a Strike
RMT’s concerns about Section 15 are many and range from:
- Lack of and even no training for staff so they know how to implement and work safely in a Section 15 Possession
- Staff and trains being mixed in together with an inadequate safe system of work
- Ending tried and tested access through the Track Access Controllers
- Failure to complete consultation with the RMT prior to implementation to avoid the obvious pit falls of this policy
- Ending a zero death culture and replacing it with an ill conceived and rapidly implemented process based on saving money
The RMT will not let management play fast and loose with our members lives to save a few pounds.
Section 15 Dispute
Emergency talks are due to take place today with both LUL and Tube Lines regarding the changes to track access that have been incorporated within the Section 15 of the rule book and association Operational Safety Notice.
The RMT will be pushing that the ‘deregulation’ of track access away from the tried and tested Track Access Controllers is a recipe for disaster and our members will not accept downgrading their safety to save money.
Interestingly, LUL has been arguing that the incident on the Piccadilly Line was not a Section 15 issue but an issue of Possession Access. A very interesting argument indeed as it looks like they are admitting that ALL possessions are dangerous so maybe our action will need to be extended to include ALL possessions!
The reality is that Section 15 has led to chaos within track access. The RMT believe that someone will end up being killed and this is why:
- Lack of and even no training for staff so they know how to implement and work safely in a Section 15 Possession
- Staff and trains being mixed in together with an inadequate safe system of work
- Ending tried and tested access through the Track Access Controllers
- Failure to complete consultation with the RMT prior to implementation
- Ending a zero death culture and replacing it with an ill conceived and rapidly implemented process based on saving money
The harsh truth is that almost all roles, all briefings, the planning, the auditing and implementation have all been thrown into the air and we believe enough is enough. We hope LUL and Tube Lines see sense, get back to proper and meaningful talks and make sure that our tried and tested ways of working continue to keep us safe
LUL Pay & Night Tube Strike Dates
RMT confirms programme of action on London Underground over pay, Night Tube and job cuts
Tube union RMT today confirmed that its executive has agreed to a wide ranging programme of industrial action across London Underground grades in two separate disputes over pay and night tube and the plans to bulldoze through massive cuts to station staffing numbers early next month.
On pay and night tube ALL grades called out follows
- Fleet grades not to book on for any shifts between 18.30 hours 26th January 2016 and 18.29 hours 27th January 2016. All other grades not to book on between 21.00 hours 26th January 2016 and 20.59 hours 27th January 2016
- Fleet grades not to book on for any shifts between 18.30 hours 15th February 2016 and 18.29 hours 16th February 2016. All other grades not to book on between 21.00 hours 15th February 2016 and 20.59 hours 16th February 2016
- Fleet grades not to book on for any shifts between 18.30 hours 17th February 2016 and 18.29 hours 18th February 2016. All other grades not to book on between 21.00 hours 17th February 2016 and 20.59 hours 18th February 2016
Every job matters /Fit for the future station job cuts programme
- All station staff grades to take a week of action from the imposition of the rosters and new operating model on Sunday 7th February through to Saturday 13th February 2016 – the nature of that industrial action to be confirmed in due course.
RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said:
“RMT members are furious at the bodged introduction of the Mayor’s Night Tube plans and the fact that they have been tied in with a pay deal that has left our members dangling on a string and out of pocket since April last year. RMT supports the principle of a properly worked out Night Tube service introduced through agreement with the unions but the abject failure to work through the detail has led to a comprehensive breakdown in the negotiations and has forced us to name a programme of further industrial action. This whole situation could have been avoided if London Underground, under direction from the Mayor, had dealt with the Night Tube professionally from the off instead of resorting to ultimatums and imposition.
“RMT has fought for more jobs on the Underground to cope with the added pressures of Night Tube but those jobs must be within the framework of the existing tube operations and must offer career opportunities to the Underground’s existing staff, including existing drivers who may choose to take up the offer of reducing their hours.
“On the station staffing crisis it is absolutely crazy to be bulldozing through and imposing new rosters linked to the axing of over 800 safety-critical jobs from early next month when there is a heightened security status and when services are dangerously overcrowded across the network. The current plans also rip up previous agreements to protect staff caught in the middle of this reorganisation. The station staff are the eyes and ears of the Underground and hacking back their numbers represents a lethal gamble with safety that RMT will continue to fight against.
“RMT remains available for talks in both disputes.”
