Partly as a result of what has happened to Mercy [Odisi, former RMT rep, Green Park Group] our branch [Finsbury park] has decided to produce the following guidance for SAMFs which, if followed, should protect ticket office staff from suffering the same fate as befell Mercy:

1. Be extra careful with money transfers and float/deposit safe audits.

2. If you are doing POMs and are unhappy with the amount you have taken, compared with the amount recorded that you have taken, log it and tell ESAF on the autophone.

The following resolution, submitted by Piccadilly & District West branch and seconded by Hammersmith & City branch, was carried unanimously at the Regional Council meeting on 28 January 2010.

This Union has not been consulted on the implementation of the £5 minimum top up at Ticket offices. We believe this policy is both an attack on customers, especially poorer people, and a threat to the future of ticket offices and jobs.

Venue: Hotel Victoria, Great Yarmouth

London Underground plans to close or cut most of its ticket offices, and to reduce station staffing by over 1,000 staff. To provide customer service and safety, London Underground stations need more staff not fewer. Popular opposition stopped planned ticket office closures in 2008; now we need the same popular opposition to stop them again.

RMT has set up a petition against the job cuts on the 10 Downing Street website. It will take you just a minute or so to add your name, and give a big boost to our campaign to save jobs.

Click here to sign the petition.

Venue: Exmouth Arms, Starcross Street, near Euston.

A meeting for all stations and revenue reps and activists to discuss what is going on in your workkplace, to hear reports from and give feedback to level 2 / tier 2 reps, and to plan our campaigning against job cuts and for a better deal for staff.

Meetings will take place on the first Wednesday of every month; same time, same venue.

Following elections, the following members were elected to the stations safety council from Jan 1st 2010

Dave Phillips (Neasden Branch)
Jason Dew (Finsbury park branch)
Ross Marshall (Neasden Branch)

They will join Pat O'Brien on the council for a 3 year term of office.

Im sure everybody will join me in sending a massive thank you to the work of the 3 outgoing members.

Unjum Murza (Stratford Branch)
Tony Gandolfi (Camden 3 Branch)
Vik Parmar (Central Line west Branch)

They will be missed by the union and the 1000s of members they have supported over the past few years.

London Underground's plans for slashing station staffing - leaked last week by RMT - will directly affect Stratford no.1 branch station staff in two major ways. Firstly, virtually all our ticket offices will close, with shedloads of jobs lost. Secondly, Barkingside group will be disbanded and its stations reallocated to Leyton and Buckhurst Hill groups.

Click these links for more information on these crucial issues:

• Clarification: Management's Letter to Over-Establishment Staff
• Report: Stations & Revenue Council Meeting, 26 November 2009
• RMT Demands End to Breaches of SRT Framework
• Staff Information Surveys: RMT Lists Issues for Discussion
• RMT Protests Stop Stations "Babysitting"
• Ten Reasons Why Station Staff Should Join RMT

Today RMT began balloting four separate groups of members for industrial action in four separate localised trade disputes:

• EDF Energy Powerlink
• LU Hammersmith and City Depot Drivers
• Straford Market Depot - Alstom Metro Trains
• LUL Willesden Green Group

RMT has also today served notice on London Underground for a ballot of staff over pay and conditions with the ballot closing on Monday 21st December.

This is an official RMT circular - IR/399/09 dated 13th of November 2009, from General Secretary Bob Crow.

RMT is currently in a number of dispute situations with various TfL employers that will necessitate ballots for industrial action. In addition to this there is of course the company wide dispute with LUL itself and I am carrying out the necessary checks for this ballot and hope to be in a position to report on progress next week.

Regretfully, this process has become even more complicated than before following a High Court ruling against us in respect of a recent ballot we conducted amongst our EDF Energy members.

LUL auditors are currently carrying out a completely one-sided management led investigation into "roster and working practices on the Finsbury Park Group".

In a pathetic display of petulance, management on the Finsbury Park Group have ripped down two important notices from RMT notice cases. Apparently acting on instructions from no less than the company’s Employee Relations Manager, Gerry Duffy, management tore down the October issue of Monthly News and banned its circulation to staff on the group on 23rd October. Then, on the 26th, they removed from notice cases a report by local Reps of a Level 1 meeting held with management that same day.

Your Stations and revenue reps discovered back in June 2009 that LU planned to keep at least 150 vacancies on all groups in an attempt to drive down its staffing costs. Your functional reps challenged this new policy of reducing staffing levels and the lack of any consultation over its strategy and referred the issue to an ad-hoc directors meeting which was ‘swiftly’ arranged some 3 months later!