This is the second part of a two part article taken from our newsletter on fighting job cuts. You can download it from here or request copies here

Fleet
LUL is deliberately moving to a system of less frequent maintenance of the train fleet. They want us to make checks on equipment such as tripcocks far less often. Examinations have already been moved from every 14 days to 28 days, and management plan to change daily checks to once every 60 days, and have us check the new stock just every 60 days. They also plan to reduce Hammersmith depot to little more than a stabling yard, cutting jobs and displacing staff, and to use the introduction of new trains as a pretext to do away with long-established rosters and working practices.

These cuts will inevitably lead to more failures and risk to passengers and staff, but management only care about saving money. They plan to do that by cutting our jobs and reducing their wage bill.

• more on Fleet here.
• Email LUfleet@rmt.org.uk

Engineering
Engineering jobs are under threat from changes to standards leading to cuts in maintenance.
London Underground Ltd is introducing new signalling technology, a radio-based system with on-board train signalling that has much reduced assets – management claim that it has nothing to maintain and removes the human interface.

RMT has been arguing for LUL's engineering departments to expand their work across Transport for London, which would protect jobs and get essential work done by an in-house workforce.
Your union has been fully engaging in talks, so far preventing the imposition of job-cutting plans.

• more for engineering grades here.
• Email Engineering - luengineering@rmt.org.uk

Read more about how the London Transport region of the RMT is fighting all job cuts in all grades here

Service Control
Earlier this year, RMT’s strike call won important protections, including lifetime protection of earnings for service control staff who are ‘reorganised’ out of their existing post. RMT is challenging management's attempts to back out of this.

LUL still intends to cut many jobs in service control, including through the Northern line's move from Cobourg Street to Highgate and the creation of the new Hammersmith Service Control Centre. We are concerned that it may 'cherry-pick' the staff for the new centres. RMT is determined to mount an effective campaign against these cuts, believing that new technology in service control should be used to enable adequate staff cover and more reasonable hours, not to cut jobs.

RMT service control representatives will soon be meeting with National Executive members and branch secretaries to plan this campaign, and all service control members are welcome to attend.

• more for service control grades here.
• Email servicecontrolgrades@rmtlondoncalling.org.uk for further information.

Duty Managers
London Underground is giving many DSM duties to others, for example getting Station Supervisors to do CMS including P&Ds and Station Engagement Inspectors from APD to carry out station inspections. This can only lead to DSM jobs going.

Admin Staff
We already know that LUL sees admin staff as an easy target for job cuts, with ever-fewer staff carrying ever-heavier workloads. Project Horizon is cutting admin jobs and transferring many to TfL, which is now ‘market testing’ many admin functions (ie. investigating privatising them). The prosecutions team are the latest to face transfer.

LUL’s exclusion of operational admin staff from the lump sum element of the Olympics bonus shows how little the company thinks of us. RMT got admin on the agenda for the Olympics while management claimed the admin role was not being affected.
LUL tries to get us to undermine our station staff workmates’ jobs and put ourselves at risk by press-ganging us to be ICSAs.

If more admin staff become RMT members, the union will have more clout in turning this situation round and winning more rights and respect for admin.

• more for admin grades here.
• Contact mats@rmtlondoncalling.org.uk

• This is the second part of a two part article. Part one covered the issues faced by stations, ticket offices, revenue control and drivers.