LUL Track Work Outsourcing
LUL Track Work Outsourcing
Despite numerous appeals to LUL to withdraw from training Cleshars’ staff to undertake track patrolling, they have now decided to start line based familiarisation and assessments. This cannot be tolerated and makes no economic sense. The harsh reality, in this time of economic cuts to the budget, is that LUL pay way over a £1200 a week for these staff once trained and have their own internal staff that are able and willing to do higher grade working to do these patrols. To be clear:
THERE IS NO ECONOMIC REASON TO OUTSOURCE TRACK PATROLLING
If it is not about economics then it would be easy to see this as a direct attack on the one core area of Permanent Way work that has not been handed over piece meal to private companies. LUL gave a toe hold to contractors in minor works and now LUL are opening the door to see the last vestige of core internal and skilled work placed into the hands of organisations driven by profit.
LUL have also hinted that this is about Night Tube and the need to change rosters. Yet when our members have said they are willing to look at changing their rosters to move to a Sunday to Thursday shift pattern, did management bite their hand off? NO, they instead escalated the issue and started to assess Cleshars’ staff on the Victoria Line.
This confrontational approach can no longer be ignored. The truth is there is no longer any choice, we have to stand up and defend Track Patrolling.
The entire Permanent Way staff across LUL are therefore about to be balloted in an attempt to show LUL our member’s resolve and their strength of feeling. However, should LUL continue with their path, then we may also need to consider whether an all grades situation exists.
The solution is clear, we are NOT against the workers, LUL have available vacancies for Track Staff and it makes sense that these staff would be suitable for these roles. So it’s now down to management, get back into talks with the RMT, stop the rhetoric and let’s make sure that safety critical track walks are completed professional, safely and more cost effectively by INTERNAL LUL employees.
RMT Response to LUL Section 15 Possessions
The RMT response to Section 15 Possessions has been straightforward and forthright. We DO NOT intend to let a cost cutting agenda affect our safety at work. LUL and Tubelines have been notified of our concerns and urgent talks are being arranged for Thursday to address our concerns.
What is a Section 15 Possession?
LUL have always used to possessions to do work on the Railway. They are clearly defined and have rules regarding how they are used and access. In an attempt to cut costs, Section 15 of the Rule Book was changed to dumb down possessions instead of booking track access with the TAC. This is compounded by allowing all work to be undertaken with little training and a lack of control. It is clear that possessions are currently potentially unsafe and there is company wide confusion by the introduction of Section 15 Possessions.
So what is it that RMT members are so worried about?
There was a recent incident on the Piccadilly Line and LUL have investigated this and concluded this was NOT a section 15 issue? Below are the LUL bulletin and report.
Why are we NOT happy?
HSE Bulletin 1 in 2016 – attachment
The truth is simple
WOULD THIS HAVE OCCURRED IF THE MEMBERS OF STAFF HAD BOOKED OUT WITH A TRACK ACCESS CONTROLLER (TAC)? THE ANSWER IS NO. At most, the PWT-EH would have been barred.
In a rush to cut, cut and cut, LUL are risking our lives with a flawed process to replace booking out with the TAC. The risks are to us; to my life and to yours. We are balloting because we are truly worried that someone may well die.
Our union will do anything for its members and our members will not stand by and risk being sent home in a body bag
Below is what our reps felt was wrong with the incident at Hounslow and with Section 15 Possessions in General:
- There’s an inadequate number of protection staff
- They’re run by protection staff who do not know their job or are not aware of possession (section 15) procedures.
- Evidence that possession staff who do not follow the rule book and regularly carrying out tasks that are not permitted
- Possession Planners write plans that contradict the rule book
- Management are not reviewing possessions as the failings highlighted have been occurring for some time.
- Staff wanting access are not aware of section 15 procedures
- The is no training, limited briefs and limited access to information.
- Work sites are not defined as per rule book or possession plans/work guides, staff probably don’t know they’re actually accessing anything other than a routine possession.
Our H&S Rep’s Recommendations
Training and planning
- The company’s accept that staff are not adequately trained in Section 15 processes, they therefore should be halted immediately and all possessions should revert to pre-Section 15.
- LUL should return to the table and start meaningful discussions with all concerned.
- The TAC’s are tried and tested and need to be retained in its current format
- All staff to be fully trained in ALL Possession Procedures and are added to all PWT training and not just limited to POM courses.
- Selected Managers/ Reps from departments involved (those who will be briefing staff, not as a cascade format) will be invited and required to attend a briefing held by “safety training team” on Section 15 Processes. These briefings are not to be instead of formal training.
- Stop blanket booking areas as a “section 15” to skirt around the rule book.
