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LU breach procedures on Wembley Central displacement proposals

The RMT is extremely concerned on the proposals to displace staff on the Wembley Central Group. Bakerloo management have attempted to bypass procedures in their rush to get rid of detrainment staff at Queens Park, Stonebridge and Harrow.
With the proposed modification to the Bakerloo line stock (inner car barriers) a meeting was held on Thursday 30th June to inform staff on the Wembley Central group that the detrainment staff would no longer be required to carry out this role. It was stated at this meeting that the affected staff will be displaced / redeployed in other areas of the business but there was no explanation as to how or where, although it was expected that agency workers would be kept to work in ticket offices on the group.
The RMT believes that the way management have dealt with this has been a clear attempt to bypass the trade unions and the normal process to discuss such matters. The main agreement - 6.2.6 - outlines the process for redeploying staff who become surplus to a group or depot where they work but more importantly Annex A under the Purpose section clearly states that general terms and conditions of employment and Principles of employment are matters for negotiation and once agreed at Company council level they are then passed to the relevant level for implementation. By the 30th of June there had been no discussions on this at the Company Council or the Stations Functional Council.
When the RMT wrote to London Underground to complain about these breaches of procedures, HR Director Gerry Duffy claimed “A local level 1 meeting has taken place at Wembley Central regarding the impending changes to detrainment duties and there has been no failure to agree.” Not true! There had been no level 1 meeting. At the same time the Trains Safety Council had not been consulted on these proposals either. Given that these proposals directly affect passengers and train drivers safety you would think management would have properly consulted (as per the health and safety at work act) train drivers health and safety reps.
Bakerloo bosses handling of these proposals have been typically woeful. Managements meeting with staff on the 30th of June was deliberately held in order to bypass the machinery of negotiation and as a result have left the relevant staff feeling confused, stressed and totally in the dark.
A level 1 meeting was held with the local reps (eventually) and the matter has now been ‘failed to agree’ to the Stations Safety Council. Similarly the Trains Safety Council is now dealing with the aspects relevant to train drivers safety.
The RMT will keep all staff informed of developments.

Bakerloo staff ‘speak up!’

Unfortunately for Bakerloo management, staff on the line really did ‘speak up’. The annual combine wide ‘speak up’ results showed that Bakerloo bosses are viewed by staff as the worst on the Underground.
Bakerloo top brass fared so badly that they held focus groups of staff to try to find out why they are the worst group of managers on the combine.
On such areas as “trust between senior managers and employees”; “managers communicate openly and honestly with employees”; “there is good morale in my team”; “I am satisfied with the leadership of the company”; and “LU offers good job security” Bakerloo bosses crashed and burned in their scores.
This is hardly surprising given the way the Bakerloo bosses “manage” and how they treat their staff. Whether its attendance issues, performance issues or disciplinary issues, Bakerloo staff know where we stand when we are dealing with the “management team’ on the line.
LU senior managers should have had a ‘heads up’ when train drivers on the line shut down the line over two separate days strike action following the sacking of our workmate and health and safety rep, Eamonn Lynch.
Bakerloo staff hit the nail on the head when they punished management in the “honesty” and “trust” parts of the survey as double standards on the line have reached unprecedented levels. As is well known now, management on the line, acted illegally and were prepared to lie, collude and cover up in the sacking of Eamonn Lynch. Don’t just take the RMT’s word for it; this was the view of a court of law. As a result management on the Bakerloo Line do not have one ounce of credibility.
All those involved in the unlawful sacking of Eamonn Lynch should be disciplined for “breach of trust” and “bringing the company into disrepute”.
It seems that senior Bakerloo managements response to all of this is to go ‘out and about’ more and may well be seen at your work location any time soon.
This will not wash. Bakerloo management are a busted flush - the quicker they go the better.

OSN 101 lets the cat out of the bag

The new Operational Standards Notice 101 surprisingly admits the real reasons for reducing safety procedures on the tube. In black and white (and produced in full colour) the authors of the document state “The long count-down has started and it is time to shape up for the Olympics. Plans are well underway for an additional peak service, a longer traffic day, and managing unprecedented customer volumes.
The whole world will be watching how we do it…. With the volume of customers to London during the Olympics our customers will have high expectations around our recovery times. Responding quickly and safely to asset failures or incidents has never been more important.”
So there you have it. Long standing safety procedures on the tube are thrown out of the window in order to keep trains running during the Olympics. You would have thought that with the “volume of customers” expected to be high it would be even more important to abide by long standing safety procedures – not water them down.
OSN 101 contains three new Rules which will become effective from 25th September 2011.
These changes are:
• Setting a train back by up to one car
• Carrying passengers over shunt signalled moves
• Platform categorisation

The RMT has raised objections to these changes as it was felt that there was no need for them as current Rules provided a safe way of working. The RMT was also concerned that these changes appeared in the main to reduce the need for station staff.
Unfortunately LU’s Director of Safety made it clear that they would be implemented come what may.
These changes were inspired by the need to get London moving during the
Olympics and were not designed in the best interests of the staff that they will affect. Whilst the RMT understands that the Olympics are an important event we do not accept that the legacy should be a dilution of our long established Rules.
The union has made it clear to management that our members should not be expected to compromise safety by using these Rule changes. We have also raised concerns with the poor level of training that currently exists on LUL.
If at anytime you feel unsure carrying out these rules, or indeed any other changes, you should revert to the way of working that you feel is the safest method. The RMT will support all staff who act in the interests of safety.
This latest OSN is aptly named. Stick it in room 101.