Finsbury Park branch

RMT General Grades Committee decision:

That we note the report from our Regional Organiser and our representative, and are alarmed that London Underground intends to conduct trials from Seven Sisters to Walthamstow Central from May 30 despite our ongoing dispute over safety issues.

RMT GGC decision:

Following the ballot result for action short of strikes in pursuit of this dispute, and following consultation with our reps and branch, we instruct our members involved in this dispute, from 00:01 on Thursday 5 May:-

1. NOT to recognise the imposed sensitive edge door procedure and to work the previous safer instruction. i.e. go back to the carriage concerned and physically check the cause of activation.

Click on the attachment below to download April's Monthly News.

In this edition:

PICCADILLY BOSSES TRIAL ‘OPEN DOORS’ POLICY! - How did a set of doors open on their own on a moving train? Why did management fail to alert drivers to the incident, leaving our Safety reps to do the job for them?

COMPANY OFFERS PAY CUT - We are the 'Metro of the Year', yet the company offers us a deal which will cut our pay in real terms.

EARL’S COURT DERAILMENT REPORT SHOWS SAFETY FAILURES.

500,000 SAY ‘KILL THE CUTS!’

RMT General Grades Committee decision:

That we note the result of the ballot for ‘action short of strikes’ is as follows:-

Total votes cast: 45
Number voting “Yes”: 33
Number voting “No”: 12
Spoilt Papers: 0

We congratulate our members on their 73.3% majority vote to take action to defend their safety at work. We note that Finsbury Park branch will discuss this at its branch meeting tomorrow. Once the branch has given its recommendations for action, this matter to be placed back of us.

RMT General Grades Committee decision:

That we note the correspondence from London Underground on this matter, and also note that London Underground has sent a letter by post to Victoria Line drivers defending its actions on these important safety matters and attacking our dispute. This underlines the importance of our previous decision that this union will send a letter by post to all our Victoria Line driver members outlining our stance on these issues, which is to be implemented without further delay. Email and text communication are to be used to promote this union’s ballot and industrial action, but not to substitute for letters by post when specifically instructed by the GGC.

To all Train Operators and Instructor Operators on the Victoria Line, from Bob Crow, RMT General Secretary:

Dear Colleagues,

BREAKDOWN OF MACHINERY OF NEGOTIATION: VICTORIA LINE UPGRADE SAFETY AND TRAINING ISSUES- LONDON UNDERGROUND

Further to my letter dated 27th January 2011 regarding the issues over Sensitive Edge Activation, a number of other issues have been bought to my attention concerning the Victoria Line Upgrade. The General Grades Committee has considered this matter and taken the decision to ballot all Victoria Line Train Operator members for industrial action short of a strike with a view to protecting you from being forced to work unsafely and unfairly blamed for accidents.

Click on the attachment below to download the March edition of Monthly News.

In this edition:

Support our Victimised Reps - How Arwyn Thomas and Eammon Lynch were stitched up by the company and why we need to be prepared to strike to ensure their reinstatement;

Safety Breakdown on Victoria Line - Monthly News explains the consequences of the failure of Victoria Line management to consult with the unions on safety issues, and why drivers should vote 'YES' for action short of a strike in the forthcoming ballot;

General Grades Committee decision:

That we note the resolution from our Finsbury Park branch and accept its proposal. We therefore instruct the General Secretary to conduct the ballot of our Victoria Line driver members for action short of strikes as soon as practical, with the title “Breakdown of machinery of negotiation: Victoria Line upgrade safety and training issues”.

This resolution, submitted by Finsbury Park branch, was carried unanimously by the February meeting of the Regional Council:

This branch calls for a delegation from the EC to undertake a thorough review of the recent dispute regarding the job cuts and scrutiny of the decision making process: - who made those decisions and on whose authority including when were decisions made. The results of the review will be made available and if required recommendations made for any future disputes will be sought. This review should take place at the end of the dispute.

Peter Hartshorn, RMT rep on Green Park group, has been reinstated on appeal, with his dismissal suspended for 52 weeks. Well done to Peter and his RMT representative, and thanks to everyone from Peter's branch and the region who supported him through this difficult time.