- Keep it as a normal Possession for single large works or book out with the TAC.
- All briefings on section 15 nightly access in be a face to face format, (not via phone or email publication)
- Review of all current possessions and planning processes, including TBTC, rule book, specified areas, EVs etc.
- Service control cannot be responsible for all staff track access. All protection should be carried out via TAC as stated previously.
- Inadequate risk assessments and case for safety.
- Those authorising must sign (not electronically) the associated paperwork and not just because signature box ‘A is complete. This makes us concerned on who many purely are relying on others, of those who sign and do not actually read the plans.
- Possession staff to have certificates confirming what sections they are authorised to protect.
- Review of how less experienced staff are exposed to new areas.
Section 15, Possessions and work sites
- No blanket booking areas as a “section 15” to skirt around the rule book.
- As per rule book, only published works (or emergency works) can take place. Therefore NO opportunistic works. Only published works .
- All emergency work must be briefed to those planned work groups to avoid conflicts and there must be no opportunistic work
- SACs should be located within its worksite, not within another work site.
- Review of PICAD wording and usage to include “do not access site until you have had an Work Site Site Person in Charge (SPC) briefing” and signature box alongside associated work group SPC signature.
- 22:00 safety briefings at Pelham St are to be monitored and enforced. All protection staff and staff associated to site safety are to attend.
- All staff associated to works within possessions to be given 24 hrs notice and access to Work Group and plans (Not just email link).
- POM safety briefing to adopt PWT style safety briefs.
- All work departments accessing possession to attend. (Time or even day to be discussed)
- Too often POM staff turn up at 01:30 disregarding safety and staff requesting information.
- POM to be on site at all times and in a location described in the plan. (Not just an auto number). Clearly defined at possession access point.
- All site paper work to be official with those monitoring to sign and submit.
- Possession SAP emergency stickers to be re-introduced or coloured hard hat stickers etc Clearly identifies those who attended briefings.
- Each worksite to be assigned a protection master who remains at SAC. Point of contact for POM. SPC and SAC liaise directly to PM.
- Each worksite to be clearly defined, with clear access to Work Guides, possession plans and map of work sites.
- Post possessions, all paper work to reviewed for safety and ensuring procedures are followed. Results to be distributed to all LUL departments and TUs.
- 1/4 audits of all possession plans and processes to ensure they are still fit for purpose.
Section 15: We told LUL so
Last night a serious incident occurred using a Section 15 Possession whereby a message informing staff that there was a train in the area failed to be passed on. Staff could easily have been on the track with potentially fatal consequences when the Engineering Train went through the section of track.
The RMT are balloting over Section 15 Possessions on the basis that we have said we believe someone will be killed by this procedure. This incident highlights and vindicates exactly what the RMT have been loudly saying to Management
A section 15 Possession is solely about removing tried and tested protection methods for staff to access the track safely and replace it with a diluted possession that fails to address safety issues or cater for human error. It is purely about circumventing our Track Access Controllers who professionally record people working and trains through areas etc with what can only be described as a process more attune to writing it on the back of a fag packet
The RMT are sure that once again they will blame a worker, but the reality is that we have consistently warned this very event would occur. We believe LUL are fully and solely to blame for this mess and those that imposed this process should be held account for this near disaster.
The ‘system’ is not fit for purpose and now LUL have had a near miss, it is time to put our member’s life first and we call on LUL to scrap this ludicrous process and get back round the table with our Health and Safety Experts.
Section 15: Further Issues
It has come to light that following the trial of Section 15 that LUL have declared as successful, a whole further raft of issues were raised and ignored.
These included
- Site Access Controllers at Northfields and Hatton Cross more often than not don’t have train radios or auto phones meaning that staff working at stations without phone reception on platforms must wait outside the station for their call that traction current is off and last train has departed. Leading to delays in starting work. This also means they aren’t contactable in an emergency if it should occur while in a line clear area.
- Calls to and from Site Access Controllers are mobile phone calls and none of the safety critical messages are recorded.
- SPC in work group is under no obligation to witness the passage of the last train or that the traction current has been discharged, just relies on an unrecorded message from Site Access Controller from Northfields or Hatton Cross that this has happened.
- Driving to sites to sign in and out at Northfields and Hatton Cross isn’t environmentally friendly and means extra mileage plus wear and tear on vehicles.
- A bulletin was sent that said “Section 15 is a possession protection method used during Engineering Hours that improves safety and increases the work time available on some shifts by up to 40 minutes”
- From the list of issues above it cannot be seen how this has improved safety and from those staff involved, work time is actually significantly reduced not increased by up to 40 minutes. This is due to the time it takes to set up and remove possession and Site Access Controller to ring through the list of the SPC’s who have signed in.
