DISMISSAL- K.MORTELL, TRAIN OPERATOR, WHITE CITY, (LUL/4/1)

Dear Colleague

I regret to advise you that the ballot to reinstate Brother Mortell must be rerun due to an administrative error With the Anti Trade Union laws being so incredibly restrictive we cannot risk the company challenging the previous ballot and declaring any industrial action called from it illegal. Therefore the safest course of action is to re run the ballot and I offer my sincere apologies to for this error.

Read the ten reasons below. Click '1 attachment' / file name to download a special issue of 'RMT London Calling' for London Underground drivers.

1. Because management want to take risks with our safety by cutting jobs to save money. They are trying to change our procedures so we have to deal with incidents alone, without help from station staff. This will leave us vulnerable both to accidents and assaults, and to disciplinary action if anything goes wrong.

The Conservative group on the London Assembly have sent a memo to Mayor Boris Johnson detailing how they believe an underground system without drivers would provide a world class mass transit system.

The conservative group believe the underground would be better with an increased number of faster trains, more customers but less staff (sound familiar?). They claim that the acquisition of Tube Lines by London Underground is the perfect time to ditch drivers.

Click on the attachment to download the latest issue of RMT Up Front.

Articles follow...

FIT OR NOT FIT THAT IS THE QUESTION!!

Fitness for work does not seem to bother London Underground these days. Whether you are fit doesn’t matter, management are now medically terminating you at a case conference there and then even if you are at work doing your job. In one case that happened only a few weeks ago, the driver came to work and booked on ready to do her duty, then went in for a normal case conference and within an hour and half of that case conference she had been medically terminated there and then.

Issa Kanu was off sick from 8th of August 2009 to 27th of November 2009 with depression but returned to alternative duties following a case conference.
Issa has been back at work for the last 6 months.
Following a visit to Occupational Health on the morning of Thursday May 20th 2010, Issa was declared fit to return to normal train operating duties by the company doctor.
At a case conference on the afternoon of Thursday 20th of May Issa was sacked by his Train Operations Manager.

RMT blasts Mayor’s “transport strategy” as a smokescreen for job cuts, ticket office closures and attacks on safety standards

TUBE UNION RMT today blasted London Tory Mayor Boris Johnson for throwing up a smokescreen under the guise of a “Transport Strategy”, designed to deflect attention away from his multi-billion transport cuts package that threatens thousands of jobs, ticket office closures across the Capital and a systematic undermining of current safety standards.

This year's Train Grades AGM will be held at Unity House on Thursday 29th April from 14:30 to 16:00

Please try and attend, we need as many Reps and Members there as possible to make it a good meeting, and also to get a good turn out for the election of Officers and a Chair and Secretary for this committee.

TUBE UNION RMT today slammed proposed changes to London Underground train operations that the union has warned would turn station platforms into “death traps.”

Proposals submitted to RMT safety reps at the Trains Health and Safety Council (THSC), and titled the Operation Effectiveness Programme (OEP), would involve:

• Detraining in a tunnel on your own.
• departing Category A platforms alone with defective OPO equiptment.
• Notching back into platforms after an overrun.

From Steve Hedley, RMT Regional Organiser:

If anyone has bought into the management propaganda that the 800 station staff job cuts will not affect drivers, the management's latest attack on safety should shatter their illusions.

LUL has put forward a raft of proposals which will compromise the safety of drivers and passengers alike, and are trying to steamroller them through in order to do away with the need for station staff.

Managements new 'Operational Effectiveness Programme' seeks to:

Your Trains Health and Safety Council reps write ...

The recession bites as LU announces proposals to run trains without the need for station staff.

As LU announced jobs cuts for the station grades it was no coincidence that they simultaneously approached the Train’s Health and Safety Council (THSC) with what they called the ‘Operation Effectiveness Programme’ (OEP). If you are not yet familiar with this programme you better start asking questions because it proposes to change the role of the driver forever. And believe us, LU have not been lying awake at night and wondering how they can make the job better for you! Your roles and responsibilities will be drastically increased and in many case, we feel, safety will be compromised.

Click '1 attachment' / file name to download a poster with quotes from RMT and ASLEF representatives, showing that despite London Underground's claims, the plans to cut stations jobs do affect train drivers.

Please distribute this as widely as possible to drivers. Other grades - especially station staff - will also be pleased to see this evidence that drivers' union reps understand the impact of the job cuts and oppose them.

RMT at Brixton depot has produced a new newsletter for drivers. You can read the text below, or click '1 attachment'/file name to download and print it.

Sacking of Drivers

Over the past couple of months there have been several issues including London underground sacking drivers. We at Brixton have had two this year. One of the issues is a said 96% attendance standard.
There is no such figure anywhere. If asked to sign any documents stating any attendance percentage targets, do not! Speak to your union rep.