Blogs

I've written the following article for 'Solidarity' newspaper ...

A decision by the PPP Arbiter in December may prove to be a fatal punch to private infrastructure company Tube Lines and the whole ‘Public-Private Partnership’ set-up on London Underground.

The New Labour government imposed the PPP at the very end of 2002, despite widespread opposition. PPP organised the Underground’s infrastructure into three groups of lines, and transferred them to private consortia known as Infracos, two to now-defunct Metronet, one – the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines – to Tube Lines.

On 17 December, the PPP Arbiter published an important document, which may turn out to be a staging post in the collapse of Tube Lines and – following 2007’s similar collapse of Metronet – of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) itself.

It also contains information about issues of great concern to London Underground and TubeLines staff - including problems with the Jubilee line upgrade, pensions, the London Living Wage, cuts in stations refurbishments, "machine-room-less escalators", and engineering staff working across all lines.

As it is a very long and technical document, I have attempted to summarise and explain it here.

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.

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.

I received an email today from 'Tube Worker' with a flyer attached urging ASLEF members to reject the pay deal as it stands.

The Tube Worker Leaflet is available to view or download here.

The Bakerloo Line between QPK & SPK is to be shut down over the Xmas and New Year period.
And with the record of recent line shut downs, we are worried.
Very worried.
No thought seems to have been given to the safety of T/Ops and Station staff having to yomp from booking on at QPK DT up to SPK.
On the replacement bus service.
With scores of potentially irate drunken punters who have just been turfed off the combine at Queens Park

The Communication Workers Union's postal worker members were due to go on strike again today. However an interim agreement, announced last week, was reached between CWU and Royal Mail to postpone action. This video from www.cwutv.org explains the detail of the agreement.

David Ward, The Deputy General Secretary of CWU comments "There is no doubt that the strength of support from postal workers in the strikes has made Royal Mail think again. They have made significant concessions this week that are clear for everybody to see. Those concessions have allowed us to suspend strike action and work towards a full and final agreement."

Under RMT's rule book, a member could only stand for election as a delegate to the union's Annual General Meeting (AGM) once s/he had been a member for five years. Many union branches felt that this rule was unfair and out-of-date, and submitted a proposal to last Friday's Special Meeting to reduce the qualifying period to three years.

I am pleased to report that, following a lively debate and a close vote, the proposal was passed. Printed below is the speech I made in proposing the rule change, which outlines the reasons and arguments behind the change.

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