Additionally, there have been further incidents raised via the Track Access Controllers
- On Monday night 16th November we were made aware of an incident that allegedly took place in a Section 15 Possession. POM had been granted access by SC only for support staff to find on site that traction current was still switched on; “Hatton cross to Heathrow, Both”. If true this represents a fundamental failure of the key safety improvement “permissioning” promised by the introduction of this new procedure.
- Monday night TAC denied access to a Train Master whose license to act in that role was out of date. You may recall one of the TAC concerns raised about Section 15 was that SC and POM do not have the tools to check licenses are valid. At the Tier 2 meeting on 10th September LUL told the RMT that all protection staff’s licenses are checked before being deployed to site. Clearly that didn’t happen on Monday. Had the Train Master been booked to work in a Section 15 Possession this would not have been detected.
- Another concern was where Section 15 Possession limits were staggered, resulting in protection staff becoming confused about who to book on with at these locations. Assurances were given future Possessions would have their limits aligned to prevent this happening. This weekend there is a Section 15 Possession published:- both EB roads from Chiswick Park sub-gaps / LU boundary at Gunnersbury to Barons Court sub-gaps, then both local roads from Barons Court sub-gaps to Earls Court sub-gaps. As a result half of the 4 tracking area is under Section 15 Possession, half in Engineering Hours. Between Turnham Green and the Gunnersbury boundary, one road under POM’s control, the other belongs to TAC. Worse still, a similar situation exists in the double track tunnel east of Earls Court.
- Finally, in response to concerns that Section 15 could be used to replace EH protection, the TAC’s were told it was intended for major work packages. The Possession above is published to facilitate “point maintenance”.
The RMT is massively concerned about Section 15 Possessions and news on a ballot across LUL and Tubelines affected staff will be notified soon
DLR Strikes
BREAKDOWN IN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS – KEOLIS AMEY DOCKLANDS (DLR/14/2)
Further to my previous Circular (IR/261/15, 29th October 2015) and the solid strike action taken by KAD members between Tuesday 3rd and Thursday 5th November 2015, the DLR Branch met to discuss this dispute. Having noted a report received from the Lead Officer and the consensus of the DLR Branch meeting, the General Grades Committee has considered this matter and taken the decision to instruct all Docklands Light Railway members NOT TO BOOK ON FOR SHIFTS THAT COMMENCE BETWEEN:-
- 03:59 hours on Monday 11th January 2016 until 03:59 hours on Tuesday 12th January 2016.
- 03:59 hours on Wednesday 13th January 2016 until 03:59 hours on Thursday 14th January 2016.
- 03:59 hours on Monday 8th February 2016 until 03:59 hours on Wednesday 10th February 2016.
- 03:59 hours on Thursday 11th February 2016 until 03:59 hours on Friday 12th February 2016.
- 03:59 hours on Monday 7th March 2016 until 03:59 hours on Wednesday 9th March 2016.
- 03:59 hours on Thursday 10th March 2016 until 03:59 hours on Saturday 12th March 2016.
- 03:59 hours on Monday 21st March 2016 until 03:59 hours on Friday 25th March 2016.
- 03:59 hours on Tuesday 29th March 2016 until 03:59 hours on Saturday 2nd April 2016.
I am sure all members will show their support for our DLR colleagues in this ongoing dispute. As always, we remain available for talks with the Company to resolve this dispute and I will keep you informed of all developments.
Withdrawal of Rest Days, Track & Civils Staff – Tube Lines (AP JNP)
Following the Tube Lines decision to withdraw the Rest Days from new starters and existing staff that transfer to new job, the Operational Track staff across the Northern, Pic and Jubilee are to be balloted for action
The papers will be posted out to members on Thursday 10th December and the closing date for the ballot is Thursday 7th January 2016.
Vote YES to action and NO to cuts to our work life balance
DLR Strike
RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said;
“Our members on DLR are rock solid in their action this morning and I want to pay tribute to their unity and determination as they fight to defend safe operational practices and the basic principles of workplace justice.
“Pickets have been out in force and it’s now time for Keolis Amey to recognise the sheer strength of feeling on the shop floor and to get round the table for meaningful talks that address the raft of serious issues at the heart of this dispute.
“The disruption caused by the shutdown of DLR this morning is entirely down to the intransigence of the KAD management and now it’s time for them to stop the posturing and start talking. “