Includes London Underground staff of all grades on the Bakerloo Line, plus the Special Requirements Team (SRT) and hotel staff. Branch meetings are held at The Royal Exchange PH, 26 Sale Place, Paddington, W2. (map)
Click on the attachment to download the latest Bakerloo train grades newsletter.
The story follows:
After the sacking of Fitz Chambers, the Bakerloo Train Grades newsletter asked the question, who’s next? The answer is Joel Miah.
Joel was summarily dismissed on Monday December 14th.
The following letter was sent to RMT General Secretary:
To: General Secretary Dear Bob,
Following the result of CDI, a meeting of the Bakerloo Branch was held and agreed the following resolution:
“This Branch notes the summary dismissal of Bro Joel Miah, a train driver member at Queens Park and is appalled at another gross unfair treatment of a long standing and respected member of staff with an exemplary record. This Branch believes that London Underground has an agenda of reducing staffing levels and no one gets a fair hearing at Company Disciplinary hearings.
Train staff will be aware that Fitz Chambers was sacked on Tuesday 1st of December 2009. As a result of his unfair dismissal Bakerloo RMT unanimously agreed to ballot all Bakerloo drivers for his re-instatement.
It is the union’s conviction that London Underground has an agenda of reducing staffing levels and has an agenda of getting rid of syndicates in train crew depots. It is our view that these are the real reasons that Fitz was sacked and why he did not get a fair hearing.
Well 2 of us actually........but it’s the principle innit?
Today’s ad hoc at Bakerloo E&C depot descended into a sketch not seen since Monty Pythons’ heyday.
We were told today’s meeting to discuss the upcoming Xmas shutdown was on an “information” basis only.
Aren’t all meetings?
But it would not be formal, so in the event of a disagreement, failure to agree etc there would be nowhere to progress it to.
Imagine it.
That`ll be the end of Tier 1`s.
No Tier 2 Safety council.
No level 1`s
No Trains functional Council.
The following resolution was carried unanimously at the Bakerloo Branch AGM:
"This Branch notes the summary dismissal of Bro Fitz Chambers on Tuesday 1st of December 2009 and is appalled at this gross unfair treatment of a long standing and respected member of staff with an exemplary record. This Branch believes that London Underground has an agenda of reducing staffing levels and has an agenda of getting rid of syndicates in train crew depots.
Astromoners claimed that the planet ASLEF has life.The shock claim has astounded stargazers throughout the world - one of whom was quoted as saying:
"We thought it was just a useless lump - devoid of life, floating around aimlessly doing whatever it was told to do by the Laws of Universal Lethargy (L.U.L.)"
Similiar claims for the moon known as "TESSA" have been denied
If you've seen the recent blockbuster film 2012 you'll know that it's shaping up to be one hell of a year. Los Angeles slides into the Pacific, a tidal wave swamps India and the Queen is forced to flee the country (ok it's not all bad news). The film's plot is clearly a fantasy, even if the Tories get in next year it probably won't be that bad. However, recently I came across another 2012 fantasy much closer to home.
After some excellent work by Bakerloo RMT reps we have now got a concession from management regarding the taxi service required during the Xmas/New Year shut down on the Bakerloo Line between QPK & SPK.
A DMT will be tasked with driving T/Ops to and from SPK in a hired people carrier as and when required.
An absolute minimum requiremnt I know, but it took some persuading by your RMT reps before management were prepared to concede.
A small victory.......but a victory nonetheless.
Trust the RMT.
For those interested in trade union history and how the Bakerloo Branch has reported on the issues facing workers on the line, I have attached the 2009 newsletters not included on the website and Bakerloo News issues from 2008.
To see the best newsletters that the RMT produces: from the sublime to the ridiculous, from our gains to our disappointments, from the bosses outrages to our analysis on the issues, click on the attachments below.
Click on the attachments to see Bakerloo newsletters from 2007.